Using AT for self-hypnosis
One of the first to use self-hypnosis was the great Russian doctor Ya. A. Botkin. In 1877, he cured himself by self-hypnosis from pain in his legs and increased fatigue, which he suffered after suffering from typhus.
A special role in the study of self-hypnosis belongs to V.M. Bekhterev. In 1890, he described the method of self-hypnosis and specific cases in which its use gave the best results.
A classic experiment showing the real effect of self-hypnosis, which anyone can perform on themselves, is to imagine (as vividly as possible) how you take a large and juicy, bright yellow lemon and begin to cut it with a knife, then like one of the cut You slowly put the slices into your mouth. Usually, these ideas alone are enough to cause salivation to begin and a feeling of acidity to appear in the mouth, as if a slice of lemon is actually there.
It has long been noted that, when imagining something, a person often pronounces to himself words corresponding to the thoughts that arise from the sensations accompanying these ideas.
The more vivid the images that a person uses to reproduce a particular state, the more accurate the words that correspond to his feelings in this state, the more effectively the person manages to achieve the desired result.
Researchers have proven that self-hypnosis is most effective on the brain in a drowsy state. Entering a state of autogenic immersion, a person gets the opportunity, with the help of mental orders or with the help of necessary images, to influence his body.
Self-hypnosis involves the development of states similar to those that occur in people in a state of hypnosis, when conscious control becomes so small that the hypnotist’s word directly evokes the necessary sensations or visual images in a person. With the help of hypnosis, it was even possible to achieve a “burn” - redness of the skin and the formation of a blister after a person was inspired that a hot coin was applied to his body, although in reality it was cold.
For effective self-hypnosis, it is important to learn how to induce a state when the muscles of the body cease to obey conscious control. You should believe these sensations, using auxiliary images and wording to help:
“The eyelids are heavy, they are so heavy that they cannot be opened, they become heavy.” “The body is motionless, the whole body is filled with enormous heaviness, it is impossible to move either arm or leg.”
To increase concentration when entering a state of autogenic immersion, it is recommended to closed eyes mentally fix your gaze on the tip of your nose or on an imaginary point in the middle of your forehead. This promotes a state of relaxation and peace.
When exercising self-hypnosis, techniques for entering a state of autogenic immersion are used in a reduced form. The main condition for successful self-hypnosis is full concentration of attention on the exercises being performed and a sufficient number of repetitions.
Self-hypnosis does not have to be direct. So, to improve blood supply coronary vessels the heart does not have to directly appeal to the work of the heart or to the vessels that supply the heart with blood. Self-hypnosis of positive emotional states and self-suggestion of heat in the left hand helps solve this problem and causes corresponding changes in the functioning of the heart.
With a speech disorder such as stuttering, the main attention is paid to reducing emotional stress and to relax and warm the muscles of the face, neck and shoulder girdle. In addition to the basic formulas of autogenic training, the following formulas can be used:
“I am calm, my actions are confident and precise...” “My speech is free, flows by itself...”
In order for self-hypnosis formulas to be effective, they must take into account the changes that occur in the body during certain ailments.
Autogenic training as a method of overcoming fatigue and increasing performance
A person's feeling of fatigue and decreased performance is usually only partially a consequence of physical fatigue. Often fatigue is subjective, “psychological”, not related to the real physical state of the body. Relaxation of the body muscles and activation of self-regulation mechanisms that occur in a state of autogenic immersion, as well as the use of auxiliary images and formulations that stimulate recovery processes, will help overcome feelings of fatigue and increase performance.
For effective rest and increased performance, you can conduct a lesson according to the following scheme:
1. Take one of the main poses for autogenic training.
2. Breathing is even and calm. A short, shallow inhale and a long, calm exhale. Breathe easily and calmly. With each exhalation, a passive state and pleasant lethargy throughout the body increases. With each exhalation, all extraneous sounds and thoughts not related to the activity are removed and become weaker.
3. The whole body is relaxed, lethargic, motionless. With each exhalation, the feet become heavier and heavier. Heaviness spreads across the left and right hand from shoulders to hands. The feet are becoming more and more noticeably heavier, with each exhalation it becomes more noticeable. Left feet and right leg quite heavy. The soles of my feet are heavy, like cast iron weights. A feeling of heaviness fills both legs more and more. Relaxation, peace, passivity and contemplation.
4. Mentally imagine a situation that contributes to the restoration of working capacity (rest on the river bank, on the seashore, in the forest, etc.). It is important to maintain the state of autogenic immersion, linking recovery processes with the rhythm of breathing: inhalation fills with relaxation, peace, makes the images used in the lesson brighter, and with each exhalation, relaxation spreads throughout the body, with each exhalation fatigue and negative emotions leave the body.
This stage of the lesson lasts from 5 to 30 minutes. An important part of autogenic training is that at the end you give yourself a setting that defines in general terms the state that it is desirable to have after the end of the lesson (freshness, vigor, readiness to act energetically, etc.)
Activation according to the standard scheme. The exercise takes about 10-40 minutes.
Images and wording that make it easier to enter autogenic immersion:
1. Peace and tranquility fill me.
2. Peace envelops me like a soft blanket.
3. Everything not related to this vacation becomes unimportant and indifferent for me.
4. The inner peace that fills me has a beneficial effect on my body, on my soul,
5. I lose track of time, I have nowhere to rush.
6. I become self-absorbed.
7. Everything happens as if by itself.
8. A pleasant inner peace fills me.
9. The hands and feet are heavy and motionless, like cast iron weights.
10. A transparent dome separates me from the outside world, creating a safety zone around me, muffling extraneous sounds.
