We can talk about PSR from three perspectives: PSR as a mental technique, mental state, and mental training.

PSR as a mental technique is a set of specific rules, principles and skills designed for controlling involuntary physical and mental processes and states by language. In other words, PSR makes possible voluntary control of the processes and states that usually are under supervision of autonomic nervous system. 

PSR as a mental state is a specific state in which the involuntary physical and mental changes become possible. In this state, your own verbal commands directed to your mind and body become  more powerful than usual. For example, if you tell yourself without PSR application  "I do not have soreness in my biceps", the soreness will stay anyway. If you apply PSR approach, your sore will be gone.

PSR state may vary from a normal to PSR zone state. In the latter state, you can easily block, activate, and change many of your physical and mental processes that are far beyond of voluntary control. Even if you want to forget your own name, you will be able to do that.

PSR as a mental training is a set of exercises for enhancing the susceptibility to your own words. This is a step-by-step conditioning that allows producing simple involuntary bodily responses at the very beginning and more complicated ones at the end. Because of the step-by-step nature, I named this technique as Progressive Self-Regulation.

The fact that language can produce changes in our mind and body has been proved by other mental techniques. For example, in sleepwalking hypnosis verbal suggestions produce significantly stronger physical or mental responses than real stimuli.

However, only 10-15 % of population can realize the hypnotic state. PSR extends the numbers of people, who may benefit from the power of words to approximately 70%, and, in some groups of individuals, up to 100%.

PSR and other mental techniques. PSR belongs to verbal mental techniques that use words for controlling mental and physical processes and states. This is a very limited group of mental techniques - self-talk, self-suggestion, autogenic training, subliminal suggestions, hypnosis, self-hypnosis, and, maybe, something else I do not know about.

PSR differs from any of these techniques in its application. Applying above mentioned techniques, you have to repeat verbal commands in your mind or listen to them over and over again. When you apply PSR, you tell yourself the verbal command only once.

It makes PSR similar to a deep hypnotic trance when one phrase of a hypnotist may elicit a desirable mental or physiological response immediately. However, if it is hypnosis, it may happen only after entering a deep hypnotic state; with PSR, you tell yourself what you need before entering any state. Depending on what your goal is, you will realize the most appropriate level of PSR state for processing your verbal command automatically. You will not even notice the altered state of your consciousness, except PSR zone state. Both techniques have only two things in common: they use language and are altered states of consciousness but of different origin, however.　

PSR application differs also from application of other mental techniques, verbal or non-verbal, in numerous ways. Just a few of them:

  •  You do not need to look for a quiet place to practice PSR;
  •  You do not need to relax to achieve some specific state of mind;
  •  You do not need to repeat anything in your mind over and over again;
  •  You do not need to perform special rituals;
  •  You do not need to listen to boring recordings for months or years;
  •  You do not need to take expensive and long lasting classes;
  •  You do not need to pay anything until you are satisfied.

To learn more about psycho-physiological basis of PSR, click here.