Images and Symbols: The Glue of Habit, The Lubricant of Change

CHAPTER EIGHT

Guidelines for Experiencing an Imagery Exercise

BY ARLENE F. HARDER, MA, MFT

Chapter - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13

If you're afraid that to learn imagery you'll have to sit for hours cross-legged on the floor in the lotus position, don't worry. Not only is that impossible and uncomfortable for many people, though others swear by it, clinical evidence has shown that such a regimen is not essential for improved physical, mental and emotional health. You can sit comfortably on chairs or lie on the floor — and you don't need to do it for an hour a day. In fact, some people report great results with only ten minutes, though twenty minutes seems to be the optimal amount of time.

If you are told to practice imagery by always sitting ramrod straight on a hard chair and if, while following those instructions, powerful images arise, it is not uncommon to assume that the position had something to do with it. Similarly, if you are taught to always lie on the floor and, in the process of doing that, realize the insights you experience have changed your view of life for the better, you will tend to believe that lying down made the difference.

Over the years, with different teachers and with trial-and-error on my own, I have discovered that there are no hard and fast rules. I have gotten wonderful results by imagining energy coming down from the top of my head and up from the bottom of my feet. I've used soft chairs, hard chairs, the floor and the bed. They all have their special advantages and disadvantages.

There is no "right" way to do imagery. Imagery works best when it feels right and is congruent with who you are and with your beliefs and values. You are the judge of what is best for you and what method can best help you discover your unique strengths and coping skills.

With that in mind, I offer you some suggestions that many people have found valuable in doing imagery.

Designing a Place Conducive to Imagery

Have you ever noticed that cathedrals, temples and mosques have a calming effect on those who enter, even for nonbelievers? Museums achieve a similar response to those who stroll their halls. As you walk through the doors of such places, you feel a subtle shift in your body. You expect such places to have a certain "atmosphere" and so you walk a little slower and become quieter, perhaps shedding some of the worries you might have felt a moment before.

In a similar vein, many people have found that imagery, and certainly meditation, seem to be enhanced if they set aside a place in their home or yard where they will practice these techniques. As they return time after time, a feeling of comfort surrounding this special place seems to grow.

For many years I would do imagery, quiet reflection and meditation in a lazy-boy chair in the living room. Although it was, admittedly, a super-comfortable chair, there was something about the atmosphere built up from hundreds of meditation sessions that seemed to assist me in quickly reaching a deep sense of peace and inner focus. Unfortunately, back problems forced me to move to another chair with a more firm support for my back. It took awhile for the new chair to take on what, for lack of a more articulate term, I would call "peaceful energy."

There are several ways you can arrange your special place so that also attracts peaceful energy as you explore the world of imagery. One easy way to do this is to place on a nearby table or shelf items that symbolize beauty, serenity, and joy. Some of these may be permanent items you can always keep there. Others may be ones you bring into the area only for the time you spend doing imagery and meditation. For example, if your place is too dark to grow flowering plants, you can bring some, like those violets in the picture above from a bright spot to your special place.

As you practice imagery and discover the power of the images that arise, you may get ideas for a number of symbols you can use to create a place of calm and serenity — even though the rest of the house may be a muddle of confusion and busyness.

How Long Should You Plan to Spend Doing An Imagery Exercise?

When I first started teaching imagery and mediation techniques, I suggested those who were just beginning should do it ten or fifteen minutes a day, although clinical evidence suggests that twenty minutes a day is optimal for your autonomic nervous system. I thought my suggestion was more likely to be followed and doing something is better than nothing at all.

Then I heard about the Stress Reduction Clinic at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Here patients suffering from chronic pain and stress-related medical disorders are asked to do "mindfulness meditation" for forty-five minutes a day! That's a lot of time spent "doing nothing", especially for many of us are accustomed (okay, addicted) to being active and on the go. Nevertheless, people who have gone through this program report that forty-five minutes seems as though no time at all has passed. Further, when asked to determine how much these techniques have helped them, over seventy percent reported "moderate to marked improvement" of their previously untreatable symptoms both a year and a year-and-a-half later.

Especially when you are dealing with a stressful problem in your life, such as a serious illness, it is easy for the mind to review, over and over again, what you might have done in the past to prevent it and worry about what the future will hold. Under these circumstances it is difficult to live “in the moment,” the residence of real peace of mind.

