Overview
This page covers relaxation techniques as a family of practices that aim to elicit a calmer physiological state. It outlines the history of progressive muscle relaxation, autogenic training and the relaxation response, how the terms are used, what the main techniques share and how they differ, and what Cochrane reviews, meta-analyses and guidelines report. It also covers cautions, and points to the separate Machipedia pages for related practices.
Where does Relaxation Techniques come from?
Jacobson and progressive relaxation
A mini review of Edmund Jacobson work gives his life span as 1888 to 1983 and says he earned a Ph.D. at Harvard in 1910 and taught physiology in Chicago until 1937. It associates him with progressive relaxation, citing his 1929 book Progressive Relaxation, and describes a group of early 1930s articles on muscle activity in the American Journal of Physiology. The review is about imagery research and does not describe the clinical use of the method.
Autogenic training
A 2023 systematic review credits the German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz with publishing the first evidence-based book on autogenic training in 1932 and describes the method as based on autosuggestion. The same review notes modified versions, including one associated with Luthe and taped versions. The sources reviewed do not trace how the method spread to other countries.
The relaxation response
The term relaxation response is associated with Herbert Benson. A 2013 research paper that includes Benson as an author lists Benson, Beary and Carol (1974) and Benson (1975), The Relaxation Response, among its references, and defines the response as a state opposite to the stress or fight-or-flight response. The paper states that it is elicited when a person focuses on a word, sound, phrase, repetitive prayer or movement and sets aside everyday thoughts. The sources reviewed do not give a fuller history of the concept.
What do the names and terms mean?
Relaxation techniques as a family
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health defines relaxation techniques as practices meant to produce the relaxation response, described as slower breathing, lower blood pressure and a lower heart rate, the opposite of the stress response. Its fact sheet covers progressive relaxation, autogenic training, guided imagery or visualization, biofeedback-assisted relaxation, self-hypnosis and breathing exercises such as slow diaphragmatic breathing. It mentions meditation, yoga, tai chi, qigong and massage but does not cover them.
Related terms in the literature
Research papers use several overlapping labels. Relaxation training appears in a meta-analysis of anxiety studies that grouped Jacobson progressive relaxation, autogenic training, applied relaxation and meditation. Applied relaxation is named as a specific psychological intervention in a United Kingdom guideline. Relaxation-induced anxiety is the term for a rise in anxiety, muscle tension or anxious thoughts during relaxation practice.
Relationship to other Machipedia pages
Several practices that the sources list among those that can elicit the relaxation response have their own Machipedia pages: Guided Imagery, Breathwork, Biofeedback, Meditation, Mindfulness, MBSR, Yoga and Hypnotherapy. The 2013 research paper lists mindfulness meditation, yoga, progressive muscle relaxation, biofeedback and breathing exercises together, while the federal fact sheet separates its own list from meditation and yoga. This page covers the shared family idea and the techniques without a separate page.
What does Relaxation Techniques involve?
What the techniques have in common
The federal fact sheet describes the shared aim as producing the relaxation response. The techniques differ in what the person does: progressive relaxation involves tensing and then releasing muscle groups, autogenic training uses mental exercises with self-suggestion, and diaphragmatic breathing focuses on slow breathing. A review of autogenic training describes passive concentration on bodily sensations taught progressively over several sessions, with sessions of roughly 15 to 22 minutes ideally practiced daily.
Biofeedback-assisted relaxation
Biofeedback-assisted relaxation adds instruments that measure physiological activity, such as muscle activity or heart function, and show it back to the person. A professional association definition states that this feedback supports learning to change physiological activity and that changes can persist without continued use of the instrument. The same document describes biofeedback as an adjunctive tool combined with other interventions rather than a stand-alone treatment.
Delivery formats
The studies summarized by the federal fact sheet delivered relaxation training in clinical or self-guided formats, including a relaxation CD, and the fact sheet notes that the training methods varied across studies. Applied relaxation as described in a United Kingdom guideline follows treatment manuals from clinical trials and is delivered by trained and competent practitioners, usually in 12 to 15 weekly one-hour sessions.
What is Relaxation Techniques used for?
Conditions addressed in the literature
The federal fact sheet organizes the research by labor and childbirth, children and adolescents, blood pressure, anxiety, pain including headache, low-back pain, arthritis and fibromyalgia, cancer, sleep, irritable bowel syndrome, menopause and temporomandibular disorder. These are the areas in which researchers have studied the techniques, and the fact sheet reports mixed and often low-quality evidence rather than established benefit for most of them.
