Summary
Hilary Talbot Rowland introduces autogenic training as a relaxation technique for women navigating fertility challenges, reframing it as "verbal suggestions to calm the frick down." She credits Dr. Johannes Schultz as the creator and notes it was popularized by Dr. Herbert Benson's book The Relaxation Response. The episode guides listeners through a modified autogenic session that adapts the classic phrases for fertility support. After standard autogenic warmth and heaviness cues for breath, arms, and legs, Rowland directs attention to the lower abdomen and reproductive organs with the phrase "I am relaxed and fertile." The technique bypasses the conscious mind to instruct the body to relax, making it useful in high-anxiety moments like doctor's appointments or the two-week wait.
Key Points
- Autogenic training was created by Dr. Johannes Schultz and popularized by Dr. Herbert Benson's The Relaxation Response
- The technique is a form of self-hypnosis that bypasses the conscious mind to instruct the body to relax
- Unlike affirmations, autogenic verbal suggestions are directed into the body rather than just repeated mentally
- The session adapts standard autogenic phrases for fertility: "I am relaxed and fertile"
- Core phrases include "calm and effortless" for breath, "heavy and warm" for arms, hands, legs, and feet
- Once practiced, the technique can be pulled out in high-anxiety moments like before doctor's appointments
- Warmth is directed specifically to the lower abdomen and reproductive organs
Key Moments
Autogenic training explained as verbal self-hypnosis
Hilary Talbot Rowland introduces autogenic training, crediting Dr. Johannes Schultz and Dr. Herbert Benson, and explains how it differs from affirmations by taking verbal suggestions into the body to bypass the conscious mind.
"Today's mini mindful moment is a relaxation technique that is technically called autogenic training. It's a technique that is credited to Dr. Johannes Schultz and was popularized in the 90s by Dr. Herbert Benson's book, The Relaxation Response, and it has to do with the power of verbal suggestion."
Autogenic warmth and heaviness for arms, legs, and abdomen
The guided session moves from breath cues into the core autogenic sequence, directing warmth and heaviness from the arms down through the legs and into the lower abdomen, with specific attention to reproductive organs.
"Shift your attention into your arms and your hand. Think to yourself, "My hands are heavy and warm. Warmth is flowing down the top of my head, down my arms, and out the tips of my fingers. My arms and hands are heavy and warm.""
Adapting autogenic training for fertility support
Rowland adapts the autogenic technique for fertility by directing warmth to the lower abdomen and reproductive organs, using the modified phrase "I am relaxed and fertile" alongside standard muscle release cues.
"Notice the warmth you feel in your hands and deep inside of your abdomen, sending waves of calm washing over your ovaries and uterus. Think to yourself, I am relaxed and fertile. I am relaxed and fertile."
