Progressive Muscle Relaxation Developed by Edmund Jacobson in the 1920s, this technique gets you to monitor and control tension in your muscles. You deliberately tense sets of muscles, and release. Starting at your toes, you work your way up slowly to your head and face. Research has shown PMR to be effective in reducing depression and tension (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3289204), as well as being an effective method of pain relief (www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=s