11. Fewer and fewer impulses are sent from relaxed muscles to the brain, and it is increasingly difficult to determine the position of the arms and legs.
Autogenic training, or autotraining for short, is a system of exercises directed by a person to himself and intended for self-regulation of mental and physical states. Autotraining is useful in those types of activities that cause increased emotional tension in a person, including in pedagogical work, since in the communication of a teacher with children and their parents, situations often arise that are called difficult and that require emotional-volitional self-regulation. The use of auto-training techniques allows a person to purposefully change his mood and well-being, and has a positive effect on his performance and health. Those people who systematically engage in auto-training get the opportunity to rationally distribute and economically use their strength in Everyday life, and at the right moments mobilize them to the utmost.
Autotraining is based on the conscious use by a person of a variety of means psychological impact on your own body and nervous system with the aim of relaxing them or, on the contrary, toning them. Appropriate interventions include specific exercises designed to change skeletal muscle tone and internal organs. An active role in this is played by verbal self-suggestion, ideas and sensory images caused by volition. All these means of psychological influence of a person on his own body in auto-training are used comprehensively, in a certain sequence: relaxation, presentation, self-hypnosis. Practical testing of auto-training techniques is carried out in the same sequence.
Autotraining includes exercises aimed at managing attention, voluntary manipulation of sensory images, verbal self-instructions, volitional regulation of muscle tone and control of breathing rhythm. System attention management involves developing the ability to concentrate and maintain attention for a long time on any subject, object, event, or fact. Ability operate with sensory images is developed through special exercises aimed at transferring attention from the external world to the internal and further - to sensations and sensory images.
From relatively simple and familiar ideas in auto-training they gradually move on to more complex ones, for example, to ideas of gravity, heat spreading from one part of the body to another, pictures of nature, etc. With the help of special words and expressions pronounced with different volumes, in terms of external speech and speech to oneself, skills are developed verbal self-suggestion. Such self-hypnosis, if used skillfully by a person, accelerates the onset of the desired psychological or physiological state. Verbal self-hypnosis in auto-training is combined with a certain breathing rhythm. Control of breathing rhythm is achieved through exercises that speed up or slow down inhalations and exhalations, reducing or increasing the amplitude of breathing. All these exercises are practiced in three main positions: lying, sitting and standing.
Exercises related to free regulation of muscle tone, are also practiced in a certain system and sequence. First, people learn to relax and tense the muscles that are easiest to control (the muscles of the arms and legs), then they move on to the muscles that are more difficult to control voluntarily (the muscles of the neck, head, back, abdomen), and finally they turn to special exercises, aimed at regulating the tone of the muscles of internal organs.
Particularly complex and important exercises included in auto-training are those aimed at condition regulation blood vessels heads and human body, their expansion in order to achieve a state of relaxation and calm, or narrowing in order to increase tone and activate the body. These exercises use the natural warmth of the palm of a person’s hand and figurative representations of heat or cold by volition.
The described system of autogenic training is useful for teachers who have heavy load and those who encounter in life individual problems relating to their psychophysiological state, performance and health. A teacher or educator who engages in autogenic training can give more to his students and pupils than one who does not engage in it. Autogenic training, improving the health of the teacher, increasing his performance, thereby increases his pedagogical output. If desired, each teacher and educator can master the methods of autogenic training and learn to use them independently, in contrast to psychocorrectional practice, which requires joint group work and the participation of professionally trained psychologists.
Topics and questions for discussion at seminars
Topic 1. Organization of psychological self-education of a teacher
1. The need for continuous psychological self-education of the teacher.
2. The main branches of psychological science, containing information useful for a teacher.
3. Scientific and popular publications, including psychological information useful for the psychological self-education of a teacher.
Topic 2. Psychological foundations pedagogical self-regulation
1. The importance of self-regulation in the activities of a teacher.
2. Pedagogical situations that generate the need for psychological self-regulation.
3. Self-regulation of perception and attention.
4. Self-regulation of memory and thinking.
5. Self-management of emotional states.
Topic 3. Psychocorrection in the activities of a teacher
1. The main directions and goals of pedagogical psychocorrection work.
2. Classification of psychocorrectional methods.
3. Social and psychological training groups (T-groups).
4. Meeting groups.
5. Skills training groups.
Topic 4. Autotraining in the work of a teacher
1. The concept of autogenic training.
2. The importance of auto-training and ways of its practical use in the work of a teacher.
3.Goals and objectives of autogenic training.
4. Exercises aimed at regulating muscle tone.
5. Exercises designed to control attention and sensory images.
6. Exercises designed to change the rhythm of breathing.
Topics for essays
1. Sources of psychological information useful for teachers. ~- Pedagogical situations, associated psychological processes and states that require self-regulation of the teacher’s activities.
2. Basic principles of self-regulation.
3. Psychocorrectional methods and groups, possibilities of their use in teaching practice.
4. Autogenic training and its application in the process of self-improvement of the teacher’s activities.
Topics for self-help research work
1. The system of work of a teacher on psychological self-education.
2. Theoretical foundations of psychological self-regulation of activity teacher
3. Psychocorrectional work in teacher training.
4. Techniques and methods for increasing a teacher’s performance using autogenic training.
Literature
Active methods of teaching pedagogical communication and its optimization.-M., 1983.
(Psychology pedagogical activity: 6-40, 64-73.)
