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TRAINING
A PRACTICAL GUIDE IN SIX EASY
STEPS
BY
KARL HANS WELZ
Important Information:
Advanced Autogenic Training Course
Now you can master Autogenic Training within a few hours rather than
after the traditional method of consistent daily practices, with which it would
take you several weeks until you would have mastered the practice.
This rapid mastery of Autogenic Training became possible with the help of
a Chi generator®, which is set to pulsate in an alpha frequency, or with a
corresponding Chi-Card® (www.chi-card.com).
To find out more about this truly revolutionary method of Autogenic Train-
ing, which I developed, study the course in the web site www.autogenic-
training.org - all with video presentations, and then go to www.TVOPK.com,
where you can view my past video broadcasts on the subject-matter and
where you can sign up to seminars, during the course of which you can
master Autogenic Training within a few hours.
Moreover, you can become a certified teacher of this brand new method of
Advanced Autogenic Training. E-mail karl@welz.net for more information.
OF THE EXERCISES
Most people prefer to exercise
while lying on their backs and with their
heads slightly raised. In his position
You should practice any relax- the elbows are slightly bent, the palms
ation exercise in a relaxed position. of the hands rest next to the thighs or
Any relaxed position will do. Some- slightly angled away from the body.
times it is necessary to adjust to cir- You may put a pillow under the shoul-
cumstances. ders. The feet should point slightly
outward. If they point upward, this
A traditional position for the means that you are not relaxed. Not
practice of Autogenic Training is the everyone finds it easy to practice while
so-called cabdriver's lying on the back.
position. Dr. Schultz called this posi-
tion originally the 'coachman's posi- When you decide to practice be-
tion.' fore you are going to sleep this last
position is idea, because you may slide
To get into this position you sit into sleep while training.
down into a chair. First you straighten
your back, then you slump down. Make
sure that there is no pressure on the
stomach, i.e., do not bend forward too MORE ABOUT
far. In this position the head hangs
loosely forward. The hands rest re- RELAXATION
ation method that is inherent in Auto-
The successful switching from genic Training in your own self inter-
tension to relaxation determines est. It leads to states of relaxation
whether we feel well. The person who that are much deeper that you can ever
is gripped by physical tension and reach with methods of progressive re-
cramped muscles will also be psycho- laxation, even hypnosis that is induced
logically cramped. Such a person's re- by others.
lation to the world around will also be
beset with tension. Unhappiness, By turning your attention to your
physiological problems and failures may own body you will not only learn that
result. you have a body, but also that you are
body. According to Schultz you must
Tensions are always part of life. slip passively into the physical experi-
But today it seems to be more difficult ence of your body. You must transport
to relax than ever before. Although yourself into the organ that you wish
tension is necessary, even beneficial, to influence. This has nothing to do
in many situations of life, indiscrimi- with willpower, because successful au-
nate and chronic tension is not. tosuggestion takes place without the
exertion of the will and its consequent
The more chronically tense a per- interference.
son is, the stronger the desire to re-
lax, and the more Violation of this principle may
difficult it is to find this desired relax- produce paradoxical effects. Consider
ation. the following:
Anytime you absolutely want to fall
Everyone reacts differently to asleep or try to force this, you will find
states of tension. But every sickness falling asleep is more difficult, even
also leads to an increase in tension impossible.
that can have physical, psychological,
and social effects. We all know people Some persons find it difficult to
whose constant state of nervousness distinguish between concentration,
irritates us. Such people are in a per- i.e., the focus on
manent state of excessive tension. specific ideas, images, etc., and the
personal will that is always related to
People wear a mask, i.e., they
are in a permanent state of tension.
These people have
chronic muscle spasms. Wilhelm Reich
called this the muscular armor. This
armor is at the root of much malfunc-
tioning on all levels: of our bodies
and in our personal and social rela-
tionships. Autogenic Training can be a
significant help in easing, even dis-
solving, the armoring of a person.
You should repeat this training Do not proceed unless you have
formula mentally. Do not speak it out. mastered the heaviness practice.
Spoken formulas may interfere with the
exercise. When you are repeating the
formula in your mind, you should do so
as intensely as you can. You may imag-
ine it written before you or you may
hear someone speak the formula, or
both. You may even imagine yourself
writing the formula onto a poster board.
