How to Use Visualization to Heal Physically or Emotionally

How visualization techniques can help you overcome emotional and physical barriers.

 

:: by Joelle Klein

Ten years ago, Jacquelyn Jones had a bad reaction to the medication she was taking for her back pain and was looking for an alternative way to heal. Though coping with a degenerative spine condition, she was not interested in risky invasive surgery or cortisone shots. Instead, she decided to try visualization to help her deal with the pain and change the way she thought about her condition.

“Within a month, I could see a shift in my attitude,” Jones says. “Instead of thinking of the pain as a problem, I started to think of it as an experience — the same way you might experience joy. I wasn’t afraid of it anymore.”
She eventually stopped taking her pain medications and has been practicing guided visualization for the past decade, both on her own and with a healing and meditation group called the Circle of Light.
“Someone with my condition would most likely have to resort to surgery to lead a normal life, but I’m a very functional and positive person, and it’s all due to my mental and spiritual state and how I react to my body,” she says.
What is visualization?
Visualization (also called guided imagery or creative visualization) is the technique of focusing your imagination on behaviors or events you’d like to have occur in your life. Advocates suggest creating a detailed schema of what one desires and then visualizing it over and over again, using all of your senses. What do you see? What do you feel? What do you hear? What does it smell like?
The practice is based on the idea that your body and mind are connected. By providing positive pictures, creative imagery and self-suggestion, visualization can change emotions that subsequently have a physical effect on the body, proponents say.
Psychologist and author Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., cofounder of Gaia Illumination University, believes that visualization is one of the most powerful tools for change. “Many people are propelled by events of the past, but visualization is an act of projecting the present into the future,” says Hendricks. “Visualization changes the dynamics of personal change by pulling the person toward a visualized healthier future.”
Numerous studies have supported the benefits of visualization, usually in conjunction with other therapies, for treating a variety of conditions from asthma and anxiety to insomnia and fibromyalgia.
How visualization can be used
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “The mind is a terrible thing to waste.” But it’s also a powerful tool to affect change.
Many people turn to visualization to help them move past obstacles (internal and external) in their lives, relax and relieve stress, resolve or cope with chronic pain, or heal themselves emotionally and physically, and accomplish goals such as losing weight or quitting smoking. Athletes use it to help them perform better, therapists use it to help patients heal from trauma, and experts conduct visualization seminars designed to help people realize their dreams.
Visualization can be done on your own or in a group with scripts, a guide, tapes or CDs. Jones says she started doing visualization on her own during the day whenever she could catch a quiet moment. She then joined the Circle of Light, a group of about a dozen women that meets biweekly, led and founded by Lynne Newman, a spiritual counselor and Reiki practitioner. Jones also uses guided tapes developed by Newman.
“It’s easier when someone else is guiding you through visualization,” Jones admits. “You’re relaxed and just listening to her voice.”
Nurse Esther Johnson, integrative therapies program manager at the Pathways Homehealth Hospice in Sunnyvale, Calif., uses visualization with her patients, often in conjunction with other therapies, for pain management, relaxation and help with anxiety.
Johnson recalls using guided visualization with a patient who was anxious about attending her son’s wedding. “I remember she said to me, ‘I had so many fears I wouldn’t be there, and now I’m sure I will be,’” Johnson says. “It gave her a deep sense of peace.”
What to expect when learning visualization techniques
Most visualization techniques begin with relaxation followed by summoning up a mental image. How much time it will take before you begin to see results depends on the severity of your ailment, the vividness of your imagery and your own determination.
Newman asks her clients to be open to the “possibilities of healing.” “I explain that there is no perfect way to do visualization and that their experience is uniquely their own,” she says. “I warn them that they might find there are little distractions, like an itch or their mind wandering. I ask that they simply be aware and then resume their quiet state.”
Hendricks describes visualization as “much like seeing an inner movie” and says that most of the time, it’s a pleasant, positive experience.
How to get started with visualization
There are numerous visualization and meditation CDs available that can help you with general visualization exercises and others that are geared for a variety of specific issues such as fertility, headaches and depression. Ready to get started? Here are a few basic steps from Johnson:

1. Start with gentle breathing.
2. Focus on relaxing all your muscles (head to toe, toe to head, etc.).
3. Sensory integration (i.e., using your five senses to integrate yourself into the visual imagery)

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[http://life.gaiam.com/article/how-use-visualization-heal-physically-or-emotionally] republished courtesy of Gaiam Life. 