Burns R.W. Development of self-concept and education. - M., 1986.
(Psychological training of teachers: 333-351.)
Dobrovich A. B. To the teacher about psychology and psychohygiene of communication:
A book for teachers and parents. - M., 1987.
Kan-Kalik V. A. To the teacher about pedagogical communication. - M., 1987.
Carnegie D. How to win friends and influence people. - M., 1989.
Bern E. Games People Play. People who play games. - M., 1988.
Anikeeva N. P. Psychological climate in a team. - M., 1989.
(Active socio-psychological training of teachers.)
Ladanov I. D. Stress management. - M., 1989.
(Stress management: 27-42. Will training: 43-69. Memory training: 69-83. Self-regulation (self-control): 83-119. Preventing and overcoming conflicts: 120-137.)
Leontyev A. A. Pedagogical communication.-M., 1979.
(How to develop pedagogical communication skills: 39-45.)
Grimak L.P. Reserves of the human psyche. Introduction to the psychology of activity. - M., 1989.
(Overcoming critical situations: 188-198. Self-regulation mental states: 227-262.)
Nemchin T. A. States of neuropsychic tension.-L., 1983.
(Ways and means of managing neuropsychic stress: 138-151.)
Nikolov N., Neshev G. The mystery of millennia (what we know about memory). - M., 1988.
(Memory management: 84-112, 133-140.).
Petrovskaya L. A. Competence in communication: socio-psychological training.-M., 1989. (Psycho-correction work in modern humanistic psychology: 195-207.)
Rutter M. Help for difficult children. - M., 1987.
(Psychotherapy and its effectiveness: 347-397.)
Yatsenko T. S. Social-psychological training in preparation
future teachers. - Kyiv, 1987.
(Psychocorrectional work in a group of active socio-psychological training: 48-59.)
Section 7.
PEDAGOGICAL GUIDE
Auto-training attracts many people due to the fact that life is becoming more and more primitive and there is a loss of basic values. People intuitively feel that this method can provide them with physical and mental help and support, but they often have misconceptions about it. Only a few people know that we are talking about a scientific method, a kind of gentle self-hypnosis, with the help of which the power of ideas is transferred to the body. The figurative representation of heaviness, for example, causes a feeling of actual heaviness, which soon disappears, replaced by muscle relaxation. Transfer of mental images to physical body is possible only because body and soul are one. Man is an “animate organism”.Thus the power of ideas influences the body. As the founder of this method, neuropathologist I.G. Schultz, emphasizes, this occurs as a result of “concentric self-relaxation,” which will be discussed in the next chapter.
With the exception of small children, almost everyone can master auto-training if they concentrate on a feeling of calm and relaxation. Anyone who, with the help of auto-training, can free himself from his worries and problems will be able to break the vicious circle of modern diseases. He will come to success. Many of the course participants, through auto-training, got rid of long-term illnesses on their own. They themselves overcame pain and weakness, fear and timidity, as well as many other ailments that previously forced them to go from one doctor to another.
Autogenic training is an active method of psychotherapy, psychohygiene and psychoprophylaxis, which increases the body’s capabilities.
AT developed in 1932 German doctor I. G. Schultz, based on his observations of his patients, whom he treated using hypnosis. Shultz I.G. noticed that patients without his help can enter that state of peace, relaxation, partial and complete sleep which he usually induced in them through hypnosis. The AT method is based on active self-hypnosis, against the background muscle relaxation.
Currently there are various options auto-training, used for various purposes. The classic system of auto-training consists of two levels: the first is the lowest and the second is the highest.
Autotraining does not give complications. You cannot engage in auto-training only against the background of acutely developing diseases - vascular, infectious, mental.
The main task of a beginner in auto-training is to learn to relax, to create a feeling of heaviness and warmth in the body. If you can achieve a state of complete relaxation, then in this state the formulas you pronounce mentally begin to work. Your brain, despite the complete relaxation of your body, still works well. You hear everything and understand what is happening around you. It's just that your body doesn't exist this moment. This is the very working background you need. During an autogenic immersion session, you can inspire yourself with anything: give yourself the mindset to carry out with pleasure any work that you are disgusted with, set yourself a super task, activate mental and physical functions.
Autogenic training can be done independently. Sometimes, at the very beginning of training, frightening sensations arise - “autogenic discharges”. These autogenic discharges can manifest themselves in the fact that, at the moment of immersion in a state of relaxation, the student suddenly “sees” in the visual analyzer myriads of color spots, sparks,” even entire pictures, “hears” unusual sounds and voices, experiences a feeling of falling into an abyss, or simply a feeling flight, feels the taste of some foods, smells, etc. These phenomena often frighten a person and discourage him from engaging in auto-training. discomfort do not pose any danger to the practitioner and, as a rule, go through several auto-training sessions.
Autogenic training consists of two stages: the first - the lowest and the highest - the lowest.
The first stage includes six classic exercises, conventionally named: “heaviness”, “warmth”, “breathing”, “heart”, “warmth in the area” solar plexus", "coolness in the forehead." A person who has mastered the first stage of AT can influence his mood, arouse in himself a colossal desire to do any uninteresting, but necessary activity, influence the performance and well-being of the body, develop his abilities and much more (you just need to apply corresponding formulas).Self-hypnosis in AT are “irresistible” in nature if they were performed correctly.
Typical mistakes when doing auto-training.
Let's highlight the main thing. This is something that those starting out doing AT on their own usually don’t pay attention to.
