Guided Imagery
Sutter Center for Integrative Holistic Health
The human imagination can be a powerful healing tool. We often think in images, and those images can evoke powerful emotions that lead to changes in our bodies. In fact, your mind cannot distinguish between a physical sensation or an imagined one. Just think about what happens in your body when you imagine sucking on a lemon - most of us will experience physical changes in the mouth from this image. Your lips may pucker, your face may contort, and your salivary glands go into high gear – and all because of the rich imagery and associations in your mind from your past experience with a lemon. Painful emotions and images from the past also affect us physically – when we conjure up those memories, we may find ourselves right back in the painful moment as if it were happening again right now - we can end up anxious, depressed, and in more physical pain. Guided imagery is a healing technique that helps to deliberately create positive, healing images to counteract these negative ones. During guided imagery, you listen to either a recorded or a live voice of a guide or therapist who first helps you achieve a state of deep relaxation. Once you are relaxed, your guide will help you to travel into the part of your body or psyche/soul that is in pain, and ask it what it needs from you – here you are engaging your deep inner wisdom or intuition to help you to heal. You may also use imagery to direct your own inner healing resources to that part of your body-mind or your life that you would like to transform.
Studies have shown that guided imagery can help to reduce pain, insomnia, anxiety, and depression. It has also been shown to lower blood pressure, help people to heal more quickly from surgery, lose weight and quit smoking. Olympic athletes have also demonstrated the ability of the mind to improve competitive performance by combining their physical training with guided imagery.
Practitioners
Gary Yeatts, LCSW