Chapter 20
Guided
imagery – Use your Imagination
The great successful men of the world have used
their imagination they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its
details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that
a bit, but steadily building - steadily building. Background Albert Einstein, one of the most
brilliant people to ever walk this earth had some interesting thoughts about
our imagination. He said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge.” We
often hear that knowledge is power and the more knowledge you have, the more
powerful you are. Why then, would Einstein say that imagination is even more
important? The great golfer Jack Nicklaus
commented, “I never hit a shot, even in practice without this color movie.
First I ‘see’ the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting
up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes and I ‘see’
the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behavior on
landing. Then there’s a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making
the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality.” Stephen Covey said, “All things
are created twice.” He explains that first we have a mental creation, the
picture in mind of what we want to create. The second creation occurs when we
do the things necessary to bring into the physical dimension the picture that
was first created in the mind. A simple example demonstrates how this works.
A person may begin to feel hungry. In his mind he thinks to himself that a
bowl of cereal would satisfy that hunger. This is the first or mental
creation. Very soon he finds himself filling a bowl with cereal and sitting
down to eat. This is the second or mental creation. This occurs with us in
virtually every action we pursue. First, we see it in our mind and it is
followed by action on that image. Athletes, performers, business
people, inventors and even people who are trying to overcome different types
of illnesses have used the imagination
to help them produce desired outcomes. Visualization has also been helpful in
treating many stress-related symptoms, including headaches, muscle spasms,
chronic pain, and general or situation-specific anxiety. Test the Immediate Power of your Imagination In your imagination, pretend that
you are given a big ripe juicy yellow lemon. Imagine yourself smelling the
lemon, feeling its texture, smelling its distinct lemony aroma. Next, see yourself
taking a sharp kitchen knife and cutting the lemon into four quarters and
taking one of those quarters and putting it into your mouth and taking a huge
juicy bite. If you imagined this clearly, you would notice that your mouth
started to produce some extra saliva. You may have noticed your moth
puckering up and perhaps even watering. But how could your mouth do this if
there was no actual lemon? According to researchers at MIT, there is no real difference between an imagined
event and an event that you perceive in your physical experience as far as
how your mind translates its meaning. In other words, you can either imagine
eating the lemon or really eat the lemon and your brain will consider it as
if the same thing is happening. Research Highlight A study using people shooting
basketball free-throws was done to demonstrate the power of the imagination
and visualization. Four groups were randomly selected from college students.
At the beginning of the study, each group was to shoot a certain number of
free throws and see how many were made. Next, each group was given one of the
four following scenarios. The first group was the control group. These
students were to do nothing different for the period of the study that
related to basketball. Members of the second group were to practice shooting
foul shots every day for one-half hour each day. The third group was told
that each member was to not touch a basketball during the application period
but was to simply sit and visualize making free-throws in his or her
imagination for one half-hour each day. The fourth group was told to practice
shooting for 15 minutes and also to visualize making free-throws for 15
minutes every day. At the end of the testing period,
each group was tested again to see if it had improved from the initial
application. The results showed that the group that improved the most was the
group that both visualized and practiced shooting the free throws. The group
that made the second biggest improvement was the group that only practiced
making free-throws in their imagination. This group improved more than the
group that practiced shooting foul shots every day. How to Use Imagery The authors of the book The
Mental Game Plan describe several different uses of Imagery. The first of
these is mental practice of specific
performance skills. This is probably the most common use of imagery where someone
would see herself rehearsing a skill in her mind that she will later perform
in a real event. This could be something like seeing yourself doing well on a
test or performing in an athletic event. One study showed that students who
prepared for a test and used visualization remained calmer and more at ease
during the exam, and were better able to remember the information and
material they studied. Another way to use the
imagination is to improve confidence
and positive thinking. This can be done by replaying, in your mind,
previous times when you performed at a very high and satisfying level. For
example, if you were preparing to give a speech in front of a large group of
people, you can review earlier times when you gave talks successfully and let
the images of those successful presentations help you build confidence for
this upcoming speech. You also might use visualization
for the purpose of tactical rehearsal
and problem solving. You can use this method to visualize possible
outcomes that may occur in a given situation and decide on possible
alternatives for handling the outcomes. For example, you may be a basketball
player and are planning to guard a very good player in an upcoming game. You
might visualize the types of moves this player makes and then imagine how you
would respond to each of his moves. Imagery can be used to help with
effective performance review and
analysis. Soon after completing or participating in an event, you can use
your imagination to review your performance and assess yourself for strengths
to build on and weaknesses to improve upon. Another way to use imagery is within pre-performance routines. This
means that you would take just a moment to view yourself performing perfectly
immediately prior to participating in an activity, much like Jack Nicklaus
did prior to each golf shot, as mentioned earlier. Another way to use imagery is to
help control arousal and anxiety.
