Autogenic Training: All Tips and Exercises

Autogenic training is one of the typical relaxation techniques and is intended to help reduce stress. We explain exactly how the technique works.

What is Autogenic Training?

Autogenic training is a relaxation technique developed in 1925 by the psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz on the basis of hypnosis therapy. In general, the training is about achieving a relaxed state through a kind of self-hypnosis, which is supposed to reduce stress. Unlike progressive muscle relaxation, however, autogenic training is not very easy to learn and must be practiced intensively.

Where is Autogenic Training Used?

Autogenic training is primarily aimed at calming the mind and thus relaxing it, while progressive muscle relaxation is intended to calm the body by specifically tensing and relaxing muscle groups. Both techniques can help with acute stress states and increase concentration. Autogenic training is also often used for mental and psychosomatic disorders. When used correctly, it can also help with chronic pain.

How is Autogenic Training Conducted?

In order to learn autogenic training, you have to take your time – and at best a trainer. In general, the training has two phases, the exercises are performed in the so-called “cab driver posture”. Here, one sits relaxed on a chair and lets the upper body and head hang forward, the elbows are supported on the knees or thighs, the forearms and hands hang between the knees. Then one should influence the body by so-called autosuggestions by repeating formulas like “The right arm is very warm” several times. In this way the body should automatically relax after some time of training.

The two phases of training proceed as follows:

Phase 1: Lower Stage

In this phase, the main aim is to influence physical processes through certain basic exercises. The following exercises serve to relax and are each carried out for a maximum of four minutes:

• Warmth exercise: Here you imagine that first a body part and then the whole body warms up. This should cause the blood vessels to dilate so that the body actually becomes warm and relaxes more easily. A suitable formula would be “My left arm is very warm”.
• Heavy exercise: The exercise is based on the fact that we find heaviness in the body calming. To do this, we imagine that one body part after the other becomes very heavy, starting, for example, from one arm. Therefore, an appropriate formula is: “My right arm is heavy.”
• Breathing exercises: Calm, even breathing immediately relieves stress. One should generally take care to breathe in through the nose and deep into the belly. The formula for the exercise is “My breathing is calm”.
• Head exercise: This exercise is literally intended to help us keep a cool and clear head. Correspondingly, the formula “My forehead is pleasantly cool” is used.
• Solar plexus exercise: The “solar plexus” is a somewhat poetic description of the digestive organs. The exercise aims to completely relax and calm the stomach. For example, one says to oneself “The solar plexus is pleasantly warm”.
• Heart exercise: Here the heartbeat is to be calmed down specifically. For this purpose, a formula like “My heart beats calmly and evenly” is repeated in your thoughts.

Phase 2: Upper Stage

The second phase of autogenic training is a process often used by psychotherapists to identify the patient’s existing conflicts and find ways to resolve them. But also outside of psychotherapy it is useful to test phase two if you have initial success with the first phase. Here, one’s own imagination is used to develop images which can then be brought into consciousness and reflected upon. This is also called the waking dream technique.

When Should I not Carry out The Relaxation Method Autogenic Training?

Autogenic training should not be done by people who suffer from psychosis. Patients with physiological dysregulations such as tachycardia should not test the training without consulting a physician.