Settings where guidelines mention them
Two guideline statements name relaxation-based methods. A United Kingdom guideline lists applied relaxation as an option for people with generalised anxiety disorder who choose a high-intensity psychological intervention, alongside cognitive behavioral therapy. A MASCC and ESMO consensus update states that behavioral therapies, in particular progressive muscle relaxation training, continue to be recommended for anticipatory nausea and vomiting in people receiving chemotherapy. The fact sheet also reports that the American College of Physicians recommends nondrug methods, including progressive muscle relaxation, for initial treatment of chronic low-back pain.
What does the research show?
Overview across the family
The federal fact sheet reports that much of the evidence across conditions is low quality. For labor pain, quality ranged from low to very low. For anxiety disorders, one review found relaxation therapy reduced symptoms and was more effective than cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety in general, but less effective for post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. For sleep, relaxation was described as not especially promising on its own, and for fibromyalgia the evidence was insufficient or unclear.
Anxiety and depression
A 2008 meta-analysis of 27 studies from 1997 to 2007 reported a medium-to-large effect of relaxation training on anxiety (Cohen d 0.57 within groups and 0.51 between groups), with differences by technique. The authors noted that non-randomized designs, possible publication bias, questionnaire-only outcomes and English-only adult studies limit interpretation. A United Kingdom guideline lists applied relaxation for generalised anxiety disorder, while its depression guideline recommendations page does not mention relaxation.
Autogenic training
A 2002 meta-analysis identified 73 controlled studies published from 1952 to 1999 and analyzed 60, of which 35 were randomized trials. It reported medium-to-large effects for before-and-after comparisons, medium effects against real control conditions, and mostly no effect or small negative effects against other psychological treatments. A 2023 review described consistent anxiety reductions but weaker depression findings, small or pragmatic studies and incomplete descriptions of procedures.
Labor, blood pressure and chemotherapy nausea
A 2018 Cochrane review of relaxation methods for labor pain included 19 studies with 2,519 women and graded the evidence low to very low quality, with limited clear benefit in the active phase. A 2008 Cochrane review of relaxation therapies for raised blood pressure judged the evidence for a causal effect weak. For chemotherapy nausea, a review of six trials with 288 patients, mostly low or moderate quality, reported positive effects of progressive muscle relaxation, and a nine-study review reported similar findings across psychological interventions. A title search of Cochrane reviews found labor pain and hypertension reviews but no Cochrane review of progressive muscle relaxation for anxiety or chemotherapy nausea.
What are the safety considerations?
General safety statements
The federal fact sheet states that relaxation techniques are generally considered safe for healthy people and that most studies reported no negative side effects. It also states that people occasionally report increased anxiety, intrusive thoughts or fear of losing control, and that there are rare reports that techniques might cause or worsen symptoms in people with epilepsy, certain psychiatric conditions or a history of abuse or trauma. The Cochrane review of labor pain noted that most trials did not report on safety.
Relaxation-induced anxiety
A 2019 laboratory study defines relaxation-induced anxiety as a spike in anxiety, muscle tension or anxious thoughts during attempts to relax. It reports earlier findings in people with chronic tension, in which 30.8 percent experienced it with progressive muscle relaxation and 53.8 percent with mantra meditation. The study itself involved 89 analyzed participants, mostly undergraduates, and its authors state that it cannot support causal conclusions.
Psychosis and other cautions
An earlier review of autogenic training states that contraindications exist, for example in acute psychosis. A later review of autogenic training notes a 1967 study in which symptoms worsened in several people with schizophrenia after they moved on to meditation exercises, and found no evidence for bipolar disorder, psychotic disorders or acute stress disorder. The sources reviewed do not report specific cautions for muscle tension exercises in people with injuries or pain conditions.
Training and care boundaries
No single credential for the whole family of techniques was found in the sources reviewed. For biofeedback, a professional association states that a certification body sets minimum training standards, and a United Kingdom guideline specifies trained and competent practitioners for applied relaxation. The federal fact sheet advises seeing a health care provider for severe or long-lasting symptoms and following a prescribed treatment plan for blood pressure. This page is information only and does not replace care.
Connected Entries
Showing 8 of 33 related records.
Classification and context
- Entry type
- Modality
- Practice type
- Family of practices that elicit a calmer physiological state
- Traditions
- Behavioral medicine, Clinical psychology, Psychophysiology
- Concepts
- Relaxation response, Progressive muscle relaxation, Autogenic training, Applied relaxation, Diaphragmatic breathing, Biofeedback-assisted relaxation, Guided imagery, Self-suggestion, Relaxation-induced anxiety
- Categories
- Complementary
Sources and discovery context
Research and public-health sources support evidence and safety context. Directory and discovery sources describe navigation, relationships, practitioners, and access—not clinical efficacy.
Federal fact sheet summarizing research on relaxation techniques by condition, with a safety section.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the definition, the list of techniques, condition-by-condition evidence statements and the safety statements. It must not be read as evidence for one technique when it discusses the family or a mixed intervention.
