By exercising regularly relaxation and relaxation by using auto-training, You probably noticed that as it approaches relaxation and relaxation body, your breathing calms down and normalizes.
This process is very important for the body, since uniform breathing facilitates the work of the heart, relieves irritation and anger, leads to general calm, distracts from disturbing thoughts and feelings, and normalizes sleep.
Therefore, when practicing relaxation, relaxation using the auto-training method, breathing is given a special place. We are saying that each auto-training formula should be pronounced while exhaling. In this case, the exhalation should be slightly longer than the inhalation, approximately twice as long. Thus, the regulation of breathing is present in all areas of auto-training, relaxation and relaxation.
Greetings, dear readers of Oleg Matveev’s psychological articles, I wish you mental health.
FOURTH EXERCISE OF RELAXATION AND RELAXATION - AUTO TRAINING
To master relaxation and relaxation, - regulation of breathing with the help of auto-training - it is necessary to complete all the previous tasks: (first) ; (second) ; (third), completely calm down, relax, feel the warmth of your hands and feet, imagine the smooth and calm work of your heart.As before, the formula breathing exercise should be pronounced while concentrating on the work of this organ. Then repeat the basic formula of this exercise several times:
I can breathe easily and freely,
Breathing is calm and uniform.
In some cases, when you experience discomfort in the chest area and your breathing does not normalize in any way, try using an extended version of this exercise, which consists of the following self-hypnosis:
My body is pleasantly relaxed
The muscles of the chest, abdomen are relaxed,
Pleasant soothing warmth in the chest,
The heat intensifies, growing with each exhalation,
Warmth displaces all unpleasant sensations,
My breathing calms down
I can breathe easier and more freely,
The stomach smoothly participates in breathing,
Everything is calming down nervous system,
The chest is warm,
The chest breathes easily and freely,
Air flows freely through the respiratory tract,
Cool and refreshing air flows easily and freely through the dilated bronchi,
I feel good
A light breeze refreshes your face,
The fresh air pleasantly cools the whiskey,
I feel a pleasant coolness in the forehead and bridge of the nose,
The chest is light and free,
Fresh air fills my chest
Inhales and exhales freely,
Breathing completely arbitrarily
Enjoying the ease of breathing
My easy breathing and free all the time,
Breathe easily in any environment,
I fall into deep rest
I'm completely calm.
Often, solutions to seemingly intractable problems and even discoveries arise when the brain is dormant and the consciousness is freed. This is how music came to Mozart, this is how Mendeleev’s periodic system of elements appeared, and this is how a chess player’s first - instant - answer option is the most accurate. Yes, and you, my dear reader, probably had cases when you thought about a problem day and night, discarded it as unsolvable and moved on to other things. And then the decision came on its own. Morning is wiser than evening!
It is known that many creative people used alcohol and drugs to relieve stress (tension). But the charge does not last long, their effect weakens over time, an increasingly larger dose is required, and this is poison. Is the price too high? This method of releasing consciousness has high costs: everyone who resorted to it brought grief to their loved ones and died early. For long-term creative activity, you need to use other methods.
Self-regulation
The key to success is self-confidence. First you need to determine what you will do in this happy state - study, get healthy, relax or work. You will enter a special mental neutral state, “neutral”. This is exactly how I try to conduct diagnostics or write books. The liberated consciousness forms image-plans that will illuminate the path to practice - both spiritual and transformative.
“Neutral” is a yellow traffic light, absence of desires, silence, a feeling of detachment from worries, inner comfort. It is familiar to everyone. My little son once returned from the beach, ate, stretched out on the sofa and said: “It’s so good - I don’t want anything.” The head is free from thoughts, attention is unfocused.
This is a state of half-asleep last minutes before falling asleep, when impressions gradually melt away and the results of the day are summed up. Scroll through the past day in your memory like a film, remember the frames of everything that pleased you, and forget everything dark and unpleasant. Remember only the good.
You can now speak or listen to a previously prepared program on a tape recorder. And it will enter your memory as a guide to action, and then it will work itself. You will learn to cope without stress. To enter “neutral” you can choose one of the methods.
1. All or nothing. If a sufficiently significant part of the brain gets tired, for example, the center of vision, a wave of inhibition will spread throughout the brain, turning off stress. Dr. X. Aliyev recommends setting yourself a program, then choosing a fixed point just above eye level and looking at it like a star without blinking. A few seconds will pass, your eyes will get tired and close on their own. Then you can open them - the program will be executed. To get out of “neutral” it is quite enough to clench your hands in front of your chest, hold your breath, suck in your stomach and tell yourself: “The program is over.”
