VIZR™ Body Scan Methods.

The proposal is made that we humans have a natural dynamic capacity for psychological and physical resolution and self-healing. Furthermore, if all four states of consciousness (Waking, Sleeping, Sleeping Dreams, Waking Dreams) are harmonized, this dynamic capacity will enable us to fluidly resolve many of our psychological and even physiological challenges. Lastly, this harmonized dynamic is the actual hidden enabling influence of many applied techniques and therapies. The key position in this paper is that because of modern lifestyles, we commonly lack the Lucid Visions/Fourth State of Consciousness (Waking Dreams) and consequently have an inadequate natural response in trauma resolution.

VIZR™ Body Scan Methods:

The VIZR™ Body Scan concept has three basic versions:

• Simple Body Scan (derived from Benson “Relaxation Response);
• Active Body Scan (derived from Jacobson “Progressive Muscle Relaxation”);
• Dynamic Body Scan (derived from Schultz “Autogenic Training”).

 ABOUT BENSON “RELAXATION RESPONSE”:

The term "Relaxation Response" was coined by Dr. Herbert Benson, professor, author, cardiologist, and founder of Harvard’s Mind/Body Medical Institute and made popular in his influential 1975 book, The Relaxation Response.  The response is defined as your personal ability to encourage your body to release chemicals and brain signals that make your muscles and organs slow down and increase blood flow to the brain.

Benson can be largely credited for demystifying meditation and helping to bring it into the mainstream, by renaming meditation the “Relaxation Response.” His studies in the 1960s and 1970s were able to show that meditation promotes better health, especially in individuals with hypertension. People who meditate regularly enjoy lower stress levels, increased wellbeing, and even were able to reduce their blood pressure levels and resting heart rate.

The Relaxation Response is essentially the opposite reaction to the “fight or flight” response. According to Dr. Benson, using the Relaxation Response is beneficial, as it counteracts the physiological effects of stress and the fight or flight response. He further states, one of the most valuable things we can do in life is to learn deep relaxation — making an effort to spend some time every day quieting our minds to create inner peace and better health. 

RELAXATION REPSONSE METHOD:

1. Sit quietly in a comfortable position.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Deeply relax all your muscles, beginning at your feet and progressing up to your face. Keep them relaxed. [Relax your tongue—and thoughts will cease.]
4. Breathe through your nose. Become aware of your breathing. As you breathe out, say the word "one"* silently to yourself. For example, breathe in, and then out, and say "one"*, in and out, and repeat "one."* Breathe easily and naturally.
5. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes. You may open your eyes to check the time, but do not use an alarm. When you finish, sit quietly for several minutes, at first with your eyes closed and later with your eyes opened. Do not stand up for a few minutes.
6. Do not worry about whether you are successful in achieving a deep level of relaxation. Maintain a passive attitude and permit relaxation to occur at its own pace. When distracting thoughts occur, try to ignore them by not dwelling upon them and return to repeating "one."*
7. With practice, the response should come with little effort. Practice the technique once or twice daily, but not within two hours after any meal, since the digestive processes seem to interfere with the elicitation of the Relaxation Response.

ABOUT JACOBSON “PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION”:

Progressive muscle relaxation was initially developed by American physician Edmund Jacobson. He first presented the technique at Harvard University in 1908.  He developed a lengthy and meticulous technique, which focused on getting in touch with musculature and learning to control the tension levels. Jacobson's method was designed so that the practitioner would eventually be able to automatically and unconsciously monitor and release unwanted tension. The process has since been adapted and shortened by others, most notably Joseph Wolpe, and has become known as the abbreviated progressive muscle relaxation training. Included in this adaptation is the tension–release cycle (e.g. make a tight fist and then release) combined with a focus on breathing. This variation is part of Wolpe's framework called systematic desensitization, aimed at getting in touch with the individual's tension and the body's response, and then letting it go in a controlled manner. In this relaxation technique, you focus on slowly tensing and then relaxing each muscle group. This can help you focus on the difference between muscle tension and relaxation. You can become more aware of physical sensations.

PROGRESSIVE MUSCLE RELAXATION METHOD:

• Start by lying or sitting down.
• Relax your entire body.
• Take five deep, slow breaths.
• Lift your toes upward. Hold, then let go. Pull your toes downward. Hold, then let go.
• Next, tense your calf muscles, then let go.
• Move your knees toward each other. Hold, then let go.
• Squeeze your thigh muscles. Hold, then let go.
• Clench your hands. Pause, then let go.
• Tense your arms. Hold, then let go.
• Squeeze your buttocks. Pause, then let go.
• Contract your abdominal muscles. Pause, then let go.
• Inhale and tighten your chest. Hold, then exhale and let go.
• Raise your shoulders to your ears. Pause, then let go.
• Purse your lips together. Hold, then release.
• Open your mouth wide. Hold, then let go.
• Close your eyes tightly. Pause, then release.
• Lift your eyebrows. Hold, then release.

