020. Progressive Muscle Relaxation Audio
What is good without bad?
What is heaven without hell?
What is sleep without wakefulness?
What is relaxation without tension?
In a recent call with one of my baseball athletes, we talked about relaxing at the plate before his at-bat.
Tyler: “Since you like to feel relaxed, what’s one action you can physically take to relax at the plate?”
Baseball Player: “Take a deep breath.”
Tyler: “Good. What’s one more action? What can you do WHILE you’re taking a breath?”
Baseball Player: “I’m not sure…”
This led us into talking about tension and relaxation and how you can’t recognize one without the other. From there, I took him through a round of progressive muscle relaxation - where you tense and release tension in muscles around your body. Experience it for yourself by giving the audio up top a listen.
PMR In ACTION
In almost every sport, you can use this to your benefit, help you relax your body and calm your mind, and give yourself the best shot at executing the next play.
Here’s a quick video of Joc Pederson using progressive relaxation to get back to a relaxed body, calm mind state (after the ump made a questionable call). Notice the shoulders slightly tensing up towards his ears and back down.
How can PMR help you?
Progressive muscle relaxation can help lower blood pressure, decrease anxiety, reduce fatigue, decrease time to sleep onset, and improve quality of life.
Want to perform at your highest level, check out the audio up top today. There’s even a sweet download button so you can take it with you anywhere and everywhere you go. Next time you feel stressed, pop that puppy into the cassette player and let the joy of relaxation ensue.