2. Relaxation. By alternating relaxation and tension, when sensations of heat and cold replace each other, you will learn to control the tension of the smooth muscles of blood vessels, especially the capillary bed. Keep your mind busy making sure that your free muscles are relaxed and your busy muscles are well fed with blood! You will be able to address yourself with a reasonable healing word, and this word will be accepted. By relaxing, you cancel stress, just as light displaces darkness.
3. Distraction. You can muffle your mind in one way or another - the guardian of stress. When a reflexologist does cauterization or inserts needles, it hurts a little. But such pain is useful, it draws attention to biologically active points. Static gymnastics, represented by short-term but very intense loads on the large muscular systems of the back and abdomen, also makes you completely forget about stress.
4. Rosary. E. Coue, one of the founders of autogenic training (autotraining), advised: “Every morning, when you wake up, and every evening, before going to bed, you should close your eyes and, without trying to concentrate on what you are saying, say twenty times... loud enough, to hear your own words, the following phrase: “I am getting better and better every day in all respects!” - in the tone in which a prayer is usually read... This method must be applied throughout life - it is as preventive as it is healing in nature " At the same time, rosary beads are very helpful for easily counting formulas while lying in bed: string twenty beads onto a fishing line, one of which is noticeably different from the rest.
One of my students never parts with her rosary. The boss, during a protracted “five-minute meeting,” is tediously sorting out some small detail - she is sorting out her rosary: “... every day in every way...” She’s on her way home from work on a crowded bus - the rosary comes to the rescue: “... I’m getting better and better...” The queue is discussing the economic situation in country - she takes up the beads: “...everything gets better and better.”
5. Meditation. Try to return to childhood, where connections were good, creative opportunities were great, where there was no fear, envy, doubt, awareness of our powerlessness, there was no burden of memory that we now drag behind us. There is no better way to free yourself from the shackles of a dull mind than to dive into your childhood and try to look at the problems of today from there.
Relaxation
Relaxation is accompanied by a feeling of warmth and heaviness throughout the body due to the dilation of capillaries in the resting muscles. By instilling in yourself a feeling of warmth and heaviness, you can improve your circulatory system.
But not all muscles of the body can be relaxed at will. There are smooth muscles of the heart vessels and gastrointestinal tract, which, on the contrary, should always work normally. They are also greatly supported by nearby active striated muscles. With an untrained body, you can experience pressure surges, problems with the heart, stomach and intestines. The reason is weakening smooth muscles. A person with a stomach ulcer will begin to actively relax, but his already sluggish pyloric valve will suddenly weaken and an attack may occur. To prevent this from happening, take precautions.
Constantly cleanse your entire body, keep your colon clean. Strengthen your abdominal and back muscles static gymnastics. This is the main safety measure to ensure good blood supply to the internal organs. Take additional measures - clasp your hands in front of your chest with maximum force, hold your breath after exhaling and mentally say with great conviction and force: “During relaxation blood pressure“My heart and stomach are fine.” Repeat confidently three times. This will relieve you of fear and make the training effective.
Now let's learn how to quickly relax, taking into account some features of the muscle control system. In the human cerebral cortex there is a motor zone located in the parietal part - control comes from here muscular system. More than half of the neurons from here control a small group of muscles - the face, tongue and fingers. And the body works according to the rule: “All or nothing.” If we are able to relax our tongue, face and fingers, a signal will be sent to the main group of neurons - and a stable relaxation center will arise in the motor cortex. It will spread the beneficial effect throughout the entire brain. Only smooth muscles should work.
In this case, the center of tension (stress) will be suppressed, because it is impossible to simultaneously experience two opposite emotions: calm and anxiety. There is a competitive struggle between them there, in the holy of holies, in the brain. I offer simple relaxation techniques.
Smile. A sincere smile relieves tension from the tongue and face. If the smile doesn’t work, say: “Ss-y-y-yr,” and smile forcefully. And now wider, kinder...
Soft fingers. Your fingers will easily relax after work. Clench and unclench your fingers several times, shake them as if making a wind, and let them rest a little. You can briefly put your hands in warm water - about 50 degrees.
Resting cat. Imagine a young cat who has just been playing, jumping, chasing a ball, and then rolled it under the closet and lay down to rest, stretching out to its full length... There is not a single tense cell in her, she is all pure relaxation. Feel like this cat, relax like she does.
Water. Remember what the sea looks like. It radiates amazing calm at sunset, it is smooth, like a mirror, only occasionally circles appear - a fish is playing. The sun is no longer there, the colors of the fading dawn are sliding across the sea, fading into it...
