Progressive Muscle Relaxation

New Beginnings Recovery Center’s Integrative Medical Detox program would not be complete without progressive muscle relaxation therapy. The method helps make New Beginnings one of the top institutions for addiction recovery treatment in Palm Beach, FL and the southern part of the state.

What Is Progressive Relaxation?

Developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson in the early 1920s, progressive relaxation revolved around the idea that complete physical relaxation is the absence of tension. The muscle-relaxation technique can calm the body within minutes. Each muscle group is progressively relaxed, typically beginning at the forehead and progressing down the body, ending at the toes. Progressive muscle relaxation helps individuals achieve a state of mind where they can better find solutions to their problems.

Progressive Relaxation For Addiction Recovery

As the saying goes, “Cooler heads prevail.” Trying to overcome a dependence on a substance can often be an intense, irritating experience, especially during the withdrawal portion of the recovery. Progressive muscle relaxation helps the recovering patient put those thoughts and feelings to the side and focus on their goals while in a comfortable state. The muscle-relaxation method is one of the key components of our comprehensive detox program.

Breaking a substance habit generally elicits feelings of anxiety. Many with anxiety difficulties are often so tense throughout the day that they don’t even know what being relaxed feels like. Through progressive muscle relaxation, individuals learn to recognize the difference of a tensed muscle and a completely relaxed muscle. They then develop the ability to revert themselves back to a relaxed state once muscle tension begins to loom, as brought on by anxiety. Soothing feelings of anxiety is one the keys to eliminating the feelings that usually led an individual to the use of substances in the first place.

At New Beginnings Recovery Center, we understand that the mind and body are one, and that each must be addressed simultaneously if a balance is to be restored. We have a strong track record of helping mitigate patients’ withdrawal symptoms and guiding them to a full recovery.