It is important that you concen-
trate on the training formula. Your THE SECOND STEP:
imagination helps this concentration.
Should sudden ideas, thoughts, memo- INDUCING WARMTH
ries and the like appear, it is impor-
tant that you do not attach yourself to The induction of a feeling of
them and that you pay them not any warmth is aimed at relaxing the blood
attention. Simply disregard them and vessels. You should practice it after
keep focusing on the training formula you have attained the feeling of heavi-
that you keep repeating. Concentra- ness. If you could not attain the feel-
tion will come with practice. ing of heaviness after two weeks of
practice, you may also proceed with
You should repeat the training the warmth formula.
formula in your mind about six times.
Then you follow with 'I am completely A feeling of warmth indicates that
calm,' after which you follow with an- the blood vessels have relaxed and di-
other six times of 'my right arm is very lated. The
heavy,' one time of 'I am completely warmth practice will have results that
calm,' and so on. are superior to the results of the pro-
gressive relaxation technique. Progres-
Should any unpleasant feeling oc- sive relaxation techniques are very
cur during the practice, you should stop much the practice of choice in guided
it with the meditation practices as well as in some
proper canceling technique. methods to induce hypnosis. States
of relaxation that you can achieve with
Repeat the heaviness practice Autogenic Training are considerably
five to six times when you practice for deeper and much more thorough than
the first time. You what you can achieve with progressive
may also practice until you actually feel relaxation and related methods. The
the heaviness. warmth practice of Autogenic Training
will prove this point to you beyond the demonstrated that the feelings of
shadow of any doubt. Especially the warmth and heaviness are accompa-
practices that follow will show you the nied by actual physical changes. In
tremendous control and power that you other words, we are not dealing here
can achieve with the practice of Auto- with either a figment of the imagina-
genic Training. tion of with a self deception. In fact,
You induce the warmth as fol- the arms will actually be slightly
lows: heavier as a result of increased blood
supply into the
I am completely calm (once) relaxed, therefore, wider, blood ves-
sels of the arms. For the same reason
My right arm is very heavy (six the temperature of the arms increases
times) slightly. Special thermometers have
I am completely calm (once) shown that the increase in the arm's
My right arm is very warm (six temperature can be more than 3.6 de-
times) grees F, and even more, in the hand,
I am completely calm (once) especially when the initial temperature
My right arm is very warm (six was on the low side. Later you can
times) learn powerful techniques to supply an
........ increased amount of blood to any part
(Repeat this sequence several of the body.
times)
Cancel: Arms firm - Breathe The autonomic nervous system
deeply - Open eyes. is such that the state of tension in one
group of muscles communicates itself
You may have more ease in at- automatically to the adjacent group.
taining the feeling of warmth than the The tension spreads and increases as
feeling of heaviness. Should you not a consequence. On the other hand,
attain this feeling after two weeks of when the muscles of the arm are re-
training, I suggest that you bathe your laxed, this relaxation too influences
arm in warm water shortly before the other groups of muscles until relaxation
practice or that you place your hand on spreads ultimately over the whole
a warm object. The remembered feel- body. This desired extension of heavi-
ing of warmth can facilitate the attain- ness and warmth (relaxation of
ment of actual warmth during the prac- muscles and blood vessels) over the
tice. Never use the formula 'my right whole body is called "generalization."
arm is very hot.'
The more advanced the practi-
The feeling of heaviness indi- tioner of Autogenic Training is the more
cates that the muscles are relaxed. If heaviness and
your practice regularly, the feeling of warmth appear as simple reflexes. At
heaviness will appear rather quickly a later point of your training the feel-
and noticeably, as soon as you think ings of warmth and heaviness may
of heaviness. appear upon your intention to practice,
The sensation of warmth is even before you lie down and before
caused by the relaxation (dilation) of you begin with the training.
the blood vessel walls. It has been
Once you are advanced, you can
simplify your training formulas to 'arms My heart beats very calmly.
very heavy' -
'calm' - 'arms very warm,' or 'calm - It is dangerous to use the for-
heavy - ...' mula 'my heart beats very calmly and
slowly.' The heart
With advancement you can also reacts very strongly to that and seri-
insert resolution formulae into your ous disturbances may result.
training while you are practicing.
When practicing the heart for-
mula, you will likely discover your heart,
THE THIRD STEP: i.e., you will learn to feel your heart.