Sit or lie down comfortably, even more comfortably, so comfortably that it is impossible to imagine a more comfortable position. Focus on your breathing. Your breathing is light and free, your chest moves barely noticeably. Now say the formula for the mood for relaxation, concentration or recovery. Talk to yourself briefly, simply, directly, without the slightest tension and at the same time kindly, like with a child.
Tatyana Popova
Despite the fact that autogenic training has been successfully used in psychiatry for a long time, its popularity has grown significantly in recent years - just like the amount of stress in our lives. What is so special about them and how they help fight fatigue, explains psychologist-psychotherapist Alexandra Menshikova.
Alexandra Menshikova // Photo: Ekaterina Frolova
What is autogenic training?
Autogenic (from the Latin autos - himself and genos - origin) training, or autotraining, is a method of therapy aimed at correcting anxiety, depressive and psychosomatic disorders. This method has been used in psychiatry for a long time - it was developed back in the 30s of the 20th century by the German psychiatrist Johann Schulz. Based on the observations of neurologist Oskar Vogt, Schultz found that people who were exposed to hypnosis were less likely to suffer from various psychosomatic disorders and were less susceptible to fatigue. He found that during hypnosis his patients experienced two main sensations: warmth and heaviness in the body. Warmth is a result of dilation of blood vessels, and a feeling of heaviness is a result of muscle relaxation. The discoveries made inspired Schultz to develop a technique that would allow a person to independently, without the help of a doctor, induce similar sensations.
In principle, we can say that autogenic training is synonymous with self-hypnosis, but there is still a difference between these two techniques. Formulations auto-training are standard, since their goal is to relax the body, and when In self-hypnosis, they can be adjusted depending on what the person wants to inspire himself.
The state that occurs during autogenic training is similar to hypnotic - it is a borderline state between sleep and wakefulness, a state of surface trance. Unlike hypnosis, during autogenic training a person maintains contact with the outside world, as it is important to follow the instructions of the presenter.
Essentially, the problem of the 21st century is stress. Life becomes more complicated, and a person does not always know how to cope with the pressure that has befallen him. However, when we are nervous, our body begins to tense, and this tension, in turn, leads to increased load on internal organs and vessels. Will be the first to be hit cardiovascular system- a person’s heart rate increases and blood pressure rises, which can later cause problems heart rate and the development of other heart diseases. And the task of autogenic training is precisely to relieve this tension. Systematic classes auto-training normalize heart rate, reduce cholesterol and blood sugar levels. Lightness appears in the body.
Autogenic training is not an independent therapy, but rather one of its components. That is, even if you do auto-training every day, you will not get rid of serious phobias. But for people who are constantly under stress, autogenic training is great way psychoprophylaxis.
Indications for use:
- anxiety and depressive disorders;
- chronic pain (a sample of cancer patients showed a positive effect of this method on pain reduction);
- sleep disturbance;
- high blood pressure caused precisely by stress, and not by serious physiological or somatic disorders;
- irritable bowel syndrome (“bear disease”);
- chronic fatigue syndrome.
Contraindications:
- psychotic and dissociative disorders;
- with caution- patients with diabetes (during autogenic training, blood glucose levels decrease) and elderly people with serious heart pathologies.
At first, autogenic training must be performed under the supervision of a specialist. This is due to the fact that some people, as they relax, begin to experience anxiety - they become dizzy, and sometimes even experience headaches. This reaction can be explained by individual physiological characteristics body, and the fear of losing control over what is happening. A person often thinks: if he controls the situation, then he is safe, but during auto-training he relaxes and, as it seems to him, loses this control. As a result, fear arises - I have lost control, which means something could happen to me. And to help a person cope with these sensations, there should always be a specialist nearby who can explain the nature of these fears.
There are people who are skeptical about auto-training. They say: “I don’t give in to any influence and I don’t want anyone to tell me what I should do.” But the essence of autogenic training is not that you allow someone to control you, but that through relaxation you learn to control your body. After all, the more we try to keep everything under control, the higher the likelihood of losing it. And to learn to control yourself, you need to start with self-relaxation, with relaxation of the body.
How does this work
In order to plunge into an autogenic state, you need to close your eyes, accept comfortable position- either sitting or lying down - and focus on your physical sensations. Nothing should distract you. At the same time, you should not force yourself to relax - nothing will happen. Autogenic training is a passive process.