Meditation for Healing

5 simple meditation steps and tips for the beginner

:: by Kate Clark

People struggling with chronic pain or other medical conditions can use healing meditation to feel better in body and spirit. Some report dramatic results from healing meditation, while others simply appreciate the reduction in stress that comes from sitting quietly and focusing the mind. Healing meditation often incorporates visualization techniques.

What to expect

While meditation hasn't been proven to cure specific ailments, patients report that it can be helpful when used alongside more conventional treatments. Meditation can help reduce anxiety, for one thing, which can potentially cause positive changes in your body. It's important to be open to the process and have faith that it will help, but be willing to give it time.

Guided meditation techniques

Guided imagery, in which you create mental pictures in response to another person's instructions, is commonly used for healing meditation. For example, if you have cancer, you might be asked to vividly picture your white blood cells fighting and winning against the cancer cells, and purging the bad cells from your body.

Personal healing images

You can use a healing meditation CD, or you can develop your own powerful healing images. For example, you might visualize your immune system as a train chugging steadily up a hill. Try to meditate on your chosen image often, at least once a day. You can also turn to it whenever you need a mental boost.

Preparing for healing meditation

When learning how to meditate, beginners often have trouble finding the best posture for meditation. Don't be afraid to experiment — there's no "right" way to meditate. Prepare to meditate by finding a quiet room without disruptions and take the following steps:

• Turn off your phone and any other gadgets.

• Dim the lights.

• Sit in a straight-backed chair with your head forward, knees bent at a right angle and your hands on your thighs. You can also sit with your legs crossed or, if you're flexible, pretzel your legs into a lotus position. If sitting isn't comfortable, lie on the floor (it's too easy to fall asleep on a bed).

• You can chant a mantra to yourself, such as " Om Mani Padme Hum," a Tibetan healing mantra, or use a simple word like "calm," "one" or "om."

• Close your eyes, or try staring at a focal point.

The best advice for beginners just learning about meditation is to start simple. Quieting your mind for long periods is more difficult than it looks, so just carve out 10 to 20 minutes a day at first. All you'll need is a quiet space where you won't be disturbed.

Benefits of meditation

Regular meditation can help relieve stress, improve your ability to focus and lead to a better understanding of your own thought patterns and processes. Some people use meditation to enhance creativity, reduce chronic pain, treat headaches and even improve athletic performance.

Focus

Although most people meditate with closed eyes, many beginners find it useful to have a point of focus, such as a candle. Concentrating on the flame can make it easier to clear your mind.
When learning how to meditate, beginners tend to get frustrated by the persistence of outside thoughts — all the anxieties, to-do lists and random memories that parade constantly through the brain. Instead of fighting them off, simply observe them as they enter your mind and let them pass. Repeating a mantra to yourself is another good way to maintain your focus.

Meditation techniques for beginners

Breathing meditation and relaxation meditation methods are especially good for people first learning to meditate. With breathing meditation, you simply breathe deeply from your abdomen, focusing all your attention on your breath, inhaling slowly through your nose and exhaling through your mouth.
Relaxation meditation involves consciously visualizing the release of tension from your body, beginning at the head and moving slowly down to the toes.

Meditate in action

"Walking meditation" is another useful way for beginners to learn how to meditate. The key is to concentrate fully on each deliberate step, paying attention only to the present moment. Focus on the rhythmic motion of your legs and the feel of the ground under your feet. Other active forms of meditation include tai chi and qigong (both traditional Chinese movement therapies) and yoga.

Combine meditation With lifestyle choices

A healthy diet, regular exercise and good sleep all enhance the positive effects of meditating. Spending time in nature, getting out in the sunshine, spending time with loved ones and trying to maintain a good attitude should also improve your results.

For the the original article please click below
[http://life.gaiam.com/article/meditation-healing] republished courtesy of Gaiam Life.