While I was learning Paradoxical Relaxation, I began reading the book "The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook".
As I read through the various approaches, I stumbled onto one called "Autogenic Training". It intrigued me, so I read further.
It turns out that there were 2 classical approaches to meditation that were introduced to Western peoples in the early part of the 20th century. One was Progressive Relaxation and the other was Autogenic Training. PR was introduced mainly in the US, and AT mainly in Europe (Germany in particular).
AT relies on observations that the inventor of AT (Dr. Johannes Schultz) made while studying people who were under hypnosis. He noticed that often people felt their arms and legs as being heavy and warmer. This induced in the subjects a profound feeling of relaxation. A brief overview of AT is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogenic_training
There is a book called "Autogenic Training: A Mind-Body Approach to the Treatment of Fibromyalgia and Chronic Pain" that is excellent.
The author goes over various approaches, how they work at a physiological and psychological level, and compares them including AT and PR. Interesting, he mentions that AT seems to offer advantages that chronic pain sufferers have over PR. It's a good read, and he covers how to start AT.
I've been doing AT now for several weeks instead of PR. I like it better since it suits my mental model a bit more. Instead of trying to think of nothing as in PR, you use simple mantras such as "My right arm is getting heavy", or "My left leg is getting heavy and warm". Strangely, if you practice this in a dark room, while laying on a soft bed or mattress, you begin to feel tingling in the extremities (at least I do). I often get into this pre-sleep state where I'm here, but kinda zoned out. As I'm learning this is the goal of AT. Over time, practitioners get good enough to enter an AT state in a few minutes whenever they wish (at work, etc). However, they recommend you do not try doing this while driving a car, etc as it would be quite dangerous.
I also use a CD called "Progressive Relaxation and Autogenic Training"
The first track is PR and the 2nd track is AT. It can also be helpful as a means to compare the 2 techniques. I use it in the morning during my meditation exercises and find it very helpful especially while learning.
I hope this helps others who are likewise struggling with meditation to cure their CPPS. It's certainly helping me.
Note: I'm not a medical doctor, and this is not medical advice. You need to make your own decision here. This is just my experience.