Many people mistakenly equate auto-training with meditation. These are completely different practices. Meditation is more aimed at awareness of what is happening (which is why it is advisable to meditate with open eyes), and the main goal of autogenic training is relaxation.
Photo: coloradohealthnews.files.wordpress.com
The classic method of autogenic training is divided into two stages: the first is devoted to relaxation and working with the body, the second is visualization. At the same time, it is important to maintain the sequence of passing the steps: first the first and only then the second. It is not advisable to immediately move to the second stage.
First stage
The first stage consists of six exercises that are designed to teach a person to direct attention to various parts of the body and instill in himself certain sensations.
Exercise No. 1: Concentrate on the feeling of heaviness in your arms and legs.
My left hand getting heavier. My right hand feels heavy. My hands became heavy. My right leg feels heavy. My left leg getting heavier. My legs became heavy. My arms and legs became heavy. I'm completely calm
Exercise No. 2: Concentrate on the feeling of warmth in your hands and feet.
Repeat in a calm monotonous voice: “ In my opinion right hand heat spreads. Warmth spreads across my left hand. Warmth spreads through my hands. In my opinion right leg heat spreads. Warmth spreads down my left leg. Warmth spreads through my legs. Warmth spreads through my arms and legs" Repeat each statement at least six times.
Exercise No. 3: Concentration on sensations in the heart area.
Exercise No. 4: concentration on breathing.
Exercise No. 5: Concentrate on the sensation of warmth in the solar plexus.
Systematically engaging in muscle relaxation and deep psychological relaxation with the help of auto-training (you can listen to online audio at any yoga, relaxation and meditative practice sites), you, of course, noticed that as the skeletal muscles of the body relax, your breathing slows down, calms down and normalizes.
The breathing process is important for the body. Deep, measured breathing spares the heart, facilitating its work, allowing you to quickly relieve irritation and anger, preventing stress and prolonged depression. Slow, deep breathing leads to general calm and normalizes sleep. By inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, you distract yourself from the thoughts that are bothering you. And for this alone, it’s worth listening to auto-relaxation training.
Auto-training online at home - relaxation and relaxation of the body
At regular classes relaxation using the auto-training method, proper calming breathing plays a special role. Each formulation of auto-training for relaxation and relaxation should be pronounced while exhaling. In this case, the exhalation should be longer than the inhalation. The duration of exhalation should differ by approximately two times. As you can see, breathing adjustments are present in all directions auto-training, relaxation and relaxation.
To enter a state of relaxation and master the skill of regulating breathing with the help of auto-training, you need to calm down and relax. Feel the warmth of your hands and feet, see with your inner vision how easily and smoothly your heart works. Remember that the formula for the breathing exercise must be spoken out with full concentration on the work of your heart. Repeat the exercise formula several times to regulate breathing, relaxation and relaxation:
- I can breathe easily and freely
- breathing is calm and uniform.
Listen to the video of autogenic training for relaxation and relaxation
Listen to online auto-training for relaxation and deep relaxation
If, while doing the exercise, you experience certain unpleasant sensations in the chest area, if you cannot normalize your breathing, try again, using the expanded version of this exercise. And this lies in the following auto-training formulas:
- my body is pleasantly relaxed
- the muscles of the chest and abdomen relaxed
- I feel a soothing warmth in my chest
- the heat increases with each exhalation
- the warmth pushes out all the feelings that oppress me
- my breathing calms down, and I breathe more and more easily, more and more freely
- my stomach breathes smoothly
- my nervous system calms down
- I feel warmth in my chest
- my chest breathes easily and freely
- air flows easily through my respiratory tract
- refreshing and warm air flows freely through the bronchi
- I feel great
- the fresh air pleasantly cools my temples
- I feel the coolness on the bridge of my nose
- fresh air fills my chest
- I breathe in and out deeply and freely
- I enjoy how easy it is for me to breathe
- I'm immersed in, I'm resting
- I am completely calm and relaxed.
You can consider that you have mastered an exercise for relaxation and relaxation (it’s incredibly convenient and easy to listen to auto-training online) if you already have the ability to freely and easily regulate your breathing after light physical activity.
One of effective methods acquiring the skill of self-control is undoubtedly autogenic training (abbreviated AT). This concept was introduced by the creator of this method, the German psychotherapist Johannes Heinrich Schultz.
The autogenic training technique allows you to quickly induce
complete relaxation of the body muscles;
a feeling of warmth in the extremities through a voluntary influence on the tone of blood vessels;
voluntary regulation of cardiac rhythm;
influence on the depth and rhythm of breathing;
the ability to cause a feeling of warmth in the abdomen and coolness in the forehead (Schultz I.G., 1985).
