Relaxation Techniques And Sleep: EEG Analysis Of Brain Waves Shows They Aren’t Just About Stress Reduction

EEG Spectral Analysis of Relaxation Techniques Shows That They Are Not Just For Feeling Calm

What Your Brain Waves Reveal About Relaxation Techniques

Have you ever wondered what happens in your brain when you meditate or practice relaxation techniques?

While we often focus on how relaxation makes us feel—calmer, less stressed, more centered, it turns out that relaxation techniques are not just about the stress system or sympathetic nervous system (SNS) - there's a lot more happening beneath the surface, specifically in our brain wave patterns.

So what does research say about how relaxation techniques affect our central nervous system?

And what does this have to do with sleep and sleep disorders?

The Brain Science Behind Relaxation

Relaxation techniques (RT) have become widely accepted tools for treating various health conditions, from hypertension and headaches to anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, and they are often included as part of CBT for insomnia (Stetter & Kupper, 2002; Penzien et al., 2002; Morin et al., 1994). But while we know these techniques work, scientists have been curious about exactly how they affect our brains.

Most previous research has focused on how relaxation techniques affect our peripheral nervous system—things like heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. But there's been an underlying assumption that these changes must start in the brain.

After all, our central nervous system (CNS) is the brain and spinal cord, pretty much the command center for everything else.

But here's the interesting part: despite the widespread use of relaxation techniques, relatively little research has directly measured what happens in the brain during these practices.

So what is going in the brain when we practice relation activities?

Measuring Brain Waves During Relaxation

In a controlled, randomized study published in the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, researchers Gregg D. Jacobs and Richard Friedman set out to measure exactly what happens in the brain during relaxation techniques compared to simply listening to relaxing music.

Choosing relaxing music allowed the experimenters to compare relaxation techniques to a widely used relaxation strategy that research has shown to be effective for improving mood and reducing tension (Thayer, 1996).

The study involved 36 participants who were randomly assigned to either practice relaxation techniques or listen to relaxing music daily for six weeks. After this training period, researchers measured their brain activity using EEG (electroencephalography) while they practiced their respective techniques.

EEG measures electrical activity in different parts of the brain and can detect various types of brain waves. Here’s a general breakdown of our brain waves:

Typical brain activity, frequency range and characteristics from EEG analysis

The researchers focused on the following two types of brain waves because previous studies had suggested they might change during relaxation practices:

• Alpha waves (8-12.75 Hz): Associated with relaxed wakefulness, especially when your eyes are closed

• Theta waves (4-7.75 Hz): Associated with drowsiness, meditation, and the transition to sleep

Relaxation Techniques: Theta Waves Are the Key

The results were clear and significant: participants who practiced relaxation techniques showed much greater increases in theta brain wave activity across multiple regions of the brain compared to those who listened to music.

Specifically, the relaxation techniques group showed significantly greater increases in theta activity in the central, parietal, and occipital regions of the brain, with a trend toward increased theta in the temporal region as well.

The researchers also checked whether other factors might explain the differences in brain activity. They found no significant differences between the relaxation technique and music groups in:

• Sleep duration: How long they slept the night before the session.

• Practice frequency: How often they practiced their relaxation technique.

• Treatment credibility: How confident they were that their technique would work

The researchers noted:

"These findings are consistent with widespread reductions in cortical arousal during RT (relaxation techniques)"

In other words, relaxation techniques appear to create a state of reduced brain activity across large areas of the brain.

Interestingly, while many previous studies had reported increased alpha activity during relaxation techniques, this study found that theta activity—not alpha—appears to be the most reliable marker of the brain's response to relaxation techniques.

Are Relaxation Techniques Similar to Light Sleep?

One of the most intriguing findings from this study is how similar the brain state during relaxation techniques is to Stage 1 sleep—that transitional state between wakefulness and sleep.

Stage 1 sleep is characterized by a gradual shift from predominantly alpha waves (relaxed wakefulness with eyes closed) to the appearance of theta waves mixed with alpha, followed by predominantly theta activity.

Most people awakened from this state report being awake, not asleep, and sleep researchers typically consider Stage 2 sleep (marked by EEG patterns known as sleep spindles or K-complexes) as the true onset of sleep (Morin, 1993).

The researchers further commented:

"When the EEG records from meditation are scored using sleep staging criteria, a high percentage of Stage 1 sleep is noted"

However, they found no evidence of Stage 2 sleep patterns in the relaxation techniques group, suggesting that participants were maintaining a state balanced between waking and true sleep—what they described as a "suspended" Stage 1 sleep state that was consciously induced.

This is important because it suggests that relaxation techniques may allow us to access some of the restorative benefits of sleep while remaining conscious.