However, as I said in the first chapter, whatever time you make for imagery (whether one twenty-minute session or several shorter sessions), you will discover that having greater serenity takes away the power of past and future to dominate your life. You will find yourself more and more able to remain in the present moment. And when you finish the exercise, you bring back with you the serenity you found when doing the exercise, which carries over to the other minutes in your day.

If you follow the exercises in this manual, you will need to set aside enough time to get from the beginning to the end. That may range from ten to twenty or thirty minutes. After you have first read an imagery script, you can calculate how much time you will need to finish it.

What if your time is limited and yet the imagery script you want to use suggests you take time to come back to an awareness of the room when you are finished? Then I suggest you use an alarm clock. I realize that many who teach imagery don’t think it’s a good idea. But I recommend it if you have something to which you must attend and would be unable to completely relax (which would allow you to get the most from the experience) because you’re afraid you’ll sit too long. Setting a small timer will allow you to spend more time just following along with the imagery rather than feeling you have to check your watch.

What Time of Day is Best?

Morning, noon or evening? That will depend, first of all, on when things are most likely going to be quiet, such as when the phone is less likely to ring. Of course, you can always unplug the phone or turn on the answering machine, but there are few times in the day when the neighborhood is guaranteed to be quiet. With practice, however, you will be less bothered by noises. In fact, you can even use unexpected noise to deepen relaxation and can actually incorporate those sounds into your images.

Because mornings are busy times in many households, the evening may be the only time available. There are three reasons, however, why I think morning is best. First, taking time early in the day can set the tone for the rest of the day. Second, most people are so tired in the evening that they tend to fall asleep rather than stay focused as they would like. Third, it is very easy to let other things intrude into your special time until there aren't any minutes left before bedtime.

If you are incorporating imagery into meditation practice, whether morning, evening, or sometime in-between, it helps to have a consistent time of day in order to be more certain you’ll get around to it in your busy life.

Remember that Rome Wasn't Built in One Day

Although imagery is easy to do, don't expect to become an expert over night. Give imagery a chance. After all, you wouldn't expect to build a strong body after one brisk walk or workout. Practice is needed for building both physical and mental muscles.

Use the imagery exercises as often as you can. The more you do them, there is a good chance that before long you will know how to consciously incorporate images and symbols into your daily activities.

Plagiarism is Encouraged

The nice thing about imagery is that you can borrow ideas from others all the time. You don't have to come up with your own imagery script by yourself and aren't being graded on your creativity. Besides, the reason I have brought together more than forty exercises in this manual is so that you won’t need to take the time to create them yourself. So don’t hesitate to use the exercises and symbols you find here. Allow the ideas of others to get your own creative juices flowing.

It's Easy to Fall Asleep Doing Imagery When You Need Rest

When you fall asleep listening to imagery tapes, don't be afraid you missed something important. Relaxing and winding down from daily activities are some of the reasons for doing imagery in the first place. Trust that you need to sleep more than you needed to remember all of the exercise.

You may, however, find yourself falling asleep when you want to use imagery for a specific purpose, such as gaining insight into a problem. In those situations, if you are fairly sure you do have enough sleep, you can reduce sleepiness by moving your sessions to earlier in the day or to times before meals. If you have been lying down to practice, sit up to stay more fully awake and alert. Some people find that going on a walk where they have to keep their owns open but can imagine themselves going through the imagery may work. Most of all, remember to tell yourself that you can be both relaxed and alert.

Bizarre is Better

In the world of imagery, the laws of the physical world don't apply. Dogs can fly and birds can climb trees. Color can be "heard" and sound can be "seen." As you learn to engage all your senses in the imagery process as much as possible, you will soon discover an exciting world of strange and beautiful images that form your inner landscape. In fact, evidence seems to indicate that the "crazier" the images, often the more effective they become.

So just sit back, relax and engage as many of your senses in the imagery process as possible. You will soon discover an exciting world of strange and beautiful images. By focusing on what you experience and by not judging whether you are doing as well as you think someone else might, you will create your own very special images that arise from all your senses — and they will have power to impact your life because they have come out of your own experience.

© Copyright 2008, Arlene Harder, MA, MFT