I have very little time, and I am under a lot of pressure. Is Autogenic Training something I can benefit from?
The more you are under pressure the more you need a stress relief and relaxation method that gives you fast and reliable results.
Autogenic Training takes no more than fifteen minutes a day, and once learned you will need just a few moments! What are fifteen minutes in comparison to the emotional balance, greater inner freedom, and physiological benefits you gain with Autogenic Training?
Additionally, may I ask you how much time do you spend in front of the television each day? Can you utilize this time and do something for your emotional and physical health?
I go for walks, I work out, and I reduce stress while watching TV. Isn’t this enough to relax?
It may be, it may be not. Physical activity is a great and healthy way to lower your blood pressure, your cortisol level, and has often a relaxing effect.
However, if your lifestyle is hectic and you deal with several internal and/orexternal stressorsyou may need a particular method that engenders your innate ability to stay calm in the midst of chaos and that allows you to cultivate serenity for stressful times.
As for watching TV, this is – like reading – a mental activity that might at best inspire you. Mostly, these activities are distracting and not deeply relaxing.
I find it difficult to believe that repeating the phrases of Autogenic Training really brings about the physiological changes as supposed.
We often do not recognize the power of our mind over the body. We know that we can make ourselves sick with intense negative emotions like anxiety, worry, or anger that persist over a long time. However, we usually do not trust that our emotions and thoughts have the capability to influence our health and well-being in a positive way. Mostly we seek outside help like over-the-counter drugs, or we flee to over-stimulation with TV, partying, or alcohol.
Fortunately, there is more and more research done on the dramatic and positive effects of many mind-over-matter techniques like meditation and guided imagery. Autogenic Training has an extensive history of research from the days of its development down to the present day.
You have influenced your physiology with your mind many times probably without noticing it. Each time when you remember the fun you had the last time you went out with your friends, the excitement of being in love, or each time when you planned a wonderful vacation, you changed beneficially the physiology in your body!
How much time will it take to master Autogenic Training?
How quickly you master Autogenic Training depends on how often you practice. It may take longer for those who are apprehensive to let go of control and to practice in the state of passive concentration. Most participants master Autogenic Training within six to ten weeks with a daily practice.
How long will I have email support after the purchase of my self-study program?
You will have ten days email support from the date the CD is shipped to you.
When you purchase the whole package (six CDs and six booklets), you will have email support for ten weeks from the date of shipping. This period covers
The week it may take for the package to get to you
The six required training weeks
One week for questions after learning the last and sixth phrase
Two additional weeks for the case that you could not complete the program in six weeks but need a little longer.
It depends. In order to follow the program and to successfully apply Autogenic Training, your son needs the mental capacity to understand the basic principles of Autogenic Training like passive concentrationand its rationale. He also must have the self-discipline to practice on a regular basis and imaginative abilities. Only you can decide if your son fulfills these prerequisites.
There are versions of Autogenic Training especially for children, who usually lack the discipline and attention span necessary for common Autogenic Training. My website visitors in the German-speaking countries will have no problems finding these programs. I do not know of any such purchasable program for children in the US or in Canada. Please, let me know if you discover one!
What
do I need in order to participate in your e-course?
A high speed Internet access is highly recommended as the PDF and audio files are relatively large (up to 4.5 MB).
Adobe
Reader to open the PDF files
Adobe Reader is installed on most computers.
If you don't have it, download Adobe Reader for free here:
http://www.adobe.com/
A MP3
player such as RealPlayer to open the audio files
You probably have it already on your computer. If not, download it for
free here:
http://www.real.com/
Yahoo Messenger, a free instant
messaging service
If you don't have it already, download it here:
http://messenger.yahoo.com/
Once you have
signed up for an e-course, I send out further detailed instructions.
To learn more about the e-course and to sign up, click
here.
I found on another website on Autogenic Training a different wording of the six phrases than yours. Can you explain that?
