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About suggestions — theory.
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Autogenic training (autotraining, AT) — a common method of self-regulation of mental states with the help of self-hypnosis, developed by I.G. Schultz (1932).
JSC Natalia Dvorkina
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The idea of auto-training
Regular self-hypnosis is unstable. If a person inspires himself with traditional formulas: “My affairs are getting better and better every day in every respect!” (Emile Coue’s formula), but at the same time he says this with an ironic intonation, looking wistfully at credit claims and a letter announcing his dismissal, the real effect of self-hypnosis will be negative: non-verbal (in this case, negative) has more inspiring power than the correct text itself . Therefore, if a person is in frustration, resentment, indignation and other negative emotions, then what the effect of self-hypnosis will be on such an emotional background is difficult to say.
Self-training
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Auto-training is built on the fact that its first stage is relaxation. Relaxation is a way to remove a negative emotional background, a way to remove negative leads to subsequent targeted self-hypnosis. Negative tension is recorded mainly in muscle tension and muscle clamps (collar zone, hands, diaphragm …), and the removal of muscle tension removes the negative emotional background. Auto-training teaches a person to relax, and a relaxed person becomes like a blank sheet of paper, on which any new, useful suggestions can now be effectively written down.
In summary: at the first stage of auto-training, a person relaxes himself with the help of special self-suggestions, cleanses himself of negative tension. At the second stage, he either simply rests, or gives himself special, useful suggestions (for example, giving him confidence, motivating him to this or that business, changing his attitude to some event or person). The third stage is the exit from the state of relaxation, the exit into a vigorous life with a general state of calm and energy.
Body position for AT
The best thing for auto-training is to lie down. Lie on your back, arms along the body. There should be no crosses of either arms or legs. Palms up or down, whichever is more comfortable.
If it is not possible to lie down, you can sit in a comfortable chair, preferably with a headrest or behind a wall. The main thing is that the head does not fall anywhere. You don’t have to stretch your legs or pick them up for yourself — it all turns out to be uncomfortable. They stand a little forward and so that they do not fall anywhere either to the left or to the right. No crosses or arms or legs.
The first stage is relaxation
Unlike Schultz’s slightly cumbersome system, today’s practice uses only the basic suggestions for relaxation, namely four:
1. Pleasant peace and relaxation. This formula is repeated in various variations in relation to the whole body, in relation to the arms (left arm, right arm, separately shoulders, forearms, hands), in relation to the legs, in relation to the face (The face is resting. I feel a pleasant calmness and relaxation of my face).
Sample text for autogenic immersion you can see here…
2. Pleasant heaviness. There is nothing far-fetched here: arms, legs, the whole body have real heaviness, but in the normal state people do not feel this heaviness. If the hands relax, then you can feel the heaviness of the whole arm, and the heaviness of a separate hand. At the same time, the feeling of heaviness is a bit paradoxical: the feeling of heaviness of the arms, legs, and the whole body is combined with a general state of lightness (as after a good bath). So, the formula of pleasant heaviness is also repeated in a variety of variations for the arms, legs, face, whole body …
3. Pleasant warmth. As the arms and legs become more relaxed, blood flow improves and the arms and legs become warmer. On the other hand, when a person concentrates on calm attention to the warmth of the hands and feet, they warm up and relax even more. Again — the heat formula is played out in all variants, in relation to both the hand and the forearm, and each arm as a whole, then the legs, the stomach (the face is usually not needed). From the topic of warmth, it is good to move on to breathing, because it is easy to feel your warmth by breathing in air that is cooler than body temperature.
4. Breathing is even and calm, I breathe easily. You don’t need to control your breathing, but it’s good to calmly track how the air comes to you and how you release it. It’s nice to track how slightly cool air feels at first when you inhale it, and soon gets lost, warming up in you with your warmth. Pleasant sensations when you calmly let go of already warm air, the same as you.
5. Actually, after that you are already relaxed. The final key formula helps many: “The body loses its shape, you lose its boundaries, it becomes everywhere and nowhere, the head seems to be thrown back, and you find yourself …” — then free fantasy, because a person ends up anywhere. The second stage of AT begins.
Stages of the first stage of AT (Relaxation, Heaviness, Warmth, Calm breathing) are done in stages, one after another — but not in the way you think. You have to do it even more step by step than you do.
Namely, the first week (for example, a week) you learn only the first stage: Relaxation. Perhaps it can take you 15 minutes — until you go through the whole body, over every detail of the face, over each finger of the hand, until you begin to feel relaxation in your legs … — in short, you have enough tasks.
The second week you go through Relaxation quickly, let’s say in 5 minutes, and you devote the next 10 minutes to feeling heaviness. And for a week you run these two suggestions until they begin to arise together, quickly and deeply.
Third week — in 5 minutes you go through Relaxation + Heaviness, then 10 minutes to master Heat. By the end of the third week, the sensations of Relaxation + Heaviness + Warmth appear in a couple of minutes, the sensations are stable and deep.
The fourth week — according to the same scheme, add Calm breathing.
And for the fifth week, learn to go through all these stages of autogenic immersion in a variety of situations: lying, sitting, standing, while hanging on the horizontal bar. Practice relaxing when you’re vaccinated, practice falling asleep when you’re having your teeth fixed, practice deep body relaxation during acute conflict. Then learn to relax almost instantly after any difficult conflict.
You can work one more week and relive the various emotionally difficult situations of your life against the backdrop of relaxation. And also think about what situations you are even afraid to think about, and then learn to imagine them as realistically as possible at the same time as deep relaxation.
Can you handle it?
The second stage of autotraining
The second stage is the time for any specialized suggestions. Suggestions can be direct, textual, and indirect — suggestions by images. See →
If no special suggestions are made, the person usually just falls asleep and has a wonderful rest, for example, until the morning. During the day, you can give yourself a suggestion to wake up in 10 minutes, and then in 10 minutes you will wake up and be alert and rested.
The third stage of auto-training
You are well rested, you are full of strength and energy. You are filled with energy, you really want to live and do everything that you have planned for yourself. It’s time to return. You return yourself to the room where you are sitting or lying at that time, you feel yourself, your hands, your fingers that can move, your lips that can move … You want to stretch, you stretch, and then open your eyes with a smile. You woke up! You had a great rest!
Mastering
The optimal mode of mastering AT is to practice 5 times a day for 5 minutes. As a rule, after 2 weeks, the state of relaxation will appear steadily. After another 2 weeks of classes, you will have the ability to relax before stressful situations — before a difficult conversation, exams, before public speaking, and you will always fall asleep easily and quickly in the evening. After another month, you can use AT to fall asleep during the day for 10 minutes, waking up rested.
Effects of autogenic training
Those who have mastered AT and are regularly engaged in it can calm down, effectively relieve physical and mental stress. What is of great importance for the prevention of overwork, neuroses and psychosomatic diseases — i.e. diseases, the source of which is stress (hypertension, coronary heart disease, gastritis, peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, ulcerative colitis, bronchial asthma, eczema, psoriasis, allergies, the list goes on).
AT helps to quickly relax. Restoration of strength in the autogenous state is much faster than during sleep, simple lying down, watching TV or listening to music.
With the help of AT, you can independently regulate such body functions as blood circulation, heart rate and respiration, brain blood supply, which is very important for the treatment of psychosomatic diseases. AT helps fight pain.
AT gives positive results in many other areas. It activates mental and physical functions, such as attention, memory, imagination, the ability to exercise, helps to overcome bad habits through rational stress management, emotional and intellectual activation.
Articles and books on AT:
- N.N. Petrov. Autogenic training for you.
- Yuri Pakhomov. Entertaining auto-training