- Supports sections
- Terminology, Practice Description, Claimed Uses, Research and Evidence, Safety and Suitability
Historical review of Jacobson electromyographic work and its legacy for imagery research.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports Jacobson life dates, his 1929 book and his early 1930s physiology articles. It is not a clinical source and must not be read as evidence for the effects of progressive relaxation.
- Supports sections
- History and Origins
Review of autogenic training studies in mental disorders with notes on study quality and patient selection.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the 1932 origin attribution, the general format of autogenic training, summary findings for anxiety and depression and the selection caution in schizophrenia. It does not cover other relaxation techniques.
- Supports sections
- History and Origins, Practice Description, Research and Evidence, Safety and Suitability
Research paper whose introduction defines the relaxation response and lists techniques said to elicit it.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports how the relaxation response is described and that the reference list includes Benson, Beary and Carol (1974) and Benson (1975). The gene-expression findings of the study are not used.
- Supports sections
- History and Origins, Terminology
Meta-analysis of controlled outcome studies of autogenic training published to 1999.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the number of studies, effect size pattern and condition list as stated in the abstract. It covers studies published 1952 to 1999 and must not be read as current or as applying to other relaxation techniques.
- Supports sections
- Research and Evidence
Earlier qualitative review of 64 controlled studies of autogenic training with a statement on contraindications.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the authors statement that contraindications exist for acute psychosis, as given in the abstract. It must not be read as detail about how such cases were assessed.
- Supports sections
- Safety and Suitability
Meta-analysis of 27 studies of relaxation methods for anxiety, with author-stated limitations.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports effect sizes and stated limits for relaxation training and anxiety in studies from 1997 to 2007. It includes non-randomized designs and meditation, so it must not be read as showing that relaxation caused the change.
- Supports sections
- Research and Evidence
Cochrane review of relaxation therapies for raised blood pressure in adults.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the stated conclusion that the evidence for a causal link between relaxation and blood pressure reduction was weak. It reflects trials available to 2008.
- Supports sections
- Research and Evidence
Cochrane update of relaxation methods for labor pain, graded low to very low quality.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports findings on relaxation, yoga, music and mindfulness for labor pain and the statement that most trials did not report safety. It must not be extended to other conditions.
- Supports sections
- Research and Evidence, Safety and Suitability
Qualitative review of six randomized trials of progressive muscle relaxation during chemotherapy.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the number of trials, patient numbers, quality grading and stated findings. The review mainly covered lung and breast cancer and must not be extended to other cancers.
- Supports sections
- Research and Evidence
Review of nine studies of psychological interventions for chemotherapy nausea in women with breast cancer.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports a count of nine studies, four of which examined progressive muscle relaxation training, and the quality limits. Findings combine several psychological interventions.
- Supports sections
- Research and Evidence
MASCC and ESMO consensus update on anticipatory nausea and vomiting.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the statement that behavioral therapies including progressive muscle relaxation training continue to be recommended for anticipatory nausea and vomiting. It does not address nausea after chemotherapy in general.
- Supports sections
- Claimed Uses, Research and Evidence
NICE guideline listing applied relaxation among high-intensity psychological interventions for generalised anxiety disorder.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the recommendation that applied relaxation is one of two high-intensity psychological options for generalised anxiety disorder. It does not cover other relaxation techniques or other conditions, and is a United Kingdom guideline.
- Supports sections
- Claimed Uses, Research and Evidence, Safety and Suitability
NICE depression guideline whose recommendations page contains no mention of relaxation.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports only the statement that the recommendations page does not mention relaxation. This is an absence, not a statement by NICE that relaxation is ineffective.
- Supports sections
- Research and Evidence
Laboratory study of anxiety spikes during relaxation in people with and without anxiety or depression diagnoses.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports a definition of relaxation-induced anxiety and the earlier prevalence figures it cites. It was a laboratory study of 89 mostly undergraduate participants and does not give rates for people seeking treatment.
- Supports sections
- Terminology, Safety and Suitability
Professional association standards describing biofeedback training and certification.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Supports the biofeedback definition and the statement that BCIA sets minimum training standards for biofeedback providers. It covers biofeedback only and says nothing about training for other relaxation techniques.
- Supports sections
- Safety and Suitability, Practice Description
Links to Gyfts Relaxation Techniques page for this practice, for discovery only. The platform's descriptions and claims are not independent claims. Machipedia does not rely on them for evidence.
How this source relates
- Source link
- Exact source page
- Relationship
- Links to Gyfts' page for this practice, for discovery only. The platform's descriptions and claims are not independent evidence, and nothing on this Machipedia page relies on them.
- Supports sections
- Practice Description