Autogenic training is used to restore working capacity after fatigue, to regulate the emotional state and exercise the will, to combat insomnia.
Autogenic training is based on the method of self-hypnosis. The most favorable time for self-hypnosis is the period after a night's sleep and before falling asleep. In addition to the morning and evening hours, autogenic training can be carried out up to 2-3 times during the day, depending on your daily routine. To achieve maximum effect, you need to exercise daily, regardless of how you feel. AT should be taught in a position that promotes relaxation. The most convenient position for training is lying down, the second position is sitting in a soft chair with a headrest and armrests.
You need to sit straight on a chair, straighten your back, and then relax everything skeletal muscles. The head is lowered to the chest, the eyes are closed, the legs are slightly apart and bent at an obtuse angle, the hands are on the knees without touching each other, the elbows are slightly rounded.
Mastery of AT may be hindered by immersion in a passive, uncontrollable state of drowsiness and sleep. To ward off excessive drowsiness, you need to take 3-4 deep breaths and exhale and close your eyes tightly 3-4 times without raising your eyelids. At the same time, you need to convince yourself that drowsiness is passing, a feeling of peace and relaxation sets in, and continue training.
Before class, it is necessary to ventilate the room and eliminate possible interference (noise, light, restrictive clothing and shoes).
Exercise No. 1. Causing a feeling of heaviness in the body.
The goal of the first exercise is to achieve maximum relaxation of the voluntary muscles of the body. Mentally and consistently pronounce the following verbal formulas - suggestions: “I am completely calm - 1 time. My right (left) arm (leg) is heavy - 5 times.” The exercise is performed at least 3 times a day for a week. Then “Both my arms (legs) are heavy. The whole body is heavy." At the conclusion of self-hypnosis, mentally say the formula “I am completely calm and relaxed” - 1 time.
When mastering this exercise, you will learn to create a feeling of heaviness throughout the body or in any part of it. Over time, it will be possible to reduce the number of verbal formulas and the number of their repetitions. To induce a feeling of heaviness in the body, it will be enough to say a simplified formula: “My arms and legs are heavy, my body is heavy.”
Exercise No. 2. Inducing a feeling of warmth in the body.
The purpose of the second exercise is to learn how to control the tone of the body's blood vessels. Contents of the exercise: “I am completely calm - 1 time. My right (left) hand (leg) is very warm - 6 times. Further, “both my arms (legs) are very warm. My whole body is warm.” At the end of the workout: “I am completely calm and relaxed.”
Mastering this exercise is usually carried out in 10 days, after which the first and second exercises are combined with one formula: “My right (left) hand (leg) is heavy and warm”, “my hands (legs) are warm and heavy”, “I am completely calm and relaxed " - 1 time.
Exercise No. 3. Regulation of breathing.
As the body relaxes, breathing calms down and normalizes. This process is very important for the body, since uniform breathing facilitates the work of the heart, relieves irritation and anger, leads to general calm, distracts from disturbing thoughts and feelings, and normalizes sleep. Each AT formula must be pronounced while exhaling. In this case, the exhalation should be slightly longer than the inhalation, exceeding its duration by approximately 2 times. Thus, the regulation of breathing is present in all areas of autogenic training.
Once AT skills are mastered, they can be used for a variety of purposes. For a short but fruitful rest, it is enough to relax, relieve residual muscle tension, regulate breathing, and perform basic AT exercises. After 15-20 minutes of being in this state, a person will rest well enough and regain strength.
To calm down in case of an overly excited or excited state, it is enough to relax, remove residual muscle tension and do 5 - 7 cycles of full breathing, and sometimes you can limit yourself to only cycles of full breathing.
To more effectively relieve emotional stress, you can additionally include specially oriented formulas in the basic AT exercises (for example, “nothing worries me..., all experiences and thoughts leave me..., my whole body is completely rested...", etc.). p.).
Autogenic training can also be used to mobilize specific organs or the entire body for any strenuous activity. For this purpose, the following formulas can be used: “I am in complete control of myself..., I am absolutely calm and cool..., I am completely collected and attentive..., I am in control of my feelings and thoughts..., I am brave and decisive. .., I can do anything..., I will achieve my goal...”, etc.
It should be noted that to obtain the required result, it is advisable to mentally repeat these formulas 8-10 times.
In addition, within the framework of autogenic training, it is unacceptable to use negative formulas and formulas of the future tense: “I am not weak..., I am not excited..., I will be confident in my abilities..., I will control my thoughts and feelings. ..”, etc.
