Autogenic training is a relaxation technique similar to mindfulness meditation. I’ve tried both, and I prefer autogenic training.
How does it work? You lie down comfortably and close your eyes. You then, in your mind, go through different body parts. You start with your arms and tell yourself, “My arms are heavy” a few times. Soon, you can feel your arms becoming heavier. You then move on to your legs, and once they are heavy too, you tell yourself, “my arms are warm.” You know it’s working because you can feel your arms becoming warmer. It’s not just in your mind: If you hold a thermometer while doing this, the temperature will also go up by a few degrees. I’ve tried this an the temperature really went up. The cause of the heaviness and the warmth is increased blood flow in your extremities.
The same way, you warm your core, get your forehead comfortably cool and calm your breath and your heartbeat. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be in a comfortably relaxed state. You can stay in this state and enjoy it or move on to further autosuggestion.
If you’re interested in trying, I recommend you look up more detailed instructions than above.
I first tried autogenic training while at high school in Vienna when I came across a self-help book that introduced the technique. Like many things I try, I didn’t have any particular reason to attempt it apart from curiosity. I noted that it worked in inducing a relaxed state and moved on.
Years later, around the time I moved to California, I learned mindfulness meditation. I took it quite seriously, again not because I thought it helped me with anything in particular but because I was curious how it’d feel. I even attended a multi-day retreat at a Zen center deep in the Los Padres forest. It was mildly interesting but also not life-changing. Yes, my mind has been quite calm for a few hours now, what’s the big deal?
Autogenic training achieves the same, but it has several advantages. For one, I’ve found it more effective in reaching relaxation because it breaks the process down into distinct steps (“heavy arms”, “warm arms”, “calm breathing” etc.).
Meditation also comes in a cultural package, and that package also contains prayer bowls and people who take spirit animals literally. It’s true that you don’t have to accept the other contents of the package, but they will be there.
Autogenic training is similar to another technique called progressive muscle relaxation. They were both developed in the first half of the 20th century, progressive muscle relaxation in America and autogenic training in Germany. Because of its origins in 1920s and 1930s Germany, autogenic training has its own baggage. It was developed by Johannes Heinrich Schulz, a psychologist who during the Third Reich conducted gay conversion therapy on homosexuals in concentration camp and promoted killing the disabled. This makes autogenic training yet another example of a bad person creating a good thing.
Nehaveigur 