Archives 2019

Autogenic training: what is it, benefits for psychophysical well-being and exercises to relax mind and body

The Biofeedback (TA) is a self-relaxation.The passive process that uses the view. It is a therapeutic relaxation technique , conceived in the 20th century by the neurologist and psychiatrist, Johannes Heinrich Schultz . In fact, physiological and rational exercises are designed to deeply relax the mind and the body . A few years after getting excited about psychoanalysis and hypnosis , Schultz’s goal was to find a therapeutic method that was less long and simpler than analysis and above all that did not involve any risk of dependence between the patient and his therapist. Moreover, Schultz admitted the similarity between autogenic training and Zen Buddhism. In fact, it is practiced in a lying position and the concept of “doing nothing” and “letting it happen” is very similar to oriental meditation practices such as yoga and tai chi.

You can practice autogenic training as a preventive measure or to cure many problems such as stress, anxiety, insomnia, etc. Moreover, based on your needs, you can decide to take individual, couple or group lessons. The advice is to start the practice with a therapist and then continue the exercises at home alone.

The method of Schutz has often been modified but remains, even today, the method most used by therapists, psychotherapists and sofrologists . With a protocol less rigorous than the original one (Schultz had coded it in minutes), autogenic training is today much less analytical. In fact, the main work is on the exercises of lower autogenic training .

Finally, autogenic training is recommended for athletes of a competitive level and for those who have a very stressful job such as doctors, speakers and actors.   

A is a psychophysical relaxation technique that helps people to reach a state of relaxation on their own thanks to autosuggestions that refer to bodily sensations such as:

  • heaviness
  • heat
  • freshness
  • calm.

Johannes Heinrich Schultz sought to produce a state of inner peace similar to sleep or that induced by hypnosis. In fact, through the practice of precise techniques, you can achieve absolute relaxation that leads to harmony and the deep connection between mind and body .

This state allows to overcome psychosomatic discomforts, to improve contact with one’s “self” and to enhance daily performance and routine at school, at work or in sport.

Bigorexia: what is it and how to cure this eating disorder

Individuals with bigorexia , also known as vigoressia , are convinced that they are always too thin and flaccid. Moreover, the vigoressico tries to conform to the unreal model of a man full of muscles , spread by max media and the web. The bigoressia is an eating disorder, which takes its name from the big “big” and orex “appetite” and is the “hunger for a muscular body.” Consequently, in order to build a massive musculature, the sufferer of bigoressia adopts a high-protein diet , almost devoid of carbohydrates and hydration.

In addition, a flat stomach, a turtle abdomen, hypertrophied biceps and toned muscles are obtained by the subject with long and exhausting sessions in the gym.

Not only that, to sculpt the perfect figure, patients abuse steroid supplements and anabolic steroids , which increase lean mass but are toxic. Bigorexia mainly affects men, but today it also affects women, who want to look like males.

The causes of the disease are psychosocial so that the disorder is called the “Adonis complex” . The identification in the mythological character, synonymous with male beauty, originates from the “physical inferiority complex”, at the origin of bigorexia.

Therefore, the patient constantly looks at himself in the mirror and always sees himself thin, even if he has well-formed muscles. Not only that, the obsession of the muscular body leads the bigoressico to isolation and mental and physical disorders . Especially the anabolics make the subject’s kidneys , liver and cardiovascular system ill , which can lead to premature death.

The treatment of bigorexia is based on nutritional re-education and on cognitive-behavioral therapy.

However, prevention should be given above all to the school which should teach young people the correct diet for sport and the symptoms of bigorexia.