Abstract
Nine hundred and forty practitioners of massage, abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), yoga stretching, breathing, imagery, meditation, and various combination treatments described their technique experiences on an 82-item wordlist. Factor analysis yielded 10 interpretable relaxation categories: Joyful Affects and Appraisals (Joyful), Distant, Calm, Aware, Prayerful, Accepted, Untroubled, Limp, Silent, and Mystery. The relaxation response and cognitive/somatic specificity models predict Calm and Limp, which account for only 5.5% of the variance of relaxation experience. Unlike much of previous relaxation research, we found important technique differences. PMR and massage are associated with Distant and Limp; yoga stretching, breathing, and meditation with Aware; meditation with Prayerful, and all techniques except PMR with Joyful. Results are consistent with cognitive-behavioral relaxation theory and have implications for relaxation theory, treatment, training, assessment, and research. We close with a revised model of relaxation that posits three global dimensions: tension-relief, passive disengagement, and passive engagement.
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This article is based in part on the doctoral dissertation of Alberto Amutio at the University of Deusto in Bilbao, Spain and the Masters Thesis of John Anderson at Roosevelt University in Chicago. We wish to thank Keenan Ferrell, Psy.D., for data on 154 yoga practitioners supplied from his doctoral dissertation at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, and Susan Burroughs and Sharon Gale for help in collecting data. We especially wish to thank Jerome Fleming, Ph.D., for his help on the statistics, and SYSTAT for statistical advice. Authors are listed according to degree of contribution, with JPA and LA contributing primarily to data collection and input.
For information on acquiring the Smith Relaxation Inventory (SRI), an experimental version of a questionnaire designed to measure relaxation factor categories, contact the first author.
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Smith, J.C., Amutio, A., Anderson, J.P. et al. Relaxation: Mapping an uncharted world. Biofeedback and Self-Regulation 21, 63–90 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02214150
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02214150