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What is autogenic training and what does it do?
Autogenic training is a relaxation technique that points the way to complete inner peace. Developed in the 1930s by the Bernese psychiatrist JH Schultz and introduced to a wider audience for the first time, autogenic training is now one of the most popular Western relaxation techniques.
You can learn autogenic training in a group or in private lessons. Group training also offers the opportunity to exchange ideas with like-minded people. You will quickly realize that you are by no means the only one affected by stress, anxiety, sleep disorders or inexplicable pain. This self-knowledge is often a good basis for healing.
The relaxation method is based on the technique of autosuggestion and aims to influence the internal organs and the psyche. In this way, physical tension can be released and psychosomatic complaints can be improved or even healed. Autogenic training proves to be particularly helpful
- chronic tension
- thought carousel
- Burn-out-Syndrom
- pronounced (test) fears
- lack of ability to concentrate
Although autogenic training requires regular training with a series of exercises that build on one another, most participants find a more positive attitude to life after just a few sessions and can approach their everyday life more relaxed. This is particularly helpful for women, who often reach their limits with their multiple burdens as mother, housewife and gainful employment.
Clear distinction from hypnosis
With the help of autogenic training, you will learn to strengthen your self-confidence and to independently control psychosomatic complaints such as headaches and back pain, irritable stomach and abdominal pain. Although this relaxation method with its muscle relaxation and its calm and slowed breathing is strongly reminiscent of the state of hypnosis, it is clearly distinguished from it.
The self-relaxation exercises practiced during autogenic training are said to lead the participants to independence and self-awareness. In hypnosis , on the other hand, the trance state is constantly brought about by the therapist, i.e. from the outside.
In three steps to complete relaxation
Autogenic training is divided into three stages that build on one another:
• Elementary
Stressbau
Some health insurance companies even cover the costs for a short autogenic training session. Here, for example
• Intermediate
• Advanced While the advanced
and intermediate levels want to enable exciting journeys into the subconscious and often require years of training, you can usually learn the pleasant basic exercises of the first level within a few weeks. This basic level is also offered in many cities as a multi-day seminar, an option that is particularly popular with working women and young mothers.
Basic exercises bring the body into harmony
The basic level is divided into a total of six exercise units, each of which extends over a period of three to 15 minutes. You will learn to connect each exercise unit with a specific, formulaic sentence. This reinforces the practice effect, since one’s own voice exerts the greatest influence on our subconscious. Although you can choose these words individually, you should not deviate from them in the following:
• Heavy exercise
It serves to relax the muscles of the arms and legs and ensures calm and even breathing. You consciously concentrate on your limbs and their weight.
• Heat exercise
You will learn how to use autosuggestion to dilate the blood vessels in your arms and legs and in this way create a pleasant warmth in your limbs.
• Heart Exercise
This exercise increases confidence in your most valuable organ, the heart. Listen to yourself and feel the steady heartbeat.
If you suffer from excessive fears of sudden cardiac death or if you have lost a close relative to a heart attack in the past, you should only practice this exercise unit in a group.
• Quigong – the breathing exercise
Many people have forgotten how to breathe consciously and evenly. Follow the trail of your breath and feel the ease when the tension in your entire chest and abdominal region is released.
• Solar plexus or solar plexus
This plexus of highly sensitive nerve fibers is located just below the breastbone and influences internal organs such as the stomach, liver, intestines and kidneys. Since these nerve fibers are often regarded as the fear center, this exercise is of crucial importance. Triggered by a very pleasant flowing heat, participants often report that their psychosomatic complaints such as heartburn or indigestion subside spontaneously.
• Head exercise
The head exercise forms the conclusion of the autogenic training and helps you regain freshness and new energy. It is only practiced during the day. If the autogenic training in the evening is supposed to promote a healthy night’s sleep, simply do without this training unit.
Always remember that autogenic training is a way of life and not a short-term miracle cure. In order to achieve perfection, you should set aside time for your exercise sessions every day, preferably several times a day.
Some people find these techniques easy to learn, others need more patience. Don’t be too strict with yourself, especially at the beginning. It can often be observed that very performance-oriented, physically and mentally stressed participants need more time to find more inner peace and serenity.
