Remember to begin slowly so that you will not feel defeated before you get off the ground. Doing one exercise each day is alright at first. You can increase the exercise each week.

• Stretching your way to health.

Lie flat on your back with your arms down to your sides and your feet flat on the floor while your legs are bent. Lift your buttocks off the floor and hold for a count of five.

• Sit-ups.

Lying flat on your back with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor, arms extended above your head, take in a deep breath and raise your body off the floor. You may only be able to lift your head off the floor at first, but that is all right, in time you will be able to get up further. Hold yourself up for a count of five and return to the floor.

• Leg tucks

Lying flat on your back with your arms to your sides and your legs extended, bring your right leg up towards your chest. Hold your leg with your arms and pull your leg in towards your chest. Hold for a count of five and return your right leg to the floor. Do this with your right leg, then your left, and bring both legs up together.

• Leg lifts

Lie flat on your back with your right leg bent at the knee with the foot flat on the floor. Keeping your right leg straight, raise it off the floor as far as you can. Hold this for a count of five and return the leg to the floor. Reverse and repeat this with the left leg.

• Side leg lifts

Lying on your right side with your right leg slightly bent, raise your left leg off the floor as far as you can. Hold for a count of five and return the leg to the floor. Do this ten times and repeat with your right leg.

Turn onto your stomach with your legs extended and arms bent. Place your hands under your chin. Slowly lift your right leg off the floor as far as you can, just until you can feel the stretch in your leg muscles. Hold for a count of five and then lower your leg. Do this ten times and then repeat with the left leg.

• AW rotation

Sitting with your back straight and your legs folded in Indian fashion^” allow your arms to fall naturally to your side. Look straight ahead, then slowly turn your head from right to left, keeping a slow even motion. Do this five times.

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Schultz’s Standard Autogenic Training (Schultz, 1932, Schultz and Luthe, 1969) began during investigations in German medical hypnosis. The exercises are based on the development of sensory awareness of physiological processes, mainly relaxation, body warmth and the rhythms of heartbeat and respiration.

The changes brought about by the practice of Standard Autogenic Training are completely opposed to those evoked by stress. Many stress-induced symptoms can be successfully counteracted by autogenic training. This method is also used for improving self-command and self-sufficiency. The exercises involve the repetition of a sequence of formulas. The procedure for ending the exercises is then repeated three times. You should allow a minimum of six weeks to learn the six standard exercises. They may be shortened as training progresses after all six standard formulas have been successively added and mastered. These exercises should be done in a quiet place and, if possible, at a comfortable temperature. For the first few days, only practise the first excercise. The others can be added one by one after a few days practice.

1. Heaviness ‘My arm is comfortably heavy.’ If, with practice, the feeling of heaviness in the right arm is achieved regularly, becomes more pronounced and generalises to other limbs, the formula is extended to include the other limbs: ‘My left arm . . . both arms . . . my right leg . . . my left leg . . . both legs . . . arms and legs . . .’

2. Warmth ‘My right arm is comfortably warm.’ The same progressive procedure, as with heaviness, is used for the warmth formula.

3. Heart beat ‘Heart beat calm and regular’ or just passively observing the heart beat.

4. Respiration ‘Respiration regular — it breathes me’ or passively observing the breathing rhythm.

5. Internal warmth ‘Solar plexus comfortably warm.’

6. Coolness of the forehead ‘Forehead pleasantly cool.’

After four to seven repetitions of these formulas, the altered state of awareness is ended just as if awakening from a deep sleep. Then you can repeat and act out the following: ‘Flex and stretch the arms! Inhale or yawn deeply! Eyes open!’ (From J. H. Schultz’s Standard Autogenic Training Exercises, as quoted by Beata Jencks. ) After several months of training, you should be able to achieve the induced altered state of consciousness simply by thinking: ‘Heaviness-warmth-heartbeat’ and ‘respiration-solar plexus-forehead.’

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Hypnosis was thought by the Egyptians to be ‘sacred sleep’, others have suggested religious experience, sorcery, bewitchment, or even animal magnetism. The psychoanalysts felt that hypnotism only occurred because of the hypnotist’s power of suggestion. Others thought that hypnotism depended on an organic predisposition. That is, some necessary physical activity. Most scientists would still have difficulty in defining what hypnotism is.

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It is fair to caution that very rarely some experience an allergic-type reaction with nausea, sweating and faintness. But this quickly responds to a very simple antidote such as Adrenaline or by simply lying back on the couch.

The reaction is usually due to a temporary fall in blood pressure and this reverses rapidly.

IV procaine compares favourably with the side-effects of other pain medications. To reduce side-effects, with susceptible individuals, a test dose should always be administered before full treatment, though these troublesome side-effects can occur even after a long period of uneventful injections.

Again, it should be stressed that these are exceedingly rare and without long-lasting effects.

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