There is a variety of ways to phrase Autogenic Training. Also, you may come across different instructions in terms of how often the phrases are to be repeated and for how long. Some versions of Autogenic Training add instructions between each individual phrase.
Johannes Heinrich Schultz, the father of Autogenic Training, emphasized that every practitioner will develop her/his own Autogenic Training in terms of wording, order, number of repetitions, and added individual phrases just as everyone of us has her/his own unique handwriting.
The Self-Study Program teaches you the full, original, and authentic version as it is taught by the German Association of Psychologists (BDP). In addition, the instructions that come with the program teach you extensively on how to eventually develop your own Autogenic Training.
Can’t I just learn Autogenic Training with a script I have seen on some websites?
From some websites you can download a script for Autogenic Training. I invite you to try them out and to share with me your experiences at info@developserenity.com.
My guess, however, is that you won’t come very far. Most of us have little experiences with the work of our mind, and our attention drifts after a couple of seconds – even under the guiding voice of an experienced teacher! Moreover, you will be left alone with many observations and questions, or you do not know what to pay attention to. You need guidance and instructions for experiences like your dominant arm gets heavier than your non-dominant arm or your arms get warm but not your legs, etc.
Clearly, attempting to learn Autogenic Training merely with a script, you may give up. What a great pity this would be!
With the Self-Study Program, you will listen to my voice helping you to focus on a particular physiological effect thus inducing deep relaxation. The accompanying booklets explain the most common training experiences and give answers to questions that usually arise in newcomers to Autogenic Training. For all your unanswered questions, you are encouraged to utilize my email support.
Some websites sell machines for Autogenic Training. What is that all about?
Some websites offer machines designed to “enhance the effectiveness of Autogenic Training” by influencing brain waves. Nevertheless, you still would need to learn how to successfully apply Autogenic Training!
I have not tried out any of these machines. If you decide to do so, please share your experiences with me at info@developserenity.com.
Machines and special equipment, however, contradict one of the main advantages of Autogenic Training, namely your complete independence from any outside source. Autogenic Training enables you to shift into a state of deep relaxation within moments and anywhere, even in the midst of a crowd of people thus making this highly efficient relaxation method extremely portable.
What is the difference between Autogenic Training and meditation?
Meditation is a diverse term and for most of us, it has a spiritual connotation. All major world religions, especially in their mystical branches, teach some kind of meditation.
The common denominator of different types of meditation is the concentration of the mind. The focus of this concentration, however, varies. It can be the observation of the breath, watching thoughts and emotions, repeating a mantra, or gazing at an object.
Meditation has with Autogenic Training in common that it is a mental activity during which you attune your attention inwardly and keep it focused. Both methods have a profound relaxing effect. Practitioners of meditation, however, usually not only seek relaxation, but spiritual growth.
Autogenic Training can be a great door opener for the more complex realm of meditation.
If you would like to know more about meditation, I strongly recommend Jack Kornfield’s, Meditation for Beginners (audio) or his book, A Path with Heart. Click hereto visit the resource page.
What is the difference between Autogenic Training and hypnosis or self-hypnosis?
The origin of Autogenic Training is rooted in the study of hypnosis. Hypnosis is a state of deep relaxation in which the client/patient is almost oblivious of his/her external environment and highly responsive to the hypnotist’s suggestions for behavioral changes. Hypnosis has many applications such as stopping smoking, losing weight, and pain control.
In self-hypnosis, the deep state of relaxation is not induced by a hypnotist but by the individual himself/herself.
The difference is gradual. Contrarily to the common misconception of hypnosis as a method somebody else applies to you, thus depriving you completely of control, all hypnosis is actually self-hypnosis. Without your subconscious or conscious permission, no hypnotist can induce a state of deep relaxation and work with your subconscious on your problems.