As the researchers put it, relaxation techniques may

"serve a cerebral energy conservation/restoration function by allowing the cortex to go offline from its normal activating, energy demanding role of processing complex, stressful stimuli"

Why This Matters for Your Health

The finding that relaxation techniques produce greater reductions in central nervous system activity than music (which itself has been shown to be relaxing) has important implications for understanding how these practices benefit our health.

While the therapeutic effects of relaxation have traditionally been attributed to reductions in sympathetic nervous system activity (reductions in the “stress response” aka the "fight or flight" response), these results suggest that relaxation techniques may exert their primary effects through reductions in central nervous system (i.e. brain) activity.

This helps explain why relaxation techniques can be effective for such a wide range of health conditions.

By creating a state of reduced brain activity similar to the early stages of sleep, these practices may:

• Give the brain a chance to rest and restore energy

• Reduce the mental processing of stressful stimuli

• Allow the body's natural healing mechanisms to operate more efficiently

Practical Takeaways

If you're interested in experiencing these brain-wave changes for yourself, the relaxation techniques used in this study incorporated three key elements:

• A body scan (systematically bringing awareness to different parts of the body)

• Breathing

• Mental focusing techniques

Participants practiced for 20 minutes once daily over six weeks. The consistency of practice appears to be important—the average practice frequency was 5.7 times per week for the relaxation techniques group.

What's nice is that these brain changes were measured after just six weeks of practice. This suggests that even relatively new practitioners can experience significant changes in brain activity with regular practice.

We would also strongly suggest that relaxation techniques are not used to “try to fall asleep” - this is not what they are for. You can’t get yourself to sleep by effort. Instead, see relaxation techniques as separate from sleep and initially do them during the day, or at the very start of winding down for the night.

The Better Sleep Clinic’s Clinical Comment

This research provides evidence that relaxation techniques create measurable changes in brain activity, particularly increases in theta waves across multiple brain regions. These changes appear to reflect a state of reduced cortical arousal that shares similarities with Stage 1 sleep and likely help to restore and recharge the brain.

Being able to restore brain energy is extremely important for those experiencing sleep disorders such as insomnia.

Why?

Well, first, studies show that chronic insomnia sufferers have elevated brain activity. It’s common for those with insomnia to complain of a “busy brain” that “won’t switch off”.

Second, those with chronic insomnia experience high levels of fatigue. They do not typically experience sleepiness (literally: falling asleep/inability to stay awake). What do we mean by fatigue if it isn’t sleepiness? Fatigue is a condition characterised a lack of energy in the brain (e.g. fogginess) or body (e.g. heavy limbs).

Putting those two points together, because sleep is a time when different areas of the brain go offline and “recover”, it is possible that the fatigue experienced in insomnia is caused by the elevated brain activity, an overactive brain, that is not getting a chance to recover during sleep (the elevated brain activity may also account for aspects of the sleep disruption experienced in insomnia as well).

High levels of fatigue are distressing for those with insomnia and a predictor for not being successful with insomnia treatment.

While we can reduce fatigue via improving sleep through treatments such as CBT for insomnia, relaxation techniques may be an important way to allow the brain to recharge and gain some recovery without sleep itself. This reduction in fatigue may then assist insomnia treatment via reducing daytime distress from the fatigue. A more “recovered” brain may then allow the nighttime sleep to be experienced as more “refreshing” as well.

So the next time you sit down to meditate or practice a relaxation technique, remember that it’s not just about feeling more relaxed—you're actually shifting your brain into a different state of functioning, one that may help restore and rejuvenate your central nervous system and the neurons of the brain.

And while relaxing music and exercise and all those other things that people say “chill me out” certainly have benefits, this research suggests that structured relaxation techniques, including progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), paced breathing, and meditation may offer deeper neurological benefits.

As the researchers concluded, relaxation techniques "may exert their therapeutic effects, in part, through cerebral energy conservation/restoration" (Jacobs & Friedman, 2004).

And for everyone else without insomnia, hey, in our constantly stimulated modern world, giving our brains this kind of rest might be one of the most valuable gift we can offer ourselves.

The study was published in the journal Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, (Jacobs & Friedman, 2004).

References

Budzynski, T. (1976). Biofeedback and twilight states of consciousness. In G. Schwartz & D. Shapiro (Eds.), Consciousness and self-regulation, (Vol. 1, pp. 131–141). New York: Plenum.

Hobson, J. A., Pace-Schott, E. F., & Stickgold, R. (2000). Consciousness: Its vicissitudes in waking and sleep. In M. Gazzaniga (Ed.), The new cognitive neurosciences (pp. 1341–1354). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Jacobs, G. D., & Friedman, R. (2004). EEG spectral analysis of relaxation techniques. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 29(4), 245-254.