Guided Imagery is an effective technique to help reduce the stress response
by picturing relaxing images and even including yourself in those images.
Commonly such images occur in nature, in the outdoors and in other peaceful,
calm and serene places. The simple act of visualizing these peaceful places
can have a profound effect on reducing stress levels. The primary focus of
the rest of this chapter will be on using the imagination to control arousal
and anxiety. Author’s
Anecdote - The
school was always buzzing for several days after the stage hypnotist
performed at our high school. One particular year, I was taking a class from
a man who claimed he knew how to hypnotize people just like the stage
hypnotist. His name was Mr. Ward. We discussed this topic at length with many
questions that we needed answered about this hypnotist. We were skeptically
curious. Mr. Ward told us that when people are hypnotized, they are able to
do things that they wouldn’t normally be able to when their disbelieving mind
gets in the way. At the time, I was playing on the school basketball on a
team and we were preparing to play in the state championships. I asked him to
hypnotize me so I would play at my best during the games of the post-season
tourney. We sat down (me and a few other players on the team) and he “tried”
to hypnotize us. Nothing happened. I didn’t go into a trance. I didn’t nod
off. I just sat there listening to him go through the motions of trying to
put us into hypnosis. After these attempts (we tried a couple times), I was
even more skeptical than I was before. Nevertheless, I still had many
questions about what happened to all of those people that day in the gym.
Perhaps they really were just faking it, just acting ... but doing a very
good job of it. We
were talking about hypnosis during a day of class and we asked him to
demonstrate hypnosis for us. Somewhat reluctantly, Mr. Ward agreed. He had,
in the past, hypnotized a couple of the girls who happened to be in the
class. One of the girls was named Paulina. He informed us that they could “go
under” simply when he called their name, counted to three and then snapped
his fingers. We didn’t believe this for a moment, but we played along. Before
doing this, Mr. Ward asked for one of the strongest boys in the class to
demonstrate his muscle strength. We all chose Rick who was a very strong
football player. Clearly he was the strongest in the class. Mr. Ward set up
two regular chairs facing each other about 4 feet apart. He then asked Rick
to suspend himself between the chairs with his head and neck on one of the
chairs and his ankles and feet on the other. Rick was asked to be as if he
were lying on the floor facing the ceiling but raised to the level of the
chairs. His body, from his neck down to his calves, was to remain suspended.
Mr. Ward asked Rick to remain in that position for as long as he could
without buckling or bending his body. We watched with eagerness. Within a few
seconds, Rick’s body started to shake, especially his stomach muscles. We were
all timing him, cheering him on. He lasted about 15 seconds in that position
until he could hold it no longer. Fifteen seconds seemed like a long time for
Rick to hold himself in that stiff position. Mr.
