A step-by-step guide to optimize health, reconnect with Nature, and access the vast knowledge of the universe through autogenic training

• Provides step-by-step instructions for 40 autogenic and primal mind techniques

• Explains how to add healing affirmations and visualizations to autogenic practice as well as work with colors and chakras

• Includes techniques to restore our primal connection to the world of Nature through practices such as Forest Bathing, Nature’s Breath, and Feeling in the Dark

Developed by German doctor Johannes Schultz in the early 20th century, autogenic training teaches you how to use the mind-body connection to influence and regulate the body’s normally involuntary autonomic functions by passively tapping into your central and peripheral nervous systems. Often used for stress relief, autogenic training can also be used for asthma, chronic pain, migraines, constipation, anxiety, panic attacks, and a host of other conditions. In this book, James Endredy takes autogenic training to a new level, revealing how to use AT practices to optimize health as well as reawaken your senses, reconnect with Nature and tap into the vast knowledge and power of the universe.

Beginning with the 7 standard formulas of AT, the author provides step-by-step instructions for 40 AT and primal mind techniques. He explains how to add specific healing affirmations and visualizations to your AT practice as well as how to work with colors and the chakras. He offers advanced trainings to rekindle your primal touch sensitivity, experience enhanced sight and hearing, and awaken your primal sense of smell. He reveals how to use AT to restore our primal connection to the world of Nature through practices such as Forest Bathing, Nature’s Breath, and Primal Fire Connection.

Drawing on more than 25 years of experience living and working with indigenous cultures, including the Huichol, Iroquois, Sioux, Maya, and Hopi, Endredy shows how, much like a vision quest, this unique combination of AT and primal mind awareness offers rites of passage sorely missing from modern life. It gives you the tools to go deeper into your physiological being, to directly experience how we relate to the world, and to reconnect with the ancient wisdom within each of us.

James Endredy leads workshops throughout the United States, Mexico, and Canada and is actively involved in preserving the world’s indigenous cultures and sacred sites. The award-winning author of several books, including Ecoshamanism, The Flying Witches of Veracruz, Teachings of the Peyote Shamans, and Earthwalks for Body and Spirit, he lives in Vermont.

Acknowledgments

Preface

What Is the Goal of This Book? 

Part One

Introduction to Autogenic Training and Primal Mind Awareness

1   What Is Autogenic Training?

2   What Is Primal Mind?

3   Combining Autogenic Training and Primal Mind Awareness

Part Two

Autogenic Training Techniques

4    Preparing for Autogenic Training

5    The Seven Standard Formulas

Training #1: Breathing--The I Breathe Me Experience

Training #2: Neuromuscular System--The Heaviness Experience

Training #3: Heaviness and Relaxation of the Neck and Back

Training #4: Vascular Dilation--The Experience of Warmth

Training #5: Regulation of the Heart

Training #6: Solar Plexus--Warmth in the Abdomen

Training #7: Cooling the Forehead

6    Autogenic Training with Positive Affirmations
Training #8: Adding Affirmations Formulas

7    Autogenic Training and Medical/Psychosomatic/
Psychiatric Disorders

Training #9: Adding Healing Formulas

Part Three

Advanced Autogenic Training Techniques

8   Visualization and Autogenic Training

Training #10: Spontaneous Evocation of Colors

Training #11: Evocation of Colors on Demand

Training #12: Visualization of Objects

Training #13: Visualization of People

Training #14: Visualization of Abstract Concepts

Training #15: Self-Participation and Selected States of Feeling

Training #16: Using Self-Directed Questions

9   Applying Autogenic Training to Meditation and to the Subtle-Energy Centers

Training #17: First Tunnel--Red

Training #18: Second Tunnel--Orange

Training #19: Third Tunnel--Yellow

Training #20: Fourth Tunnel--Green

Training #21: Fifth Tunnel--Blue

Training #22: Sixth Tunnel--Indigo

Training #23: Seventh Tunnel--Violet

Part Four

Techniques of Primal Mind, Autogenic Training, Our Senses, and the Natural World

10   Primal Connection with the Sense of Touch

Training #24: Primal Touch Sensitivity

Training #25: Touching Nature with Your Hands and Subtle Body

Training #26: Touch the Earth--Barefoot Walking in Nature

11   Primal Connection with the Senses of Sight and Hearing

Training #27: Experiencing Sight, Sound, and Rhythm with Heightened Awareness

Training #28: Advanced Heightened Sensory Awareness and Nature

12   Primal Connection with the Sense of Smell

Training #29: Waking Up Our Primal Sense of Smell

Training #30: Herbal Body Butter

13   Primal Connection with the World of Nature

Training #31: Forest Bathing and the Nature Bed

Training #32: The Multidimensional Primal Relationship--Predator and Prey

Training #33: Nature’s Breath

Training #34: Temporary Shelter

Training #35: Feeling in the Dark

Training #36: The Magic of Water

Training #37: Primal Fire Connection

14   Going Deeper into Primal Rites of Passage in Nature

Training #38: Primal Mind and the Quest for Vision

Training #39: Primal Connection--The Earth-Body Rite of Passage

15   Primal Mind of the Cosmic Clowns

Training #40: Inverting the World

Epilogue

What’s Next?

Notes

Bibliography

Index