Trigger the relaxation response is an important way to counteract the fight or flight response that results from the daily pressures and stress of life. You can deal with anxiety and even panic attacks by practicing progressive muscle relaxation or PMR. This technique involves tensing and releasing distinct muscle groups throughout the body.

Your body is holding a lot of stress! How could it not be? Everyday, we hear more depressing news about the stock market, our retirement savings, our livelihoods and our jobs. We are internalizing all this stress and the sudden shocks to our financial well being may be triggering a more serious anxiety disorder.

So many of us do not realize how stress and worry are affecting us until it is too late and we have had a full blown panic attack or some other crisis. Stopping these problems before they overwhelm you is vital. One of the great ways to relieve mental angst is to attack your physical angst.

We often don't realize how much worry we are holding on our shoulders. Muscles in your back, shoulders and neck can be turned into knots of worry. While most of us are familiar with these sensations, we often don't realize that muscles throughout our body are tensing up, responding to our feelings. It is instinctive to preserve ourselves, the survival instinct is alive and well in all of us.

This desire dates back to our caveman ancestors who had to deal with wild animals daily and do things most of us could never contemplate to survive and eat. Along with this valuable instinct comes the fight or flee instinct which determines the best way for us to survive in certain distressing situations. Do we run like crazy or prepare to fight? Either way, your muscles throughout your body tense up in preparation.

Most of us don't even realize that our body is doing this. We may be upset about a negative review we got, but we aren't going to run for our lives or attack our boss. Your body doesn't realize that and tenses up anyway, creating stress and anxiety and fueling potential panic attacks.

A great way to trigger the relaxation response is to try Progressive Muscle Relaxation or PMR. It is a great way to return your anxious body to its normal state. It can provide almost instant relief to an aching body and an overwhelmed mind.

PMR involves tightening your muscles to their fullest extent, filling them with tension. You hold this tightened position for 10 seconds and then release your muscles. Your muscles will return to a looser, freer state than where they started. By doing this to discrete muscle groups throughout your body, you are triggering the relaxation response, the signal that your body is not in danger and that you don't need to run or fight.

This technique should begin with the right foot, then the right foot and ankle, then the right foot, ankle and lower leg and so forth. You will then need to switch to the other leg and then proceed up the body to the neck, head and face. With practice, you will see positive results to your physiological as well as mental and emotional well being.