Ward then went up to Paulina. He said to her, “Paulina, 1, 2, 3” and then he
snapped his fingers. Immediately, Paulina collapsed to the floor like a rag
doll. Mr. Ward asked Paulina if she could hear him and if she felt fine (her
eyes were closed as if she were asleep). She responded affirmatively. Interested,
we watched but we were pretty sure she was faking it. He then gave her a
command or suggestion. He told Paulina that when he counted to three and
snapped his fingers, her body would immediately become stiff like a steel
beam like the ones used in construction. He suggested to her that it would be
impossible for her body to bend regardless of what happens. He said this to
her a couple more times and then asked her if she understood. Still with her
eyes closed, she said she did. Mr. Ward then counted to 3 and snapped his
fingers. We watched with anticipation as we saw Paulina begin to straighten
out her body on the floor. Mr. Ward asked a couple guys in the class to
carefully pick her up and place her in the same suspended position between
the chairs supported only by her feet at one end and her neck and head on the
other. Paulina was probably the smallest girl in the class. She had never
lifted any weights, nor had she ever considered doing sit-ups to strengthen
her abdominal muscles. She was petite. We
watched in absolute dumbfounded amazement as Paulina remained in this
suspended position for nearly a minute without bending. I couldn’t believe my
eyes. This was superhuman what she was doing. There was no way that she could
fake this. Something very powerful was happening here. I should probably add
that Paulina was very sore the next few days. This
hour of class had been one of the most incredible experiences of my young
life. Under hypnosis, someone had done something that, to me, was absolutely
astonishing. I thought about this for the longest time. How could this
happen? For the next few years I studied hypnosis, and the powers of the
mind, with a passion unlike anything prior to that time. I tried to find
books that told about what is happening. I listened to people lecture on it.
I bought all sorts of tapes on self-hypnosis. In the next section I will try
to summarize, in a way that is simple enough that I can understand it, how
this works and why it is so powerful … and what this has to do with stress
management. The mind, imagery, and how it all works Consider the mind as having
two parts: the conscious and the subconscious. We can liken these two parts
of our mind to the two people who run a coal powered steam engine. The conscious
mind is like the engineer who is sitting in the front of the train. It is his
job to guide the train wherever it needs to go. If he sees a hill is coming
up, he decides that the train will need more power. If he sees a sharp curve
ahead, he determines the need to slow down so the train can negotiate the
turn safely. The conscious mind (engineer) understands such things as right
or wrong, good and bad, yes and no and so on, and makes decisions
accordingly. The subconscious mind is like
the person in the back of the engine who is shoveling coal into the fire –
the stoker. He receives directions from the engineer and does exactly as he
is told. The engineer says, “We need more power!” The stoker simply says,
“Okay.” He doesn’t give the command any more thought. He just dumps some more
coal into the fire. He doesn’t think of possible consequences of his actions.
He doesn’t try to second guess the engineer. He only knows to do exactly as
he is told without question, without doubt. Such is the subconscious mind. Here is a diagram of how this
might look:
The subconscious mind, as we see
it above, is subject to the directions given to it from the conscious part of
the mind. Whatever the conscious mind focuses on, believes, thinks, and
directs is what the subconscious mind responds to, it follows through on
without question. It is the conscious mind that also has doubts, fears,
reservations and considerations about what it feels can or can’t be done. The
subconscious mind simply does as it is told. When we say to our self that we
can’t learn math or that we are shy or that we have any other limitation such
as the belief that we can’t quit smoking, our subconscious mind simply
follows the direction given to it and says, “Oh, okay. I will act shy.” “I
will be bad at math” “I will make it really is hard to give up this smoking
addiction.” When a person is hypnotized,
an interesting thing happens with the conscious mind. Almost always, the
person hypnotized goes into an altered state of consciousness, usually more
relaxed, where he or she is “more suggestible.” What this means is the
conscious mind, which is more critical and more analytical, is moved off to
the side for a little while and the person doing the suggesting (making the
commands, like the stage hypnotist) talks directly to the subconscious mind.
The diagram below shows how this looks:
When the subconscious mind is
spoken to directly, without the filtering of the conscious mind, the subconscious
simply does as it is told. It doesn’t know limitations, so whatever it is
told to do, it simply says, “Oh, okay, I’ll put in some more coal (or
whatever statement it is told to carry out).” This is how and why hypnosis
works as powerfully as it does. The conscious mind is usually still aware
during hypnosis, but it doesn’t feel a need to be involved in the action of
analyzing and critiquing what is happening. Guided imagery or active
visualization, as it is sometimes called, works in much the same way. Since
the subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between something viewed
and something clearly imagined, it can be used to help a person deeply relax.
