Explains visualization as a technique individuals can use for relaxation and other purposes. Several protocols are provided.

Visualization and Clinical Guided Imagery

Visualization is a technique for drawing upon your unconscious mind for healing and change. The mind processes a great deal of information in nonverbal ways, which though unconscious are nonetheless quite powerful. Imagery has been called the language of the unconscious. Visualization uses that language to enable the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind to communicate.

 It is important to realize the visualization techniques vary considerably. They can be used in simple form as a self-help method, and several protocols are included here, which can be read or tape-recorded for use later. Professionally trained therapists can also use visualization in more advanced ways to work with clients. This "clinical guided imagery" or "therapeutic guided imagery" involves an interactive process with therapist and client. It is a bit like hypnosis in using deep relaxation, but is permissive rather than controlling. Also, the client is actively involved.

With a skilled therapist, the process of guided imagery can be dramatically effective for rapid and lasting change. In contrast to verbal therapy, the use of imagery is useful for tapping in to deep mechanisms that are often beyond the scope of rational discussion. Frequently, a client also gains skill in using imagery methods for further personal growth.

Some applications of guided imagery in therapy:
    •     Stress transformation
    •     Healing past trauma
    •     Clarifying issues and finding creative solutions
    •     "Vision work" and goal setting
    •     Learning how to tap inner wisdom
    •     Attending to one's "inner child," or self-care
    •     Decision-making
    •     Positive self-image
    •     Resolving fears
    •     Habit control
    •     Creative thinking

 Visualization exercises are used to work on deeply lodged ideas and feelings. The idea is to use carefully designed imagery to redirect the power of your imagination - to "reprogram" your unconscious. Visualization that is creative and healing is most likely to occur when you are relaxed. Just as your body is wise enough to digest food and heal itself, the mind is self-healing when it is relatively free from stress and rigid control. In order to get maximum benefit from guided visualizations then, it is important to begin with relaxation.

Here are several examples of self-administered visualizations. More in-depth imagery work with a therapist is usually required for healing trauma from the past or working on deep-seated issues.

Relaxation

Find a time and place where you can be alone and uninterrupted. Before you start, take your time to make yourself comfortable, adjusting your clothes and position so you can relax. You'll want to be completely relaxed and yet alert.

Begin by closing your eyes and taking a deep breath . . signaling your body to begin relaxing . . . let the breath out slowly, releasing all your tension. Take another deep breath and let it out slowly, releasing all your tension. Take another deep breath and let it out slowly, allowing yourself to feel more calm. . . more serene. Now take a breath and hold it. -the let it go quickly. continue breathing naturally and focus on your breath, in and out . . . inhale. . . exhale. . . inhale. . -exhale. There's plenty of time . . . no hurry. . . feeling very comfortable. . at ease. Notice how this slow, deep breathing allows the body to achieve a natural state of gentle relaxation. With each breath you can allow yourself to go deeper, letting go. . . feeling safe, peaceful, calm. . . letting your mind come to rest.

The sense of relaxation can extend throughout your body as you picture relaxation moving through each part. Beginning with your toes, imagine a soft warm light moving though your muscles, easing and massaging, leaving them totally relaxed. The light, like a warm current moves up your legs, your muscles letting go. . up through your torso, relaxing and soothing your abdomen, your back, your chest. . . then massaging your shoulders, releasing all the tension. . coming down your arms, feeling warm, soothing. . . down into the hands and fingers. . . then the relaxation moves into your neck and head, gently moving all through your scalp and face. . . soothing your eyes and releasing your jaw. As you enjoy this complete feeling of comfort and tranquillity, the healing current continues to swirl around inside you, returning to any portion of the body that retains tension and relaxing it even more completely. And while your body relaxes, you continue breathing naturally, enjoying the sensation of sending healing oxygen to every cell of your body. . relaxing and soothing and energizing. . as you gradually develop a feeling of anticipation. . . ready for another step. . . relaxed and calm and alert.

Centeredness

Find a comfortable time and place for yourself and begin by relaxing. . . closing your eyes. . . letting go of all your concerns for the time being. This is a special time apart, away from everything and everyone. . . a time to be with yourself. .quiet and relaxed. . . to center yourself, feel soothed and renew your spirits. So begin by breathing deeply. . . inhale. .exhale. . inhale. * exhale. . . letting your body relax completely and naturally. Your body knows how to do this, responding to the easy process of slow, deep breathing. And as you relax you can let yourself be entirely in the present. . noticing the way the chair feels under you. . the feel of your clothes on your body. . the increasing feeling of comfort and calm. . . the way that you have placed your hands and feet. . . the serenity. . . the sounds in the environment. . the feel of the air around you, touching your face. . . the peace and tranquillity. There's nothing to do but be here. . . plenty of time. . . feeling free. And as you enjoy your sense of relaxation you find that you can deepen it by imagining going inside yourself. You can roll your eyes back and look at the back of your head. . . take your time and experience this peaceful sensation. . .

