Several friends recently got together to form a Healing Kiva to study Autogenics, Tibetan bowl mediation and to do some Reiki work—all in the name of relaxation and sustained health. A traditional Kiva was a square-walled subterranean room utilized for cultural and spiritual purposes by ancient peoples of the American southwest; echoing in a way, contemporary spas of today.
Bringing a group of friends together to share such an adventure is definitely empowering! The collective energy and excitement, perhaps even bewilderment of learning, trusting in each other and sharing is remarkable.
Our coach explained her own healing path and the study of several modalities, specifically of Autogenics.
Autogenics requires time and discipline to learn, unlike progressive muscle relaxation, which is a simple and easily learned technique. Like mediation, which I still find difficult, it will be interesting to see if over the next eight weeks I can calm my mind and relax my body in order to appreciate the many benefits of Autogenics. I can only anticipate how good it would feel to be able to take time prior to a massage to coach myself into a state of relaxation in order to truly benefit from the massage work.
Autogenics is a relaxation technique involving a series of attention-focusing exercises designed to induce relaxation and enhance the body’s self-healing powers. Similar to self-hypnosis and meditation its purpose is to enable people to learn how to put themselves in a relaxed state releasing muscle tension and dealing with anxiety without the need of a trainer or therapists.Autogenic training evolved out of the research of Brain physiologist Oskar Vogt in the 1880’s at the Berlin Neuro Biological Institute. His work provided the inspiration for Johannes Schultz, a Berlin psychiatrist and neurologist to investigate the therapeutic potential of auto-hypnosis exercises from which autogenic training emerged.There is a wealth of research data available on the therapeutic applications of Autogenics. Many studies relating to autogenic training also refer to Biofeedback which is a system created out of autogenic training methods incorporating the use of electrical equipment designed to monitor stress levels through respiration rates, skin temperature and blood flow.
Only one other time have I had a massage when I was totally relaxed and truly understood the amazing benefits of body work, it was after a Watsu session. Usually I have a massage in order to chill out! I wrote about it on my blog: http://spagirl007.blogspot.com/2009/11/spa-girl-says-watsu-is-massage-magic.html
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