Visualization is a powerful practice that can be used to heal many emotional, spiritual, and physical disorders and improve performance. The belief that visualizing healing thoughts can result in improving a person’s well being was, and still is, considered silly and childish by many practitioners of western mainstream medicine. However, visualization, positive thinking, and mindfulness meditation practice (all part of the mind body medicine) have increasingly gained credibility as more and more scientific evidence of their effectiveness has been documented.
The practice of visualization is not
new. It dates back thousands of years.
Positive thought is essential to producing positive results.
Negative thoughts and emotions lower the immune system, while positive
thought and emotions actually boost the immune system. To maximize
success of visualization as a support to the healing process
Our belief system is based upon the accumulation of verbal and
non-verbal suggestions that have been gathered throughout our life
experience. Through patterns of repetition and its associated rewards
and punishment we learn to create our own perception of reality. In
essence, we therefore become what we think. In healing, repetitive use
of positive visualization allows access to the mind-body connection.
This lets the mind and body work together to foster the healing process
of the body on a physical level. What is the mind-body connection and
how does it work? When we have an emotion it generates a feeling that
turns into a physical sensation.
For example: You are watching a horror movie, you
feel frightened and then get a chill up your spine. In this case you
were getting a negative suggestion through your sensory perception
(sight and sound), that produced an emotion of fear which turned into
the physical sensation of chills up your spine. Visualization uses
positive images to produce positive emotions that manifest into positive
physical sensations in the body.
Do Our Thoughts Have an Effect on Healing?
Sounds simple, but does it work? Can what we think actually have an effect on healing? Bodies do react to the thoughts you make. Our psychological/emotional state affects the endocrine system. For example, the emotion of fear is related to adrenaline. If no feeling of fear exists there is no adrenaline and the same applies in reverse- no adrenaline, no fear. They work in relationship to each other. Wherever a thought goes there is a body chemical reaction.
What is visualization?
The online
Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as “the formation of mental visual images.” But more than that, it is our
ability to see things with the mind and experience the content of the visual
mental imagery that we see. It involves focusing our imagination on
behaviors or events that we want to occur in our life. For instance, if we want
to lose twenty pounds we might begin by visualizing ourselves looking and
feeling lean, fit, and healthy. After, let’s say after 15 minutes of practice,
twice a day for two weeks, we then shift our visualization to include seeing
that our clothes are looser and stepping onto a scale that reads twenty pounds
lighter. On a deeper level, our visualization will be reprogramming our
attitudes and behaviors so that we can lose the weight. It also will be
changing our brain chemistry for learning and memory so that we can integrate
more incoming information (what else do I need to do to lose weight?) with the
data that we already have stored (what have I already tried that’s worked or
not worked?).
Visualization is a big part of our evolutionary biology and
human consciousness. In fact, Mike and Nancy
Samuels, the authors of the book, Seeing
With the Mind’s Eye: The history, techniques, and Uses of Visualization, say that
“visualization is the way we think. Before words, images were. It is the heart
of the bio-computer. The human brain programs and self-programs through its
images. It is the ultimate consciousness tool.”
Visualization
in the News
There are numerous stories of the healing
power of visualization. On March 3, 2011, Elizabeth Cohen, CNN senior medical
correspondent wrote a story entitled, “Can You Imagine Cancer Away?” The
article shared David Seidler’s story of overcoming cancer using visualization.
In 2011 Seidler, 73, won an Oscar for best original screenplay for the movie, "The
King's Speech." Cohen says he suffered from cancer but survived because “he
visualized his cancer away.” Seidler says he beat his bladder cancer by
visualizing a "lovely, clean healthy bladder" for two weeks, and the
cancer disappeared. He's been cancer-free for more than five years.
One of
the most impressive stories about the power of visualization that I’ve read concerns
Tibetan monks using a practice called Tummo, which is documented to produce
extraordinary levels of body heat. In a 2002 article in the Harvard Gazette, staff writer William J.
Cromie, wrote: “In a monastery in northern India, thinly clad Tibetan monks sat
quietly in a room where the temperature was a chilly 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Using
a yoga technique known as Tummo, they entered a state of deep meditation. Other
monks soaked 3-by-6-foot sheets in cold water (49 degrees) and placed them over
the meditators' shoulders.
“For
untrained people, such frigid wrappings would produce uncontrolled shivering.
If body temperatures continue to drop under these conditions, death can result.
But it was not long before steam began rising from the sheets. As a result of
body heat produced by the monks during meditation, the sheets dried in about an
hour. Attendants removed the sheets, then
covered the meditators with a second chilled, wet wrapping. Each monk was
required to dry three sheets over a period of several hours.” When asked how
they are able to produce such extreme changes in their body temperature, “the
monks describe relaxing, focusing on their breathing. They picture air coming
in and out, as a kind of energy. They visualize it as a flame, a fire coming
out their chest.”
Trying
Practicing Visualization
If we want to experience the healing power of
visualization it is important that we practice consistently and creatively. Below
is a simple visualization that you can begin with. When you are ready you can
find many more practices by searching the web, buying a CD or book, or joining
a group that engaging in therapeutic visualization.
Mountain Meditation Visualization
1. Find a time when you can sit quietly for 10 minutes
2. Sit in a comfortable position to be in that allows your spine and head to be straight. Make sure your head is straight, but relaxed and your chin is slightly tucked in towards the chest. Both feet should be flat on the floor and hands resting on your lap.
3. Begin to progressively tense and release the muscles from your toes to your head until they become relaxed and peaceful. Notice where there is tension and smooth and calm those muscles in your imagination.
4. Begin observing your breath and observe your breath as it enters and leaves your body. Remain in tune with feeling air pass in and out of your nostrils as you inhale and exhale.