All formulas work effectively only if the “AT state” is achieved, that is, if the practitioner has brought himself into a state of relaxation to such an extent that he can even lose the feeling of the presence of the body. Only then all the words of the formula that the practitioner pronounces to himself are equivalent to the orders of the hypnotist when influencing the hypnotized person. The only difference is that during AT classes, a person in a “trance” gives himself instructions and appropriate moods, while maintaining complete clarity of mind.
Beginners, as a rule, consider repetition of formulas the most important thing, and put relaxation and inducing a feeling of heaviness in the background, i.e. the most important thing remains in the background. This typical mistake leads to a lack of results and causes them a feeling of disappointment.
Also note the following:
You cannot abruptly leave the state of autogenic immersion. If you caused yourself a feeling of heaviness, then before leaving the autogenic state you must definitely remove this state of heaviness using special mobilizing formulas like: - Heaviness leaves my body. - Every muscle in my body was rested. - Every cell of my body rested. - Freshness and vigor fills my whole body. “With every breath, freshness and vigor flow into my body. - I am collected and attentive. - I'm charged with vivacity. - I'm charged with energy. - My will is collected like a spring. - I’m ready to work (raise your clenched hands above your head, exhale sharply while simultaneously moving your hands down, open your eyes). Let's look at the exercises of the first and second stages of AT.
The first stage of Autotraining. The first stage of Autotraining is easier to master through a combination of standard exercises. Here is a combination of the first four standard exercises. The goal of this combination is to achieve maximum muscle relaxation. As a rule, before starting this exercise with auto-training, you need to take a comfortable position, close your eyes and give yourself the attitude: “I calm down and relax.” Then, specifically, in parts, the body is relaxed, focusing attention on those parts of the body that are relaxing . We say to ourselves: “The muscles of the forehead and eyes relax, the muscles of the back of the head and neck relax.” (At the same time, you need to feel what was spoken about.) My attention goes to my hands. Fingers and hands relax. The forearms relax. Shoulders relax. My hands relax. My attention turns to my face. The facial muscles relax even more. My attention turns to my feet. The toes and ankles relax. The calf muscles relax. The thigh muscles relax. My legs are relaxed. My attention turns to my face. The face is completely relaxed. My attention turns to the torso. The chest muscles relax. Breathing is calm and easy. The heart works well and rhythmically. The abdominal muscles relax. The back muscles relax. My whole torso relaxes. I'm completely relaxed. I'm relaxed. (then a feeling of heaviness and warmth is evoked). A pleasant warm heaviness fills my hands. A pleasant warm heaviness fills my legs. A pleasant warm heaviness fills my torso. My whole body is heavy and warm. I'm completely relaxed.
During your first training, you can recite each formula 2-3 times, and not too quickly so as to have time to feel the sensations caused by the formula. When pronouncing formulas, you need to figuratively imagine a real feeling of heaviness and warmth in your arms, legs, and torso. Now the conditions have been created - a “working background” under which the formulas of suggestion will operate. (Don’t forget to remove the feeling of heaviness when you come out of this state.) We perform the fifth classic exercise - “warmth in the solar plexus.” The purpose of the exercise is to learn how to cause a feeling of warmth in the abdominal cavity. The formula used in this auto-training exercise may look like this:
“My stomach is warmed by a pleasant, deep warmth. My stomach is warmed by a pleasant warmth.
The solar plexus radiates heat."
The sixth exercise, “coolness in the forehead,” is performed to induce a feeling of coolness in the forehead and temples. This exercise helps relieve headaches. Formula: “My forehead is pleasantly cool. I feel pleasantly cool in the forehead area.”
Classical highest level of auto-training.
Johann Schulz considered the second stage of auto-training to be the most important for mastering mental processes, creating the desired emotional background. The classical highest level of auto-training consists of seven basic exercises, each of which can be mastered independently of each other. Mastered the highest level of auto-training. masters the ability to evoke and hold images and pictures in his mind's eye, to think abstractly intuitively, and increases his creative capabilities many times over. He becomes capable of mental wordless hypnosis, imposition of images, and treatment at a distance.
Exercise N 1. The goal is to learn how to evoke various light spots and maintain attention on each of them. The student performs this and subsequent exercises in a state of autogenic immersion.
Exercise N 2. The goal is to “see” a predetermined color background. The practitioner will soon feel that contemplation of a red, orange and yellow background is associated with warmth (this creates an emotional upsurge), green and blue - with a state of peace, blue and violet cause a feeling of coldness, black and dark red - a gloomy mood, depression. Usually it takes up to 4 months to practice this exercise. As a result of training, the student acquires the ability to easily evoke the desired emotional mood using a callable background color.
Exercise No. 3. The goal is to develop stable attention, allowing you to “see” specific objects for a long time. It is believed that the exercise has been mastered when an image of oneself spontaneously appears against the background of various objects. It takes about a year to practice the exercise.
Exercise No. 4. The goal is to develop the ability to give concrete content to any abstract concept. The trainee must learn to easily visualize objects associated with such abstract concepts as “beauty”, “happiness”, “freedom”, “joy”. Everyone associates these concepts with images that are closer to them. You need to train daily, keeping your attention (up to 60 minutes) on abstract concepts and those specific visual ideas that are inspired by your association.
Exercise N5. The goal is to learn how to change your emotional condition by visually representing associative images (from Exercise 4) and seeing yourself in the center of the picture being presented. The student must learn to evoke dynamic pictures with his direct participation. At the same time, he must react emotionally to developing events and experience them.