Jacobs, G. D., & Lubar, J. F. (1989). Spectral analysis of the central nervous system effects of the relaxation response elicited by autogenic training. Behavioral Medicine, 15, 125–132.

Morin, C. M. (1993). Insomnia: Psychological management and assessment. New York: Guilford Press.

Morin, C. M., Culbert, J. P., & Schwartz, S. M. (1994). Nonpharmacological interventions for insomnia: A meta-analysis of treatment sleep efficacy. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1172–1178.

Penzien, D. B., Rains, J. C., & Andrasik, F. (2002). Decades of experience and empiricism. Applied Behavioral management of recurrent headache: Three desychophysiology and Biofeedback, 27, 163–181.

Stetter, F., & Kupper, S. (2002). Autogenic training: A meta-analysis of clinical outcome studies. Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 27, 45–98.

Thayer, R. (1996). The origins of everyday moods. New York: Guilford Press.

Wallace, R. K., Benson, H., & Wilson, A. (1971). A wakeful hypometabolic state. American Journal of Physiology, 221, 795–799.

West, M. A. (1980). Meditation and the EEG. Psychological Medicine, 10, 369–375.

Frequently Asked Questions About Relaxation Techniques for Sleep and Insomnia

Can relaxation techniques really help with chronic insomnia?

Yes, research strongly supports the effectiveness of relaxation techniques for treating chronic insomnia. Studies show that structured relaxation practices can significantly improve sleep quality and reduce the time it takes to fall asleep. According to research, relaxation techniques work by reducing central nervous system arousal, creating brain wave patterns (particularly increased theta waves) that resemble the early stages of sleep (Jacobs & Friedman, 2004). Clinical trials have demonstrated that these techniques can be as effective as some sleep medications but without side effects, making them a sustainable long-term solution for insomnia sufferers (Morin et al., 1994). However, they are not as effective as full Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia, CBT-i (American Academy of Sleep Medicine, 2008)

What are the best relaxation techniques for fighting fatigue and improving sleep quality?

The most effective relaxation techniques for combating fatigue and enhancing sleep quality combine three key elements: body scanning (systematically relaxing different body parts), controlled breathing exercises, and mental focusing techniques. Research indicates that practices incorporating these elements produce significant changes in brain activity that promote restorative sleep (Jacobs & Friedman, 2004). Progressive muscle relaxation, guided imagery, mindfulness meditation, and autogenic training have all shown clinical benefits for sleep improvement. For optimal results, practice your chosen technique for 15-20 minutes daily, ideally in the early evening or as part of your bedtime routine, rather than only when experiencing insomnia.

How long does it take for relaxation techniques to improve sleep and reduce fatigue?

Most people begin experiencing improvements in sleep quality and reduced fatigue within 2-3 weeks of regular practice of relaxation techniques. Research shows that significant changes in brain wave patterns can be measured after six weeks of consistent practice (Jacobs & Friedman, 2004). However, individual responses vary—some people notice benefits after just a few sessions, while others may require 8-12 weeks of regular practice to experience substantial improvements. Consistency is key: studies show that practicing 5-6 times weekly produces better results than sporadic practice. For chronic insomnia sufferers, combining relaxation techniques with other cognitive-behavioral approaches for insomnia can accelerate improvements.

How do relaxation techniques affect the brain differently than sleep medications for insomnia?

Unlike sleep medications that chemically induce sleep, relaxation techniques naturally shift the brain into a state that resembles Stage 1 sleep—the transition between wakefulness and deeper sleep. Research using EEG measurements shows that relaxation techniques specifically increase theta brain wave activity across multiple brain regions, creating a "suspended" Stage 1 sleep state that allows the brain to rest and restore energy (Jacobs & Friedman, 2004). This natural approach helps retrain the brain's sleep patterns over time, while sleep medications often lose effectiveness with continued use and can disrupt natural sleep architecture. Additionally, relaxation techniques address the underlying hyperarousal that contributes to insomnia and fatigue, providing a more sustainable solution without the risk of dependence or side effects.

Can relaxation techniques help with both sleep onset insomnia and fatigue from poor sleep quality?

Yes, relaxation techniques have been proven effective for both difficulty falling asleep (sleep onset insomnia) and fatigue resulting from poor sleep quality. For sleep onset problems, these techniques reduce the hyperarousal that keeps the mind racing at bedtime by increasing theta brain wave activity, which naturally occurs during the transition to sleep (Jacobs & Friedman, 2004). For fatigue related to poor sleep quality, regular practice of relaxation techniques has been shown to increase the amount of deep, restorative sleep by reducing disruptions during the night. Research indicates that these benefits extend beyond nighttime, with practitioners reporting reduced daytime fatigue, improved energy levels, and better cognitive function throughout the day (Stetter & Kupper, 2002).