5. Visualize a mountain and then become that mountain. See yourself as being that majestic mountain with your summit in the clouds. Imagine how solid and strong and how connected to the earth you are. You have stood for thousands of years strong, peaceful, and stable. Now quietly say to yourself:
Breathing
in, I see myself as a mountain
Breathing out, I feel solid and strong.
The weather has always been in a state
of flux around you. The views change from blue sky with gentle breezes and
showers to mighty banks of storm clouds, dispensing heavy downpours, to sleet
and snow. Yet, you have stood firm and immovable, and the winds of change have
whirled for centuries around you without any noticeable effects. Now say to
yourself:
Breathing in
makes me calm.
Breathing out helps me settle.
Just like changes in weather around the
mountain that are whirling about outside of you, any troubling emotions,
feelings, symptoms, or thoughts that whirl around you in your everyday life
shall not disturb you when your visualize. You shall remain tall, solid, strong
and connected. Now say to yourself:
Breathing
in, I see and feel secure.
Breathing out, I feel grounded and well.
You shall remain upright, firmly
grounded and connected to the earth, regardless of the weather and emotions whirling
around you. So now just sit and continue to follow your breath as you sink
deeply into a clear visual awareness of your majestic mountain base. Become one
with the feelings of solidity, strength and connection. Say to yourself:
Breathing
in, I feel still and connected.
Breathing out, I am grounded and healed.
End your visualization when you are
ready.
The Mountain Visualization Meditation practice leads to a
calm, strong, and grounded state of mind. You can use this exercise as often as
you need to overcome the stress and uncertainty that arises in your life. Remember,
you have limitless potential and visualization can transform you in amazing ways. But
it will not happen until you make it a regular part your life. Begin today and tomorrow
you may find yourself recovering from a serious illness or reaching a goal you
thought was not possible. Visualize deep healing and radiant health within you;
see it extending to everyone in the community. Can you see it? I can.
Define Your Specific Intention
Visualization puts your intention of what you want to work. The more specific the intention, the more specific the results. Remember whatever you believe is what your body will do. So when you are thinking of your intention make sure it is:- Clear
- Specific
- Achievable
- You feel, know, and trust it is being accomplished
Take Responsibility
Trying to do visualization without taking responsibility will prove to be futile experience. To accomplish what you want you must take action and responsibility. Visualization usually takes about 6 weeks to work. It is done once in the morning and before bedtime. Some people do see or feel results the very first time but remember everyoneís body and mind are different and so is the way they process information so have patience. Responsibility is:
1)- Be accountable to and for yourself\
Trying to do visualization without taking responsibility will prove to be futile experience. To accomplish what you want you must take action and responsibility. Visualization usually takes about 6 weeks to work. It is done once in the morning and before bedtime. Some people do see or feel results the very first time but remember everyoneís body and mind are different and so is the way they process information so have patience. Responsibility is:
1)- Be accountable to and for yourself\
2)- Make a commitment
3)- Do visualization regularly
4)- Be persistent and patient
5)- Keep positive
Get Mentally Relaxed
A relaxed state puts allows you direct access to your subconscious mind. Here are some steps to help you relax:
1)- Find a quiet place.
2)- Relax in a favorite chair or lie down.
3)- Get comfortable and loosen clothing.
4)- Uncross your arms and legs.
5)- Get centered by focusing on the breath and breathing (this activates the vagus nerve which is the major quieting nerve in the body).
6)- Totally relax your body and mind.
7)- Visualize
Visualization for healing is a simple process. Once you are relaxed the next step is to actualize your visualization.
Actualize
1)- Think of or speak your intention out loud.
2)- Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the healing process or as you want to be.
3)- Watch as your body heals you.
4)- Feel the healing taking place.
5)- Know the healing is being accomplished.
If you have difficulty you may want to try one or more of these methods:
Try creative imagery:
1)- Visualize the cells in your body healing you.
2)- Imagine your immune system fighting off invaders.
3)- Imagine your immune system fighting off invaders.
4)-Visualize your pain being taken away by healing mud.
5)- Imagine yourself in a very beautiful place whole, healthy and happy.
Try reading scripts from a visualization or self-hypnosis book
Try scripting your own guided meditation tape using your voice.
Visualization does work to help boost your body back to health. Don't just work on the body, add the mind to maximize your healing process with visualization.
4)- Be persistent and patient
5)- Keep positive
Get Mentally Relaxed
A relaxed state puts allows you direct access to your subconscious mind. Here are some steps to help you relax:
1)- Find a quiet place.
2)- Relax in a favorite chair or lie down.
3)- Get comfortable and loosen clothing.
4)- Uncross your arms and legs.
5)- Get centered by focusing on the breath and breathing (this activates the vagus nerve which is the major quieting nerve in the body).
6)- Totally relax your body and mind.
7)- Visualize
Visualization for healing is a simple process. Once you are relaxed the next step is to actualize your visualization.
Actualize
1)- Think of or speak your intention out loud.
2)- Close your eyes and imagine yourself in the healing process or as you want to be.
3)- Watch as your body heals you.
4)- Feel the healing taking place.
5)- Know the healing is being accomplished.
If you have difficulty you may want to try one or more of these methods:
Try creative imagery:
1)- Visualize the cells in your body healing you.
2)- Imagine your immune system fighting off invaders.
3)- Imagine your immune system fighting off invaders.
4)-Visualize your pain being taken away by healing mud.
5)- Imagine yourself in a very beautiful place whole, healthy and happy.
Try reading scripts from a visualization or self-hypnosis book
Try scripting your own guided meditation tape using your voice.
Visualization does work to help boost your body back to health. Don't just work on the body, add the mind to maximize your healing process with visualization.
