Guided imagery is a form of creative visualization. It is an experience of someone else guiding you verbally through a series of images. Guided imagery is a powerful technique of mind-body medicine, and can be a very effective tool for healing mind, body and spirit.
If you choose to, I will now take you on a guided journey. It will take about twenty minutes. First, we will do some relaxation techniques. Then, we will do two visualizations, one in an elevator, and one at the beach. If you have claustrophobia, or are afraid of elevators, I suggest that you do not participate. If you do choose to participate and wish to stop, you can do so at any time.
You can do this either lying down on a couch or a bed, or in a comfortable chair with your feet on a hassock.
I will play some music in the background especially composed by Steven Mark Kohn for this purpose. His music can be found on www.healthjourneys.com, as well as beautiful guided imageries by Belleruth Naparstek . Brain research indicates that music deepens the relaxation and enhances the experience.
OK, get yourself comfortably settled. Uncross your arms and legs. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath, in through your nose and out, in through your nose and out. For the purpose of this exercise, try to imagine yourself taking your breaths in through your belly button, and out through your belly button. In this way, you will be breathing from the very center of your being, your very core. Also, during this time you may hear noises from the outside, and be tempted to be distracted. Try to let any extraneous noise float through your mind like clouds in the sky on a windy day. Think how good it is to know that the busy world goes on around you while you take time out to relax and to heal.
Now I want you to focus on your eyelids. With your eyes closed, roll your eyes back into your head, and to the left and to the right. One more time, roll your eyes back into your head, and to the left and to the right. Good. This is about looking for your own inner healer, your own inner wisdom, which I know you will find .Keep the focus on your eyelids. Imagine the muscles of your eyelids growing soft and warm and relaxed as they let go of all the stress and all the tension they have stored there. And as those muscles relax, feel your eyelids growing heavy, very very heavy…so heavy that you feel like you couldn’t open your eyes even if you wanted to. Good..
Now relax the muscles around your eyes.. Relax the powerful muscles of your cheeks and jaw. Relax the muscles around your mouth. Relax the muscles of your forehead, especially the ones that make you frown. Relax your scalp muscles, all the way down the back and sides of your head. Relax your neck muscles, all the way down into your shoulders. And as you relax these muscles, feel a delicious warm, tingly sensation spreading through your face and head and neck. Good
Now relax your shoulders. For a little while, let them be free of their heavy burdens. Relax your arms, upper arms, elbows forearms, wrists, hands, fingers. Relax your chest muscles..especially all thoise hard and tight muscles around your chest, barriers you’ve erected to protect yourself. It is safe right now, to soften those muscles, let down the barriers, open your heart and allow it to feel.
Relax your back muscles. Feel all those hard and tight rubber bands easing and softening as they let go of all the stress and all the tension they have stored there. Feel all the places where your body meets the couch or bed or chair. Let go, sink in, let the couch hold you up, let the couch do all the work, and like a baby in a cradle, allow yourself to be held, as you totally and completely let go and relax.
Now imagine all your internal organs, one by one, growing soft and pink and warm, as they too let go of all the stress and all the tension they have stored there. Good…
Relax your legs .thighs, knees, calves, ankles, feet, toes. Imagine a giant magnet at the bottom of your feet whose sole purpose is to draw out any remaining stress and tension…so that you literally can feel a pull downward as negative energy is pulled right out of your body through the soles of your feet, leaving only positive energy behind. Feel this happening right now.
I want you to scan your body…see if there are any tight or tense places…if you find any, just breathe into them…breathe into .them..let your warm moist breath soothe and soften all the tight places until evry part of you feels soft, relaxed, warm and pliable…And with every breath you take, you will go deeper and deeper into a place of peace and calm and relaxation .And with every breath you take, you will go deeper and deeper into a place of peace and calm and relaxation.
