Progressive muscle relaxation is an exercise in which you tense your muscles and then focus on consciously relaxing them again, all while breathing deeply. This helps you to learn what it feels like when your muscles are tensed, so that you can relax them when you feel stress tension coming on in the future.

1. Starting from your head down, focus on a particular group of muscles.
2. Take a deep breath over a span of eight seconds and tighten these muscles while doing this, e.g. pull your face into a grimace to tighten your facial muscles.
3. Release the muscles suddenly, while slowly breathing out.
4. Repeat the above steps in this order: neck, shoulders, chest, stomach, right arm and hand, left arm and hand, buttocks, right leg and foot, and left leg and foot.
5. After you’ve completed all of the muscle groups, relax for 10 – 15 seconds and repeat. The exercises shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.
6. When you’ve finished the whole exercise, count to 20 and get up slowly.

Deep breathing has a multitude of benefits, including decreasing stress, lowering blood pressure, and improving the well-being of those with anxiety and depression. It acts as a signal to your brain to relax, which could reduce how bothersome your tinnitus is.

1. Exhale completely through your mouth.
2. Inhale through your nose for four seconds – make sure that you’re using a “longer” count here, e.g. ‘One-thousand-one, one-thousand-two…’
3. Hold your breath for four seconds.
4. Exhale through your mouth for 6 – 8 seconds.
5. Repeat this cycle 20 times.

Guided imagery is an exercise in which you imagine yourself in a very relaxing environment – and has also been shown to promote relaxation, decrease stress, and lower blood pressure.

1. Keep your eyes closed after finishing the deep breathing exercise. If you can, continue with deep breathing while completing this exercise.
2. Imagine that you are in the most relaxing environment – whatever that means for you, for example lying on the beach, floating in water, or floating on a cloud.
3. Try to imagine with all of your senses what it feels like to be in this environment – imagine the smell, sound, the feel on your skin, the taste (if applicable).
4. You can play the Widex Zen tones, SoundRelax™ tones, or your own relaxing imagery sound (e.g. fire crackling, ocean waves, babbling brook) while doing this exercise.
5. When you’re finished, count to 20 and then slowly get up.