Images of relaxing scenes can be imagined in our minds. As our mind thinks of
something or somewhere very relaxing, the subconscious mind automatically
responds physiologically as if we were really in that place. Part of this
response includes a complete lack of a threat. Since there is no threat, the
parasympathetic nervous system is activated, and the body relaxes and returns
to a state of homeostasis. Preparing for Guided Imagery When it is used as a method
for relaxing, it is usually best done lying on a couch or bed or sitting up
in a chair. Other environmental conditions help maximize the effects of
guided imagery. Similar to the other relaxation techniques, it should be done
in a place where you won’t be disturbed and where the lights can be turned
down. Sometimes it is useful to include relaxing music to add to the
visualization that is being created in our imagination. It is important to
monitor yourself for how warm or cool you might feel. Have a blanket ready to
put over you in case of a chill. Once situated, the eyes are closed and the
process of guided imagery begins. This can occur using a taped recording of a
relaxing scene of some kind, it can work if someone speaks to you directly,
or you can simply use your imagination freely on your own to create the
imagined scene. There is virtually no end to
the things you can imagine to develop a relaxed state because the imagination
has unlimited possibilities. A typical visualization begins with some brief
and simple relaxation exercises, such as meditation, deep restful breathing,
a body scan or progressive relaxation. No more than two or three minutes are
necessary to relax the mind and body before going into the visualization.
Next, begin to use the imagination. Some common and very simple imageries include going for a nice walk along the beach
with the gentle ocean waves caressing your legs and feet, walking peacefully
through a forest, being in the mountains, by a still lake, or sitting by a
running river. You can picture yourself drifting slowly down a lazy stream,
sitting atop a silent peak overlooking a majestic view, or resting in the
stillness of a quiet field. There seems to be something very relaxing about
seeing ourselves in nature. You can experiment until you find the most
peaceful relaxing place that you can possibly imagine. To enhance your experience of
relaxation even more, increase the amount of sensory information in you put
into your imagination. For example, as you are walking along the beach, add
the colors of the blue sky with puffy white clouds overhead. You might add
the sounds of seagulls and the feel and sound of a gentle breeze and the feel
of soft grainy sand under your feet as you walk. The more senses you involve
in the imagery, the more powerful will be the effect; the more it will feel
like you are really there. Guided Imagery uses your imagination to evoke sensations
of restfulness and peace. By fully and clearly using your senses in your
imagination and imagining scenes that are pleasant and relaxing, you quickly
bring feelings of deep relaxation into your mind and body. Research on guided imagery has
found it to be effective for improve many stress related maladies. It has
also been used successfully in such areas as sports performance and recovery
from chemical dependencies. It is especially effective in producing deep
relaxation in those who practice it regularly. This is another very powerful
way to produce quick and noticeable relaxation. Do not take it lightly
because of its simplicity. Suggestions for Improving Guided
Imagery Practice
There are some guidelines to
ensure a good experience with Guided Imagery:
Student Experiences with Guided
Imagery Before my first attempt I was stressed! It was the end of the semester
and I felt like I had a million school things to take care of not to mention
all of my family/personal things that needed my attention. During the guided
imagery it felt like a sanctuary! It was nice! I felt like I was on vacation.
Immediately after the exercise, I had a complete stress level makeover, that
is until I remembered my economics assignment was still due! An hour after
the guided imagery, I was focused and able to easily understand my economics
reading and assignment. This is by far one of my favorite stress relieving
exercises. Before I started my second experience with guided imagery I felt
out of control. I felt ready to rip my hair out. I swear my economics teacher
is from another planet. I felt so overwhelmed and frustrated, almost to the
point of tears. During the exercise, I felt relieved, although I was still
anxious. As I was starting out I felt my mind and body begin to relax. I felt
more centered and comfortable. Immediately after this second attempt I felt
much better. I still felt frustrated but I definitely felt more in control.