Exercise No. 6. The goal is to learn to mentally evoke and hold other people in my mind’s eye to feel my presence and participation in their affairs.
Exercise No. 7. I. Schultz considered it the most important. Its goal is to learn to see a series of pictures that answer questions of a psychological nature relating to oneself personally.
For example: "What do I want?" "Who am I?". This exercise is performed in a state of “passive concentration”. After a correctly performed exercise, “catharsis” occurs - self-purification, traumatic factors that cause diseases are extinguished.
In order to achieve a significant result, to get the benefit from AT classes, you need to do auto-training daily for at least 30 minutes.
Autogenic immersion becomes easier each time. In the end, a moment comes when the person engaged in auto-training notices that he no longer needs to recite self-hypnosis formulas to himself; it is enough to focus on a certain part of the body for relaxation to occur.
Some more time passes and the person engaged in auto-training acquires the ability to relax almost instantly. Within a few seconds the transition to a state of relaxation occurs. This procedure is very pleasant; a person seems to throw off the burden of his body, the burden of problems and anxieties, and plunges into a blissful state. It is usually convenient at this stage to use the immersion method, sometimes known as the "Key".
"Key"
Fix your gaze on one point and give yourself the following setting: “Now I will mentally count from one to five and I will automatically enter a state of deep muscle relaxation and rest. My eyelids will become heavy and close. A pleasant warmth and heaviness will spread throughout my body. All distracting signals: noise , extraneous thoughts, light will only enhance the feeling of increasing peace, deepen the state of increased self-suggestibility. The state of deep peace and rest will stop as soon as I automatically count from five to one. My head will become clearer, I will feel freshness and lightness. When I count “one” “My eyes will open, I will feel well rested and full of strength.” With good training, you can use the “key” to even sleep standing for a predetermined time. To do this, you need to first give yourself an appropriate setting like: “Now I will count from one to five and I will automatically go into a state of sleep, my legs will stand steadily. I will maintain my balance all the time. I will sleep exactly ten minutes, after 10 minutes the sound will automatically sound. count down five, four, three, two, one and I will wake up completely rested, with feeling good". Using the “key” you can not only relax, but you can also program yourself for upcoming activities. An interesting fact: exactly the amount of time that you have previously set for yourself always passes. Then some kind of internal chronometer is triggered and sometimes you can even exit the state dream of hearing someone's voice counting down last digits"... two, one." After which a complete awakening occurs. For managers of all ranks, for people with intense mental activity, this “Key” is a real treasure.
R. Brag. "Hypnosis. Self-instruction manual" (C) Translation into Russian by Makarenko V.V. 1991 Espero Publishing House, Taganrog 1992 OCR: Andrey Boyarintsev"
Hannes Lindeman "Autogenic training"
Autogenic training against stress
Practical classes are conducted by a psychotherapist
Autogenic training to prepare for possible upcoming stressful situations. Autogenic training (AT) can be used to prepare yourself for various “stressful” or “emergency” situations at work or in everyday life. The essence of the exercises is that after the usual, for example, vocational training For special cases (studying instructions, working on simulators), a student in a state of AT immersion must figuratively imagine the occurrence and development of an emergency situation. He “visually notes” what happens to the main technical systems, how the mode and nature of work change, etc.
Having thus assessed the emergency situation, the student then mentally builds an algorithm for getting out of it, focusing on inner peace, clear, correct and confident actions. These exercises help to more quickly recognize an emergency situation when it occurs and reduce the developing emotional reaction (using the effect of “already seen, familiar”).
In addition, in the process of performing training in an autogenic state, not only the stereotype of actions in special cases, but also a stereotype is formed emotional behavior in an emergency. Very useful exercise for locomotive crews.
Autogenic training and self-education. Autogenic training can be used for self-education. Many people are often dissatisfied with themselves and would like to change certain aspects of their character, change their behavior in situations that are significant to them. However, this is not so easy to achieve if you rely only on conscious control and volitional effort.
When using autogenic training for the purpose of self-education, you must proceed as follows.
- Introduce yourself into a state of autogenic immersion.
- Mentally evoke as detailed a picture as possible of the desired “I-image” and patterns of desired behavior. Imagine a state as if the desired qualities or type of behavior were already present.
- Feel the inner mental state that arises during the presentation of the desired “I-image” and samples of the desired behavior. Feel how your attitude towards the people around you, important events in your own life and towards yourself changes.
- Vary those imaginary situations in which the desired character traits or behavioral characteristics are demonstrated. If it is difficult to create an ideal “I-image”, then a familiar image from a film or literature can help out, which, in your opinion, is worth imitating in the current problem situation (the manner of reacting, thinking, speaking). The duration of the presentation of the desired “I-image” and desired patterns of behavior increases from lesson to lesson, ranging from 2 - 3 minutes to 10 minutes.
Self-education work begun during autogenic training can be continued while you are awake. It is recommended to play the role of a self-confident, balanced person, enjoying life, etc., several times a day for 10, 20 or 30 minutes (in accordance with the desired character traits and behavioral characteristics, as well as depending on the goals pursued). Observations of people who practiced this method of self-education show that after two to three months the desired behavior becomes a need and their natural state.