Now I am going to give you a picture for your mind..try to follow it as vividly as possible. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back and just keep following the sound of my voice. Imagine yourself walking in the marble hallway of an office building. You are walking towards a bank of elevators when the door to one opens. You walk in, look around, and see that you are alone in a beautifully carved mahogany elevator. It has an old fashioned floor indicator above the door and thick red carpet on the floor. This is no ordinary elevator, but a very special one, designed to carry you slowly, safely and gently from the tenth floor to the first floor. And with every floor that you descend, you will go deeper and deeper into a place of peace and calm and relaxation. Watch as the door closes…keep your eye on the floor indicator as the elevator begins its slow and steady descent. And you go from 10 down to 9…9 down to 8…8 down to 7…7 down to 6…6 down to 5..you’re going deeper and deeper..down to 4, down to 3, down to 2, and down to 1. You’re now in a much deeper place of relaxation, and you have much more access to the deepest and truest parts of yourself..
Now I am going to give you another picture for your mind. Again, try to imagine this as vividly as possible. If your mind wanders simply bring it back and just keep following the sound of my voice.
It is a beautiful late summer’s afternoon. You are floating on a pink rubber raft in a tranquil Caribbean lagoon.. The white sandy beach with its palm trees lies behind you. The water that you float on is crystal clear, blue-green, shallow .The sky above is clear,, blue and cloudless. The sun is hot and beats down on you, warming the rubber of the raft, making your skin feel moist, damp, clammy. You feel sleepy, heavy, sluggish. Smell the coconut oil in your suntan lotion. Smell the salt sea air. Hear the seagulls squawking as they fly by in the distance. A warm tropical breeze rustles the leaves of the palm tree, caresses your skin and gently rocks your raft back and forth and back and forth..and you go deeper and deeper into a place of peace and calm and relaxation. There’s just you and the sky and the sea…one with nature floating, floating floating..And as you lie there feeling so calm, so peaceful, one with nature…just you and the sky and the sea, you understand that you are part of something larger than yourself. The air around you begins to crackle with a kind of electricity, there is a sense of anticipation, and all at once you realize that something quite wonderful is about to happen. A bright white beam of light..like a laser beam full of sparkling energy, comes out of the sky and pierces you in your chest..It does not hurt , but there is a warm sensation as this white light enters your body.This beam of light is the healing energy of the universe, sent to you as a gift to heal mind, body and spirit. Once inside you, it becomes a warm white liquid..feel it in you..it’s everywhere…in muscle and bone, in all your organs and organ systems, sinking deeper and deeper into all layers of your being. Now, feel this warm healing liquid intuitively going to any part of your body that needs healing at this time. Once there..feel it working its magic..finding each and every cell..soothing, bathing, nourishing..washing away all signs of dis- ease, washing away all abnormalities..leaving each and every cell whole, healed nourished, strengthened. Feel this happening right now.
Now feel the healing liquid travel to your heart..instinctively going to all the torn and ragged places, all the secret compartments where you’ve stored your hurt and your pain, your grief and your sorrow, your loneliness, guilt, rage , fear and anger. Feel that healing liquid washing away those negative emotions, helping your poor broken heart to heal, lifting itself from the negative emotions of the past, and freeing it and you to live in the precious present, full of hope and joy and possibility. Feel this happening right now.
And finally, feel that healing white liquid going to a tiny little butterfly-shaped organ in the center of your chest. This is your thymus gland, an important part of your immune system. There the healing liquid will be stored. Any time you need healing of any sort..for body, mind, or spirit…tap the center of your chest three times, and you will release that healing liquid where it will work in conjunction with your body’s own innate capacity to heal. It is always there inside you, ready and waiting.
And with every breath you take, you will go deeper and deeper into a place of peace and calm and relaxation.
Now, I am going to count to five and you will open your eyes. You will feel refreshed, energized, yet deeply calm peaceful and relaxed. You will be able to recreate this for yourself whenever you wish.1, 2, 3, 4 5. Open your eyes.
Congratulaions! You have successfully completed your guided imagery. Savor and enjoy the results.