Now imagine that you are a sphere with many layers and a center. And gradually you can move your awareness inward to your center, where it is quiet and still and safe, like the eye of a hurricane. . . gradually moving in as we count back from 5 .getting more peaceful and centered with each layer. . . 5. .beginning to move. . . 4. . . feeling more peaceful . . 3 . . .more quiet. . .2 . . . more serene . . . 1. . . feeling very good. .very safe . . . very strong. There's a sense of strength here at the center . . . of deep, inner resources. . a quiet strength. .calm and powerful.

And now with your awareness of this deep feeling, you can find yourself in a beautiful place outdoors that captures this experience. . . a personal place where you can be alone, totally relaxed and nourished . . . comforted and fed. . it can be any place special to you . . . . . . enjoying this place, taking in the visual beauty, noticing wonderful aspects of color and tone. . listening to sounds, resonating and musical, soothing. You explore the environment, enjoying all that you feel. . . the earth under your feet, the air, the sun, the things that you touch. .all the time enjoying this opportunity to relax completely, to do whatever you like. . . to be at home. . . to feel free. And as you experience your personal placer you feel more energized. . .as if you were soaking in the quality of this place. . . total calm combined with total vibrant energy. So you move about enjoying these feelings. . . so glad to be alive. . . fully aware. . feeling healthy and strong. . . able to flow with everything around you. . . peaceful. . . happy and excited. You realize that you have tremendous inner resources to draw upon. . ..deep inner capacities that are available to you in responding to any demand. So you feel at ease . . . assured. . confident. . . excited. . .strong and serene . . . full of grace . . . revitalized. . . able to easily complete your daily activities . . . planning to stay centered, returning to this personal place at any time.

Vision

Albert Einstein: "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
 Websters Dictionary: Vision - The act or faculty of seeing. Visionary - Apt to behold visions of the imagination.

(Begin with Centeredness segment).

Continue to enjoy this personal place that you have come to realizing that gradually something very important will become more clear to you, You walk around and feel very good, . . relaxed and yet very energized. . . the feeling of hopefulness increases and you feel excited. . . breathing the clean, fresh air, walking lightly . . . feeling inspired. . . a heightened sense of possibility . . . your life really can be more like the way you want it to be. . , and you can become more clear about what that is. . . you can become more clear about your vision. As you continue to walk, experiencing this wonderful place, you gradually realize how very powerful your imagination is. . . and that you can harness it to help you focus your energies. You realize that if you get a clear notion about what your life is about (or what your work is about, or what your family is about, etc. ), you can more easily stay centered on it. The vision is an inspiration, an ideal that provides guidance for your activities. So you continue to explore your personal place. . . until you come to a giant movie screen. You sit down, knowing this is for you, and you watch with excited expectation. This is your vision for your life, you realize. . . and you are getting a more clear and graphic version of what you have sensed is true for you. As you watch, a very short movie shows on the screen,, briefly communicating with images the essence of what is important to you. This can be literal or abstract; it can just be color and shapes and movement; it can be anything that captures the feeling of your vision. . . something that is meaningful to you. When you have seen your vision, relax and take your time to let it sink in. . . enjoy the feeling of being in touch with it. . . enjoy the hope of letting it have a larger influence in your life.

Confidence

(Begin with Relaxation segment)

Now as you feel yourself drifting gently in this relaxed state, allow your awareness to expand beyond the present time and place. . feeling very good . . . plenty of time. . . floating back in time, through your memories, to a situation in which you felt very good about what you were doing, a time when you felt a lot of confidence and a lot of competence. Take your time drifting through memories until one particular scene feels right. . . a time when it felt good to be you. . a case when you felt proud of yourself. Allow yourself to relive this scene in detail as you recall it. . the sights. . . the sounds. . the smells. .the temperature, the feel of the air. . . the way you have positioned your body . . . the clothes you are wearing. . . the other people present . . . the action that proceeds. Notice the lighting around you, the colors, the clarity of the sounds. Enjoy the feelings that you now experience as you remember. . . and allow these positive feelings of confidence and competence become more intense. . permitting your body to experience them as well. Enjoy your physical sensations and gradually find a place in your body to localize these feelings. . and imagine storing them there, as resources for another occasion. When this feels comfortable and clear and vivid to you, continue.

