Healthy ways to handle life's stressors
Reframing your thoughts around a stressor can help manage your emotions, reducing feelings of stress. Some tips: If you feel yourself ...
progressive muscle relaxation
Relax your muscles: Because stress causes muscles to tense, being stressed out can create tension headaches, backaches, and general fatigue. Combat stress and these symptoms with stretches, massage, or warm baths. Or try <anchor>progressive muscle relaxation</anchor>, a method that has been shown to reduce anxiety and improve overall mental health. To practice progressive muscle relaxation, get in a comfortable position and choose a muscle group, like your lower leg muscles (most practitioners recommend starting with the lower body and working your way up). Inhale and contract the muscles for five to 10 seconds, then exhale and release the muscles suddenly. Relax for 10 or more seconds and then move on to the next muscle group. Another option is passive progressive muscle relaxation. This technique is similar to progressive muscle relaxation but skips the tensing step. Instead, simply picture each muscle group one at a time and focus on relaxing that portion of the body.
The Effects of the Transcendental Mediation Technique and Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Eeg Coherence, Stress Reactivity, and Mental Health in Black Adults: International Journal of Neuroscience: Vol 46, No 1-2
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Original Article

# The Effects of the Transcendental Mediation Technique and Progressive Muscle Relaxation on Eeg Coherence, Stress Reactivity, and Mental Health in Black Adults

Carolyn Gaylord Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff, Arkansas
,
David Orme-Johnson Department of Psychology, Maharishi International University, Fairfield, Iowa
&
Frederick Travis Department of Psychology, Maharishi International University, Fairfield, Iowa

Pages 77-86
|
Received 06 Oct 1988, Published online: 07 Jul 2009

/doi/epdf/10.3109/00207458908991618?needAccess=true

## Abstract

Eighty-three black college students, staff and adults were pretested on EEG coherence, skin potential (SP) habituation to a series of loud tones, psychometric measures of mental health (Tennessee Self-Concept Empirical Scales and Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory) and IQ. They were then randomly assigned to one of the three treatment groups: the Transcendental Meditation technique (TM); Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PR); or cognitive-behavioral strategies (C). Approximately one year later, they were posttested. TM and PR increased significantly on an overall mental health factor ( p <. 036) and anxiety ( p <. 0006). TM showed a greater reduction in neuroticism than PR and C ( p <. 032). TM also showed global increases in alpha and theta coherence among frontal and central leads during the TM period compared to eyes closed ( p <. 016), whereas PR and C did not show EEG state changes. The coherence increases during TM were most marked in the right hemisphere (F4C4). TM showed faster SP habituation at posttest compared to pretest ( p <. 047) whereas PR did not (data was missing for C). None of the groups showed longitudinal changes in EEG, perhaps due to lack of regularity of participation in the treatment programs.

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