Autogenic Training can be described as a form of –light – self-hypnosis. Both, Autogenic Training and (self-) hypnosis, share the notion that the resources and solutions for many conditions and problems lie within each individual and are easily accessible in a state of deep relaxation.
During Autogenic Training, however, you are usually fully conscious of your inner and outer reality. In his book Autogenic Training, Micah R. Sadigh points out that “extensive electroencephalographic studies have demonstrated that the autogenic state is unique and different from the hypnotic state.”
Additionally, Autogenic Training addresses any desired behavioral change only indirectly, via additional tailored phrases. Its foreground goal is deep relaxation, and therewith facilitating relief from various psychological and physiological conditions.
What is the difference between Autogenic Training and biofeedback?
In the early 70s, psychologists developed a procedure that makes usually imperceptible physiological processes via acoustical or optical signals perceptible. With biofeedback, special equipment gives you feedback of your biological parameter (hence the name). This device records stress-related physiological activities like heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and relays it back to you.
The advantage of biofeedback lies in its ability to accurately and objectively display a variety of even small changes in a patient’s/client’s physiology.
Biofeedback has with Autogenic Training in common that it teaches control of the activities of the autonomous nervous system. But unlike Autogenic Training,
You need special equipment
You need to know how to operate the equipment
It is relatively expensive
You still need to know what to do with the readings and how to relax
What is the difference between Autogenic Training and Progressive Muscle Relaxation?
Progressive muscle relaxation (PMR) is another common stress relief and relaxation method, developed by Edmund Jacobsen in the late 20s. The relaxation here is accomplished by tensioning several muscle groups – one at a time – for several seconds and then releasing them followed by focusing on the resulting sensation of relaxation. The state of relaxation that is generated with PMR is initiated by muscular activity; with Autogenic Training, the shift into relaxation is initiated by the mind.
PMR is indicated for those who feel extremely uncomfortable with the idea of closing the eyes for the initial training sessions and who have a profound fear of losing control.
Autogenic Training is the more elegant relaxation method that allows you to generate the shift into relaxation anywhere, at any time, and unnoticed by others. Moreover, with Autogenic Training, you get a first glimpse into the power of your mind and you gain a more holistic view on your health and well-being in particular, and on life in general.
What is the difference between Autogenic Training and Guided Imagery?
Guided imagery (GI) is a mental activity under the guidance of an instructor or an audio tape. It can be described as guided daydreaming during which we create sensual images that are useful and pleasant for us. We all have experiences in imagery, for example, when we joyfully anticipate our next vacation or remember a painful past event.
The applications for GI are countless and highly effective and therapeutical. For example, Carl Simonton was a pioneer in using GI with his cancer patients, letting them visualize how chemotherapy attacks cancer cells.
The body does not discriminate between imagery and what we call reality. It reacts to the image of sitting on a beautiful meadow under an oak tree on a sunny day and listening to the songs of the birds and to the rustling of the wind in a similar way as to the actual event.
For more information on GI, I strongly recommend Staying Well with GuidedImagery by Belleruth Naparstek. Click here to visit the resource page.
GI has with Autogenic Training in common the utilization of the power of the mind. The main differences are the following:
Although Autogenic Training encourages developing imagery that enhances for example the experience of abdominal warmth with the solar plexus phrase (the practitioner may imagine sunrays hitting his/her abdominal area), – the main “tool” here is repetition of the phrase in a state of passive concentration.
Autogenic Training is foremost a relaxation method that indirectly improves a variety of psychological and physiological conditions. For GI, the practitioner sets a direct goal like reducing the number of cancer cells, releasing grief, getting in touch with his/her spiritual guide, or having a peak performance at the next competition.
GI and Autogenic Training can supplement each other. For GI, however, you need a trained therapist or an audio tape with the GI that fits exactly your needs.
"I am very hyperactive. With this class, I realize that I can approach unpleasant situations much more calmly. I am so much more in touch with myself. I finally can calm down!" Kathy N.