Now picture the current situation in which you are having difficulty. Without entering the picture, simply look at it until it is clear. Now, while maintaining your awareness of your confidence, enter the scene and proceed with what you need to do. . remaining relaxed. . bringing the positive feelings with you from the previous experience . . . allowing the confidence to radiate throughout your body, inspiring your actions. . giving you energy and joy . . . easily doing what you need to do . . . feeling very good . . . enjoying your skill. . completing the scene and feeling very good about your performance.

Stress Transformation

(Begin with Relaxation segment). (Be prepared with paper and crayons).

Now turn your attention to the stressful situation that you are facing. As you become aware of the feelings that this creates in you, allow an image to form in your mind's eye that represents the way you experience the situation at its worst. On a scale of 10, this is a negative 10, a worst-case scenario. Your image can be anything, literal or symbolic or abstract. .just a representation of your experience. When the image is clear to you, sit up and make a sketch of it on some paper.

Now sit back, close your eyes and relax again, breathing slowly. . . allowing yourself to a state of serene calm. . breathing in. . and out. . . letting go. . . feeling peaceful. Gradually return to the situation that you are presently coping with and this time allow an image to form in your mind that represents a neutral version of your experience. That is, on a scale of 10, this would be zero. This is the stressful situation at its best, neutralized. . you are coping with it. . . not feeling great or thriving, but coping. Take your time and when this image is clear to you, it up and make a sketch.

Again, relax yourself, breathing deeply. . . letting go of all tension and gradually enjoying a growing feeling of calmness and peace. . Allow waves of relaxation to flow through your head, chest, stomach, thigh, legs. . . deep waves of calm, peaceful relaxation. . . letting you feel good. . . comfortable. .breathing easily, sending energy to every part of the body. . feeling strong. . . positive. . . clear. . competent. & joyful, uninhibited. And as these feelings develop, you form a strong image of the way you could experience your situation ideally. .a positive 10 rating. Again this can be any kind of image. Take your time with this one and enjoy the feelings that you have. . allow the image to become clear and vivid in detail. Then draw this one.

Now you have 3 pictures, -10, 0 and +10. Relax again and in your mind's eye, look at your worst-case scenario, allowing yourself to experience those feelings. Now gradually work on this image and change it until it looks like your neutral picture. As you make this transformation, notice how your feelings change! Now continue transforming the picture until it looks exactly like your +10 ideal representation. Enjoy the feelings of strength and mastery and joy.

Creativity

(Begin with relaxing and centering)

 Now as you allow yourself to enjoy this relaxed and yet alert state of being, let yourself drift back in time to an occasion. that you remember in which you were creative in some way. . . It can. be any occasion, not necessarily some big accomplishment but just some pleasant experience of feeling creative... take your time . . . continue breathing. . . and --gradually settle on a particular memory.

As you focus in on the situation, allow yourself to relive the entire occasion in your mind. Notice all the details . . . the sights . . . the sounds . . . the smells . . . the temperature of the environment . . . the clothes you have on., the way they feel. Let yourself enjoy the way you are feeling as you proceed with what you are doing. . . really notice and enjoy the sensation of creativity. . . let it be very real so you can memorize it and keep it.

(At this point, the guide can ask participants to verbalize words they would use to describe their feeling of creativity, e.g. "Now as you experience this delightful sense of creativity, what words would you use to describe it? As you think of a word or phrase, go ahead and say it out loud. Let's all share what's going on so we can understand what creativity feels like. Anybody can start.")

Good! Now stay with your scene for just another minute, enjoy it and learn. from it. You can have this experience again when you want to. The creativity is coming from you. . . and you can. tell from this experience that you have great potential already inside you... it's just a matter of allowing it to come out, to be there. . . to relax and allow yourself to be creative. So, before you leave, imagine storing this creativity in your body somewhere . . . some people feel it in. their chest, others a sensation in the forehead or a warmth in, the shoulders . . . it can. be anywhere. . . it's totally up to you. . . but bring it with you in. some way so it can be a little more real. When you are ready, you can. reorient yourself back to this place as I count back from 5 . 5 . 4 . 3 . . . becoming more aware of the present time and place . . . 2 coming back. . . 1.