Guided Imagery and Visualizations – Visualization Exercises That Can Heal
Healing Visualizations: Creating Health Through Imagery by Gerald Epstein begins as a no nonsense approach to visualization healing.
Right up front he states that it is easier to visualize the body becoming healed if you know what it’s supposed to look like.
Wonderful and realistic advice, how often do we think about what a healthy throat or sinus cavity is supposed to look like? Unless we took an intermediate health class, we probably don’t even know what to visualize as healthy, let alone how to relax enough for it to work, and studies on visualization back up this concept; it is much easier to “see” what healthy is if we know what healthy looks like.
That is exactly the next step Epstein writes about. He uses the example of the simplicity of guided imagery and visualization and how it worked for a friend of his with a cold who was not a regular practitioner of either meditation or of visualization exercises. After only one day (Epstein had prescribed three) of using the prescribed technique every three hours, Epstein’s friend emerged cold-free.
Chapter one begins with preparing for imagery work, and the fact that it is not as difficult as one would think. A few relaxation exercises to get you ready mentally and physically help tremendously with guided imagery, as you are going to be much more open to the positive effects of the time spent visualizing if you are relaxed. There is also some mental preparation; in effect, giving your self permission to heal. Chapters two and three discuss the body-mind connection and why healing visualizations work so well.
In chapter four and five you will learn specific techniques to begin healing through visualization and guided imagery, and the last two chapters include blueprints designed to help you create your own visual imagery and relaxation exercise scripts.
The scripts include healing visualizations to combat everything from acne to cancer, and discuss the cause and effect of why we become ill in the first place. There is a section on biorhythms which is particularly helpful, as the body’s ability to adjust to the outside elements and the resulting sensitivities help explain the process of becoming sick as well as the solution oriented aspect of the healing process.
Using the image of healing light and color is a big part of the process. The guided imagery uses white or yellow light visualizations to speed healing and black to release sickness and disease; you will picture disease leaving your body through your feet and running deep into the earth, and typically the color for this is black or brown. At the same time you are seeing yellow or white light coming in through the top of your head and healing the organs and tissue. This type of visualization healing is quite common and is explained very well in Epstein’s book, a great addition to your reading for health.
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