1Scan your body, unclench the jaw, drop the shoulders, soften the hands. Let the tension out on each breath.
Emotion tightens the body; the body can loosen the emotion back. Release the grip one part at a time.
Where it sits. DBT Distress Tolerance, TIP skills; physiological down-regulation
Islamic evidence
You, soul at peace (Quran 89:27). Softening the body is a way of listening back toward the settled soul.
“‘[But] you, soul at peace”
Qur'an 89:27
Psychological evidence
Gently attending to the body and releasing tension steadies the emotional response; loosening the clench in the body quiets the alarm the mind is running.
Arch, J. J. and Craske, M. G. (2006). Behaviour Research and Therapy · doi
Briefly focusing attention on the present, through the breath, steadies emotional responses to distressing material.
Review detail
Why it works. Deliberately relaxing tensed muscles, part by part, lowers the physical arousal that feeds the feeling.