Welcome to Autogenic Relaxation

Autogenic Relaxation is a technique I learnt when I was an in-patient for 6 weeks at Professor Findley's ME Unit in Romford Essex. I found it to be one of the most powerful forms of Deep Relaxation, and when I learnt to quieten my busy, whirring, stressed out mind, it seemed to have the knock on benefit of actually freeing up precious energy for my body; so I have outlined below a basic Autogenic exercise, maybe you could perhaps record in a very gentle, slow voice, for your loved one  or print off a copy and give it to his/her Carer to read out to them.  And if the patient is so severely noise sensitive that even listening causes too much pain, then scroll to Severe Noise Sensitivity section later in this post.

Autogenic Relaxation (Patient listening to Carer version)

Lying down get as supported as you can – use pillows under your arms/legs if you need to – then close your eyes and imagine that your arms and legs feel heavy.  Don’t try too hard, just be aware of your arms and legs, then listen to me as I repeat some phrases to you, and feel your arms and legs feeling relaxed and heavy as we work through this relaxation:

My right arm is heavy, my right arm is heavy, my right arm is heavy

My left arm is heavy, my left arm is heavy, my left arm is heavy

My right leg is heavy, my right leg is heavy, my right leg is heavy

My left leg is heavy, my left leg is heavy, my left leg is heavy

My arms and legs are heavy, my arms and legs are heavy, my arms and legs are heavy

I am relaxed and at peace (PAUSE)

My neck and shoulders are relaxed and heavy

I am relaxed and at peace (PAUSE)

Now imagine that your arms and legs feel heavy and warm; feel the warmth flowing down through your arms from your shoulder, down your arms into your fingers and down your legs into your feet and toes, and again listen to me as I talk you through this relaxation:

My right arm is heavy and warm, my right arm is heavy and warm, my right arm is heavy and warm

My left arm is heavy and warm, my left arm is heavy and warm, my left arm is heavy and warm

My right leg is heavy and warm, my right leg is heavy and warm, my right leg is heavy and warm

My left leg is heavy and warm, my left leg is heavy and warm, my left leg is heavy and warm

My arms and legs are heavy, my arms and legs are heavy, my arms and legs are heavy

 I am relaxed and at peace (PAUSE)

My neck and shoulders are relaxed and heavy

I am relaxed and at peace (PAUSE)

My breathing is slow relaxed and even

My heart beat is calm and regular

My stomach is calm and warm

My forehead is cool and clear

I am relaxed and at peace

Now just lay there and enjoy this feeling of complete relaxation for a few minutes (PAUSE)

Ok, now it is time to finish, but know that when you open your eyes, you will feel more relaxed and will carry this sense of peace with you throughout the coming hours.

Severe Noise Sensitivity

As you can see, Autogenic Relaxation is pretty straightforward, the main objective being to rest both the mind and body; but if it is simply too much for the Patient to listen to this relaxation or someone reading it out to them very, very slowly due to severe Noise Sensitivity, then suggest to the Patient that they could try to just say a few of the phrases over to themselves in their heads, to try and quieten the brain’s ‘chatter’, eg

My arms and legs are relaxed, heavy and warm (Pause)

I am relaxed and at peace (Pause)

My arms and legs are relaxed, heavy and warm (Pause)

I am relaxed and at peace (Pause)      

(Repeat over and over….)

Alternatively, if they are at the stage of the illness when their brain is just too foggy then they could try doing something else; when I was just too ill to do a full autogenic relaxation, I would simply lay still, close my eyes, put in my earplugs and just say to myself over and over again a simple relaxing mantra like ‘relax’, ‘calm’, ‘heal’ or ‘peace’, in my head, which proved just as relaxing and calming. 

I would be lying down, trying to become aware of my breathing, inhaling slowly, and exhaling slowly, on the outward breath, I would just say to myself ‘and Re-Lax…”, and just keep repeating for about 10 minutes, before listening to some very soothing, gentle relaxation music for the rest of my 30minute rest period.

Like all things learning to relax takes practice, as the racing brain keeps wanting to break into the Patients’ thoughts, but if they stick with it and keep trying, they will find that it becomes easier, and easier. 

Indeed, when I talk to people about Rest and Relaxation periods, I tell them that I regard my 30-minute Rest Periods in just the same way as I would a Prescription for a medicine, because for Severe ME Patients that is precisely what they are, a prescription for desperately needed rest.