Let us note the main techniques that are used for the self-education method:
- introspection and self-assessment (to identify undesirable character traits and behavior patterns);
- critical assessment of one’s own personality and behavior in significant situations, attitudes towards oneself and other people;
- critical assessment of the past, identification of individual “psychological barriers” that stand in the way of desired changes in “I-image” and behavioral characteristics;
- creating the desired “I-image” and patterns of desired behavior in significant situations;
- creating your own verbal formulas that define intentions and are implemented in the process of self-education (for example, “confidence and composure”, “carelessness and joyful animation”, “rigidity and determination”, etc.);
- self-education implemented in the process of autogenic training;
- imposing stereotypes of the desired “I-image” and desired patterns of behavior on actual behavior in everyday life when communicating with other people.
Autogenic training as a method of overcoming fatigue and increasing performance. A person's feeling of fatigue and decreased performance are usually only partially a consequence of physical fatigue. Often fatigue is subjective, “psychological”, not related to the real physical state of the body. Relaxation of the body muscles and activation of self-regulation mechanisms that occur in a state of autogenic immersion, as well as the use of auxiliary images and formulations that stimulate recovery processes, will help overcome feelings of fatigue and increase performance.
For effective rest and increased performance, you can conduct a lesson according to the following scheme.
- Take one of the basic poses for autogenic training.
- Breathing is smooth and calm. A short, shallow inhale and a long, calm exhale. Breathe easily and calmly. With each exhalation, a passive state and pleasant relaxation throughout the body increases. With each exhalation, all extraneous sounds and thoughts not related to the activity are removed and become weaker.
- The whole body is relaxed, motionless. With each exhalation, the feet become heavier and heavier. Heaviness spreads across the left and right arms from the shoulders to the hands. The feet are becoming more and more noticeably heavier, with each exhalation it becomes more noticeable. They become increasingly heavy, like cast iron weights. Relaxation, peace, passivity and contemplation come.
- Mentally imagine a situation that helps restore energy (rest on the banks of a river, sea, in the forest, etc.). Maintain a state of autogenic immersion, linking recovery processes with the rhythm of breathing: inhalation calms, brightens the images used in the lesson, and with each exhalation, relaxation spreads through the body, fatigue and negative emotions go away. Come up with self-hypnosis formulas yourself, based on personal experience and preferences.
This stage of the lesson lasts from 5 to 30 minutes. An important part of autogenic training is that at the end of the session you give yourself a setting that defines in general terms the state that it is desirable to have after the end of the session (freshness, vigor, readiness to act energetically, etc.). Activation according to the standard scheme. The exercise takes about 10-40 minutes.
Autogenic training to improve performance levels. Here are some tips on how auto-training can help with this. First of all, it is necessary to awaken interest in the business and determine how it will benefit people and you. Next, you need to clearly define goals, which, if necessary, can be divided into near and far. Short-term goals have the advantage that they are easier to plan, implement and integrate into the overall strategy. And success, as we know, is contagious.
To the formula “work brings joy”, which can be clarified if necessary, phrases such as “I can handle it”, “I will achieve my goal”, “I work willingly, calmly and collectedly”, “I am free and courageous, I study with pleasure, good and calm”, “I work joyfully and freely”, “My memory is good, my thoughts flow freely.” Anyone who easily falls asleep during the day and has a tendency to hypnoid states (primarily this applies to members of the locomotive crew) can get rid of these dangerous conditions using the goal formula: “When driving a train, I am always fresh and cheerful.”
Autogenic training to strengthen the immune system. The health and defenses of the body are affected by positive influence The following factors and techniques are given.
- Laughter. It doesn’t have to be a Homeric laugh, but, in any case, a little more than a smile.
- Communication with positive-minded people.
- Deep breathing. However, there is no need to do more than two deep breaths in a row to avoid so-called hyperventilation. In a few minutes deep breathing can be repeated.
- From yoga practice: press the tip of your tongue on the area for a few seconds upper palate, spaced a few millimeters above the teeth.
- Tapping the upper third of the sternum with your fingertips. If you have an impending cold, this is done, for example, every ten minutes.
- Focused prayer in a state of relaxation.
- Reflections on a topic that is determined individually. For example, in the case of illness, it is useful to intensively imagine that “every cell of my body is permeated with impulses of health” and at the same time think, first of all, about the diseased organ or part of the body. With my inner vision I can see him completely healthy. The simplest formula says: “I am healthy and will remain healthy.” This installation stabilizes the defenses. However, constant medical supervision is still necessary.
- Quality food products.
- If there are unclear disorders or complaints, if someone simply wants to improve health as a preventive measure or reinforce the results of medical treatment and mobilize the body’s defenses, then the following exercise is recommended: “I am completely calm. The whole body is relaxed and feels pleasantly warm. Slow exhalation is directed to the area thyroid gland. The heat spreads. I am brave and free - I am grateful - I am full of faith - I am full of trust - I am full of love.” “The slow exhalation is directed into the depths of the torso. The heat spreads. I am brave and free - I am grateful - I am full of faith - I am full of trust - I am full of love - I am young, healthy and full of energy - I am still calm.”
Autogenic training and cold resistance. Many doctors note that due to the stabilization of health as a result of autogenic training colds occur less frequently and occur over a longer period of time mild form. This may also be explained by the fact that a regularly exercising person becomes less sensitive to changes in external temperature and adapts to them faster and easier. AT practitioners regularly report that they tolerate infectious diseases, they catch colds less often, and sometimes they stop getting sick altogether.
We often hear about people who have already long years those involved in auto training who do not wear coats and gloves in winter. However, those who use public transport, are not at all obliged to imitate them: wind and draft can be more dangerous than low outside air temperature.
