Coaching practices for How to Do Autogenic Training

Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For How to Do Autogenic Training, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.

Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?

  • When I come out of a deep relaxation and try to get up right away I’m woozy and groggy, half-dazed and unsteady on my feet
  • The people I’m training just go through the reps I dictate, checked-out and joyless, and I dictate every detail because I assume that’s my job
  • The moment I notice my own heartbeat I start scanning it for something wrong
  • The instant I pay attention to my breathing I start managing it
  • I run through it a handful of times, feel like I’ve basically got it, and then move on

Practices that may help

  1. Autogenic Training, Made Practical
    Autogenic training (AT), developed by psychiatrist Johannes Schultz in the 1930s, is a structured self-relaxation method that uses repeated, specific phrases — "My arm is heavy," "My arm is warm" — to trigger physiological relaxation through passive concentration. A 2002 meta-analysis found AT effective for anxiety, insomnia, and functional somatic complaints. The warmth and heaviness described in the phrases are real physiological responses (vasodilation and muscle relaxation), not metaphor.
  2. Use the cancellation procedure to end sessions safely
    Always formally "cancel" the AT state before returning to activity — skipping this can leave you drowsy and disoriented.
    Autogenic Training, Made Practical
  3. Give performers choice within practice to support autonomy
    Offer self-directed options in practice — which drill, how many reps, which cue — to enhance intrinsic motivation and learning.
    External Focus of Attention, Made Practical
  4. The heartbeat phrase ("My heartbeat is calm and regular")
    Use the heartbeat phrase to shift attention to the heart without anxiety — a slow, passive observation practice.
    Autogenic Training, Made Practical
  5. The breathing phrase ("It breathes me")
    Adopt a passive observation of breathing — "it breathes me" — rather than controlling the breath.
    Autogenic Training, Made Practical
  6. High-volume repetition blocks
    Log more trials than feels necessary — automaticity is earned through quantity, not complexity.
    Automaticity: When Skills Run Themselves
  7. Attention Training Technique (ATT), Made Practical
    The Attention Training Technique (ATT), developed by Adrian Wells, is a structured auditory exercise that rebuilds voluntary control over where attention goes — directly countering the self-focused, threat-locked attention that sustains anxiety and health anxiety. Randomised trials support its effectiveness as a standalone and as part of Metacognitive Therapy.
  8. Consistent-mapping practice
    Always pair the same stimulus with the same response — inconsistency permanently blocks automaticity.
    Automaticity: When Skills Run Themselves
  9. Train at 40-60% of maximum — the sub-maximal effort rule
    Each GTG set should feel easy: you stop well before any form breakdown or perceived effort.
    Greasing the Groove, Made Practical
  10. HRV biofeedback — using heart rate data to train autonomic flexibility
    Train stress resilience by watching your heart rate variability in real time and learning which breathing and mindset states raise it.
    The Relaxation Body-Mind, Made Practical

Related concerns

Describe your situation in your own words to search the complete practice library.

Practice this with IX Coach

Try this practice