ABOUT SCHULTZ “AUTOGENIC” TRAINING:

One form of enforcing our innate recovery process was first developed over 130 years ago in Berlin and is known as Autogenic Training. Autogenic training is a relaxation technique developed by the German psychiatrist Johannes Heinrich Schultz in the 1920s as a way to target the physical expression of stress by using relaxation exercises to gain a level of control over these processes. He first published the method in 1932. The technique involves the daily practice of sessions that last around 15 minutes, usually in the morning, at lunch time, and in the evening.

Essentially, Autogenic Training helps a person learn to move consciously from the “exteroceptive Task Mode” and into the “interoceptive Non-Task Mode”. In a way, it has certain similarities to the 1975 “Relaxation Response” of Herbert Benson. Autogenic Training is not a direct Lucid Visions technique but it does teach us a lot about the neurology of “interoceptive Non-Task Mode” states.

The goal is to allow maximum opportunity to the self-regulatory processes of the brain so, in that way, it does share some common features with the Fourth State of Consciousness.  In Autogenic Training, various types of spontaneous brain-discharge expressions can occur:

- visual pseudo-hallucination of colors, patterns;

- small muscle twitches and jerks of the limbs;

- feelings of heaviness and lightness;

- warmth and cold;

- tingling and electrical sensations;

- feelings of pulsation and electric current;

- distortions of body image;

- detachment or displacement of body parts;

- dizziness, spinning, floating, turning.

In certain traditions of meditation, these same phenomena are called “kriyas” (Sanskrit term) and are regarded both as “stress releases” and “Kundalini” activities. The basic attitude towards these expressions is positive and persons are encouraged to welcome them as evidence of progressive benefits. In some persons, the phenomena may trigger an anxious reaction which will dissipate as the process becomes more familiar. Autogenic brain-discharge was intensively researched it was found that the seemingly random and chaotic brain-discharges become over time increasingly coordinated, developing into a meaningful, hallucinatory, waking-dream process. The Lucid Visions Fourth State of Consciousness experiences reliably emerged over a period of guided training sessions. Here, it is proposed that the eventual harmonized emergence of Lucid Visions can be accelerated by the inclusion of well-crafted photic stimulation experiences.

Autogenic training (AT) is a standardized relaxation technique that uses the mental repetition of six systematic exercises (1- heaviness, 2- warmth, 3- calm and regular heart function, 4- self-regulation of respiration, 5- warmth in the upper abdomen area, and 6- agreeable cooling of the forehead) to decrease sympathetic tone and induce a general relaxation of the organism.  The repeated practice of the exercises increases the person’s capacity to induce ever-deeper relaxation and fosters the accumulation of therapeutic benefits.

 AUTOGENIC TRAINING METHOD:

The six standard exercises used in autogenic training include:

1. Heaviness in the muscles of the arms and legs: 
• Starting with one limb at a time, you state something like, “My left arm is growing heavy.” Initially, you begin with only one limb, repeating the phrase several times and allowing yourself to feel the relaxed, heavy sensation in just one limb at a time, each for several days before moving to the next. Once you’ve mastered this phase, you relax your arms and legs at once by stating, “My arms and legs grow heavy.”
2. Warmth in the body: 
• Once you are experiencing heaviness, you move your focus to the sensation of warmth. As before, you first master one body part at a time and then can focus on warmth in your whole body at once.
3. Calm heartbeat: 
• When you feel warm and heavy, you turn your attention to slowing your heart rate. You might state, “My chest feels relaxed and warm. My heartbeat is slow and peaceful.” Like the other stages, you repeat the phrase slowly several times until you feel your heart respond.
4. Calm, deep breathing: 
• Next, you progress to your breathing without directly trying to force it into a certain pattern or rate. To avoid actively controlling your breath, you say something like, “My body breathes me.”
5. Softness and warmth in the abdomen: 
• Gently help your abdominal area let go of tension and pain by stating, “My gut (or chest or solar plexus) is warm and soft.
6. Coolness in your forehead: 
• Soothe tension in your head and face by cooling the internal temperature in this area of your body. You might state, “My forehead is relaxed and cool.”