Target formulas for protection against infections depend on specific situation: “The skin is pleasantly warm (cool).” “The cold doesn’t matter to me at all. Warmth spreads into the kidney area.” “The legs are pleasantly warm” or “The right shoulder is pleasantly warm.” "I am brave and free." “I am resistant and immune (to colds).” “I inhale from the cold air the warmth dissolved in it. As I exhale, I spread warmth throughout my body.”
If you have to sit on something cold and have concerns about illness Bladder or sciatica, then we can say: “A (pleasant) warmth spreads across the buttocks.” Those who have to travel to very cold or very hot countries can protect themselves from illness in this way.
Autogenic training to improve vision. The habit of constantly blinking your eyes, wrinkling your forehead or squinting for no reason is called a tic. If these disorders have not yet progressed to chronic form, then they can sometimes be completely eliminated through auto-training. The following goal formulas have worked well: “I am completely calm, my eyelids are calm and free,” “My gaze is calm, free and clear.”
Visual acuity will increase thanks to the following formula: “The fundus of the eye is well washed with blood, I see freely, clearly and clearly,” “The fundus of the eye is warm. The eyes see everything clearly, sharply and clearly.”
Autogenic training to reduce sensitivity to weather changes. Most doctors believe increased sensitivity to the weather alarm signal. It cannot be denied that air pressure, temperature and, above all, air humidity have an impact on any organism. However, it has been noted that people with a labile psyche who experience insufficient motor activity especially suffer from these factors.
When bad weather sets in, cases of sleep disorders increase. Reluctance to work, irritability, and depression appear. Accidents, pain, heart complaints, etc. occur. In good weather, on the contrary, sleep improves, work is done more willingly and with better quality, and the number of accidents is reduced.
Hardening the body allows you to expect that the reaction to the weather will become less noticeable. There is a requirement that applies to every person, but especially to those who are hypersensitive to the weather: every day it is necessary exercise stress before lung conditions fatigue and sweating. In addition, it is recommended that goal formulas be used to influence the main symptoms associated with sensitivity to weather: sleep disturbances, headaches, anxiety and poor concentration. You need to come up with the formulas yourself.
Autogenic training for pain relief. It has already been noted that relaxation leads to a decrease in pain. Those who want to use goal formulas need to know the causes of their pain. To find out the cause, you should first consult your doctor. The fact is that many serious illnesses begin with unnoticeable pain, and it would be dangerous to smooth them out with the help of auto-training.
Experience teaches us that when there is pain in skin, external mucous membranes and toothache, it is necessary to cool the corresponding part of the body: “The upper jaw is pleasantly cool, the pain goes away, dissolves, disappears.” For internal pain, it is preferable to warm the corresponding area: “Area right kidney pleasantly warm and relaxed”, “The liver and gallbladder area are pleasantly warm and painless.”
Headaches are best treated with “cooling”: “The forehead (left half of the forehead) is pleasantly cool and painless.” For headaches, it is recommended to warm the corresponding area of the head. But this only applies to the back of the head: “The back of the head is pleasantly warm, the pain subsides, goes away, disappears.” For neuralgia trigeminal nerve: “I am completely calm and relaxed, the right side of my face is pleasantly cool and painless.” Sometimes you have to change this formula “pleasantly warm...” to “pleasantly cool...”.
Autogenic training for weight loss. Of interest is the fact that for most people, excess weight is associated with a state of mind. Often, when faced with trouble, they open the refrigerator door to drown out depressive disorders food. There are more than enough reasons for frustration: conflicts at work and in the family, fear of unpleasant news, disappointment, etc.
Participants in autogenic training courses report that they now find it easier to lose weight because their mental balance has stabilized. The following goal formulas are proposed: “I am completely calm and well-fed”, “Alcohol and sweets are indifferent to me”, “Restaurants (cafes) are indifferent to me”, “I am satisfied, free and full”, “Giving up alcohol (sweets) makes me free."
Drastic weight loss courses must be carried out in consultation with a doctor. It is best to lose about 100 - 500 grams every week, at least so that the set goal is actually achieved. The basic rule is that normal weight must correspond to a body height exceeding 100 cm. In accordance with this, with a height of 170 cm, the weight should be about 70 kg for men, and slightly less for women.
Autogenic training to tame fear. There are medical experts who see in fear primary symptom"neurosis" or a disorder preceding it. And since neuroses in the broadest sense of the word have become part of our everyday life, fear is called a “European” (Nietzsche) or “Western” disease, although it is found almost everywhere where people live.
What is fear? “Tomorrow,” is how the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855) answers this question. The state of fear can be physically expressed in increased heart rate and breathing with a simultaneous increase in blood pressure and, above all, in increased sweating. At the same time, parasympathetic reactions such as diarrhea and vomiting may appear. This picture is also complemented by muscle tension. Fear can give strength to the person running away, but it can also paralyze and deprive the person of the ability to act.
The more we fear, the more uncertain we become in all our actions. It is necessary, however, to be able, as Freud recommended, to “tolerate a certain amount of uncertainty.” And a certain amount of uncertainty, too, because uncertainty is human. The people who suffer the most are the people themselves, tormented by a sense of fear, concerned about their future, and their mental suffering is often much more acute than their physical suffering. The coward, as we know, dies many times, and yet he has to live in this state.