An hour after the exercise I felt better. I have the hardest time letting go
of stress. I could still feel the anxiety lurking but I felt calmer and
better able to handle the day and any situations that may come up. Jamie S. Well, all I really have to say about this exercise was that it
was pretty fun. The first time I did the guided imagery, it was Thanksgiving
week and I was at my in-laws. Chaotic was the only word for the atmosphere. I
slipped away for a little while and listened to the instructions for the
guided imagery. At first, I had trouble imagining the scene that was being
set. After a while my mind started to wander, but I gently led it back to
what it was supposed to be on. When it was over, I felt absolutely marvelous,
almost as if I had had a complete body massage. An hour later I was full of
energy. I was even able to help do dishes by hand and cook some dinner. My
next experience was pretty much the same except that I fell asleep during the
exercise and didn’t wake up for about two hours. When I did wake up, I was a
bundle of energy and felt very relaxed and well rested. Shalon
M. The first time I felt so overwhelmed, stressed out, and
impatient. As I tried the imagery I became relaxed and calm. All the feelings
I had before turned into peaceful, calm, relaxed feelings. I did this at
night and the next morning I woke up happy, ready for the day, and relaxed.
The second time was in the morning, so I felt happy, but a little nervous for
the day ahead. During the video I became aware of the beautiful scenery. It
relaxed me and made everything full of serenity. I felt joyful after and
energized to proceed with the day. Ashley H. Before I did the guided imagery, I was feeling quite normal.
During the session, I was very relaxed and felt very peaceful. After the
exercise, I still had the relaxing feelings and I was calm. About an hour
after the guided imagery, I was still feeling quite relaxed and was not
having any stressful feelings. Before the second time I did the guided
imagery, I was feeling normal again. During the exercise I was very calm and
at peace in the beautiful mountains and lake. After the session, I was very
relaxed and calm. About an hour after the session, I was feeling normal but I
was not stressed by any means. Jadda H. I love doing this relaxation exercise. I have found that it
takes me to a place that I need to be sometimes. It can make you feel as if
you are free from weight on your shoulders and screams in your life. I do
this exercise when my son is napping. I find that when my son wakes up I can
be a better parent to him. I have the energy and the restfulness to handle
the stresses of being a mom. Brianne A. Suggestion and Affirmations –
Self-Talk
Another thing to do when we are
deeply relaxed and make use of the subconscious mind is to use affirmations
or suggestions. When we are in this relaxed state, we have opened the door
wider to directly access this subconscious part of our self – the coal worker
in the train. It is at this point that we can suggest positive, behavior
changing ideas to our subconscious mind. There are some helpful hints that
seem to work best when we speaking with our subconscious mind using
affirmations or suggestions. First, always use phrases that
are spoken positively. Rather than saying, “I am not stressed and uptight,”
instead say, “I am relaxed and peaceful.” The subconscious mind doesn’t
recognize the words such as “not” or “don’t” in the phrases we give to it. Next, speak affirmations in the
present tense – as if it is already happening. Rather than saying, “I will be
calm and relaxed,” it is better to say, “I am calm and relaxed.” Again, the
subconscious mind is going to create whatever it is told. If we extend our
desire into the future, our subconscious mind will respond accordingly. It
will say “Okay, I will make her relaxed sometime in her future, but not
necessarily right now.” It is also important that you
confidently trust your subconscious to complete the task that you are giving
to it. Speak to it assertively. Rather than saying, “I sure wish I could be
relaxed and calm,” say instead, and in a self-assured way, “I am calm,
peaceful and relaxed.” You might repeat this to yourself
many times for emphasis. Use the rhythm of your breathing as you quietly
affirm to yourself. Take full deep breaths, and as you are easily exhaling,
speak your affirmation to your subconscious mind. Cool Quotes for this chapter: Imagination was given to man to compensate him
for what he isn't. A sense of humor was provided to console him for what he
is. |
