What is Autogenics?
Autogenic Therapy (AT) is a powerful and scientifically validated deep relaxation technique that empowers you to reduce your stress and anxiety in minutes. It enables you to tap into the body’s innate healing capacity to restore health and well-being. AT encompasses a series of simple exercises aim to switch off the stress-related ‘fight and flight’ system of the body and switch on the ‘rest, relaxation and recreation’ system.
AT has been called a Western form of meditation as, unlike many forms of meditation, it has no religious or cultural overtones, and requires no special clothing or difficult postures. The passive state is used help break through the viscous circle of excessive stress, whatever its origins. Once learnt, these techniques form a lifelong skill that can become part of a health-promoting lifestyle.
The History Autogenics Therapy
In the 1880s, Psychiatrist and neuro-physiologist Dr Oskar Vogt from the Berlin Neuro Biological Institute, observed that some patients were able to put themselves in a self-hypnotic state which seemed to have positive effects on their recuperation. Along with his colleague, Korbinian Brodmann, Dr Vogt experimented with a range of self-hypnosis techniques which he found could relieve many stress-related symptoms and diseases. His work provided the inspiration for psychiatrist and neurologist Dr Johannes Schultz in the early 1900s, who continued to investigate the therapeutic potential of auto-hypnosis exercises from which autogenic training emerged.
How does Autogenics Therapy work?
There six autogenic standard exercises which form the basis of a weekly Autogenics Therapy course. You do the exercises while seated or lying comfortably with your eyes closed. Each week you learn simple formulas which you silently repeat while focusing your attention on different parts of the body and the sensations associated with a relaxed state: heaviness in the limbs, then warmth, a calm regular heartbeat, quiet breathing, warmth in the abdomen and coolness in the forehead. These simple mental exercises allow the body to enter deep states of relaxation and experience relief from the negative effects of stress. It is a relaxed mindful awareness in which you become the passive observer who simply accepts and witnesses your bodily sensations, thoughts and feelings without judgement. The key is not to try too hard but to let the mind-body system heal itself.
Following an initial personal assessment, the AT techniques are learnt over 8 to 10 weekly sessions individually (1 hr) or in small groups (90-120 mins). The exercises are practised for about 10 minutes three times daily. A brief daily record of experiences is kept so that the therapist can monitor progress and help tailor the training course to your individual needs. AT is practised in a quiet, comfortable setting in three standard postures: simple sitting posture; reclining armchair posture; horizontal posture.
What are the Benefits of Autogenics Therapy?
Autogenic Therapy elicits the body's innate self-healing processes which induce rest, repair and recuperation; as well as boosting the immune system and restoring emotional balance. Scientific studies have shown AT to be a potent tool in preventative medicine, and an effective antidote to stress-related disorders of many kinds. It can relieve tension and insomnia, migraines, asthma, depression, high blood pressure, panic attacks, muscular pain and tension, anxiety, examination nerves, irritable bowel syndrome and several others. AT has been used by people of all walks of life to enhance healing, performance and creativity. It has been taught to international sports men and women to enhance performance, to airline pilots and crew to combat jet lag and fatigue, and in the business environment to optimise performance and concentration and reduce stress.
Autogenics Therapy may cause repressed memories and feelings that pertain to disturbing or traumatic life events to surface, as may aches and pains connected with past physical injuries.