The “destructive meaninglessness of fear” has been known for a long time: “So, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of its own - enough for each day of its own care.” Formulas for people suffering from fears: “I am brave, free and full of strength”, “I am completely calm and relaxed”, “There is only calmness everywhere”, “I believe in my life”. For patients who are afraid of surgery or going to the dentist, anesthesia has a worse effect than for those who do not experience fear. The following formulas can help here: “I am brave and free. The work (operation) will be successful”, “I am brave and free. I don't care about pain."
With the help of auto-training you can also relieve depression. They are often hidden behind physical disorders such as headache or pain in hip joints, back. The following goal formulas have proven themselves well: “I am learning to live and love”, “Every life is worth living”, “I am cheerful and free, illnesses are indifferent to me”, “I am completely calm, I look at others boldly and freely”, “I live and I will live boldly, joyfully and cheerfully,” “I am happy and contented.”
Autogenic training to free yourself from obsessive states. Those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder are afraid of changes in life; they are attached to the present, since the future, in their opinion, may be associated with even greater uncertainty. Lungs and everyone known forms obsessive syndromes manifest themselves, for example, in the fact that a person, having just locked the door, checks whether it is really locked, whether the boiler is removed from the water, whether the gas stove is turned off, whether the lights are turned off in all rooms, etc.
Another type of obsessive state can be constant washing and cleaning, as well as continuous calculations. Certain superstitions and rituals, for example, relating to the number thirteen and knocking on wood, can be a kind of transitional form to obsessive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are common. In such cases, the formula can help: “I am completely calm and free; any intrusive thoughts I don't care." Try to come up with your own formulas if you are worried about obsession.
Is autogenic training a panacea? When reading everything that is written here about the possibilities of using autotraining - and not all of them are listed - you may get the impression that autogenic training is a kind of panacea for all diseases. It is necessary to emphasize once again: auto-training does not exaggerate its capabilities.
For severe mental disorders, many inflammatory, surgical diseases he can't help. We are not talking about the success of a complete cure, but only about the elimination of symptoms. Auto-training is just a means of providing assistance that has its own boundaries. Although its extremely wide scope of application is most often not fully used.
According to Schultz, all conditions that are functional and reversible can be expected to benefit from autogenic training. Wherever there are autonomic disorders, where it is necessary to change life habits, smooth out emotions, auto-training has proven itself as useful remedy. Anyone who wants to become more “thick-skinned” and immune to external irritants can easily do this with the help of autogenic training.
Since auto-training can and should be used along with other therapeutic agents, the scope of its use is truly inexhaustible.
The series of articles presented in the magazine is only a touch on the topic of AT and does not pretend to be a complete and harmonious system of practical training. But if someone is interested in the articles, then you can turn to more serious literature on this topic on the Internet. For example, on the site www.koob.ru Readers will find many books in electronic form dedicated to self-development. There, if they want, they can also order a printed version.
S.I. MEKHONOSHIN,
psychotherapist at the National Healthcare Institution Central Clinical Hospital No. 6 of JSC Russian Railways
A person's feeling of fatigue and decreased performance is usually only partially a consequence of physical fatigue. Often fatigue is subjective, “psychological”, not related to the real physical state of the body. Relaxation of the body muscles and activation of self-regulation mechanisms that occur in a state of autogenic immersion, as well as the use of auxiliary images and formulations that stimulate recovery processes, will help overcome feelings of fatigue and increase performance.
For effective rest and increased performance, you can conduct a lesson according to the following scheme:
1. Take one of the main poses for autogenic training.
2. Breathing is even and calm. A short, shallow inhale and a long, calm exhale. Breathe easily and calmly. With each exhalation, a passive state and pleasant lethargy throughout the body increases. With each exhalation, all extraneous sounds and thoughts not related to the activity are removed and become weaker.
3. The whole body is relaxed, lethargic, motionless. With each exhalation, the feet become heavier and heavier. Heaviness spreads across the left and right arms from the shoulders to the hands. The feet are becoming more and more noticeably heavier, with each exhalation it becomes more noticeable. The feet of the left and right legs are very heavy. The soles of my feet are heavy, like cast iron weights. A feeling of heaviness fills both legs more and more. Relaxation, peace, passivity and contemplation.
4. Mentally imagine a situation that contributes to the restoration of working capacity (rest on the river bank, on the seashore, in the forest, etc.). At the same time, it is important to maintain a state of autogenic immersion, linking the recovery processes with the rhythm of breathing: inhalation fills with relaxation, peace, brightens the images used in the lesson, and with each exhalation, relaxation spreads through the body, with each exhalation, fatigue and negative emotions leave the body.
This stage of the lesson lasts from 5 to 30 minutes. An important part of autogenic training is that at the end you give yourself a setting that defines in general terms the state that it is desirable to have after the end of the lesson (freshness, vigor, readiness to act energetically, etc.)
Activation according to the standard scheme. The exercise takes about 10‑40 minutes
Images and wording that make it easier to enter autogenic immersion
1. Peace and tranquility fill me.
2. Peace envelops me like a soft blanket.
3. Everything not related to this vacation becomes unimportant and indifferent for me.
4. The inner peace that fills me has a beneficial effect on my body, on my soul,
5. I lose track of time, I have nowhere to rush.
6. I become self-absorbed.
7. Everything happens as if by itself.
8. A pleasant inner peace fills me.
9. The hands and feet are heavy and motionless, like cast iron weights.
10. A transparent dome separates me from the outside world, creating a safety zone around me, muffling extraneous sounds.
11. Fewer and fewer impulses are sent from relaxed muscles to the brain, and it is increasingly difficult to determine the position of the arms and legs.
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