I had a tai chi instructor who always said energy is feeling. He didn’t think much of visualization as a way of developing internal power. In martial arts it’s true, if you can’t feel it, it won’t have any power. In healing it is less true, but being able to feel energy does give your self-healing ability a huge boost.
When you learn to feel and direct energy in your body, you can do “acupuncture” from the inside. You can do it just like acupuncture, by stimulating the points and meridians, if you know them well, or you can send energy to areas in need.
You want to know what you are doing, though, because you can make things worse, by sending extra energy into an area that is already blocked, for instance, or by sending too much energy to your heart or head.
Here’s a way to begin to feel energy in your body:
Close your eyes and take a moment to relax. Then feel a thin slice of the very top of your arm. Feel the skin, the muscles, even the bone, if you can. Feel it as intently as you can, noticing the various sensations at the different levels. Then move down the arm to the next slice. Each slice can be about an inch thick. Keep moving all the way down the arm, feeling it with as much focus and precision as you can. Go all the way to your palm then start at the shoulder again and go a little more quickly. Do that three or four times, until you can smoothly flow down your arm with your awareness. Soon you will feel a flow of sensation down your arm to your hand.
Now put your palm on another part of your body, your foot or knee or belly work well. Flow down the arm with you awareness again. When you get to your palm send the sensation out the palm, into the area it is touching. Can you feel it there?
The energy transfer is not necessary, but it is a good way to prove that what you are feeling is “real”.
Once you are good at feeling the flow of energy, you can do a full body flow. Many people find it is helpful to this with the breath, but it is not important.
As you breathe in, feel the energy flow from your toes, up the inside and front of your legs, up the front of your body to your chest. As you breathe out, feel the energy flow from your chest, down the inside of your arms, into your palms, to your finger tips. As you breathe in, feel the energy flow up the backs of your hands, the backs of your arms, across the top of your shoulders, up your throat, to your face. As you breathe out, feel the energy flow over the top of your head, down your back, down the backs of your legs, to your toes.
Do that two or three times and you will definitely feel more alive.
When doing guided imagery for healing the body, it is often helpful to actually visualize the internal organs that need healing. Since not everyone knows where all the internal organs are, I’ve created a video showing the main ones.
Here are some pictures, as well.
A very simple imagery exercise is to imagine pure light flowing into the problem area, and cloudy light coming out of it. If you want, you can use your breath. Breathe in the pure light to the problem area, and breathe out the cloudy light.
When my friend Frankie asked me about calming a particularly busy mind, the opening lines of The Talking Heads’ Psycho Killer came into my head.
I know what it’s like to have a mind that refuses to quiet down, and I’ve learned a few tricks over the years.
First, I think exercise is very important. If we don’t wear our bodies out occasionally, our minds get over busy. Dog trainers like to say, “A tired dog is a good dog.” The same goes for humans. The exercise also helps you get out of your brain and into your body.
Dance is excellent for getting us out of our brains. The rhythm, the music, and the exercise combined, work wonders for bringing us into our bodies and into the present moment.
Sometimes it takes words to overcome words. Affirmations and prayer can be very beneficial. When my mom lived on the beach in Santa Cruz, she used to take an hour walk in the evening. Going out she would repeat the Lord’s Prayer. Coming back, she would repeat the 23rd psalm.
Most religions combine prayer with music in some form of chanting. This is my favorite way to calm an impossible mind. My preference is for Hindu kirtan. Kirtan uses mantras, words that don’t have any particular meaning for me. That way my mind is not distracted by what I’m singing. Also kirtan is fast and rhythmic, very danceable.
When you have finished doing one of my suggestions, just sit for five minutes and notice how you feel. How is you mind? Follow the breath. Don’t try to meditate, just be with yourself. With practice you can shorten the preparation activity and lengthen the time you just sit.
Do you have asthma or other breathing difficulties? Guided imagery is an excellent way to calm a difficult breath episode. Many people find stress aggravates their breathing, so just the de-stressing aspect of guided imagery goes a long way toward helping. However, it seems to go beyond that. In a study done at Lennox Hill Hospital in New York, more patients in the group doing imagery were able to decrease their medication, than in the control group.
The free audio imagery exercise I am offering is about 12 minutes long. I suggest you listen to it once a day. Then three or four times a day, do a short 2 – 3 minute version, on your own. If you are having a difficult attack, listen to the guided imagery if you can. You should notice a significant difference in your breathing within a week.
Do not replace your medication with guided imagery, or change your dosage, without consulting your doctor about it.
Before listening to the guided imagery, check out the post on preparing to meditate.
Breathe freely mp3 Right click and choose save as to download it to your computer.
In this video I give instructions on preparing for meditation. Part of it includes the five breath relaxation cycle. Practice this regularly and you will learn to quickly go into a state of deep relaxation.
The five breath relaxation cycle involves breathing out at half the speed you breathe in. Focusing on the out-breath in this way is very relaxing. At first, it may seem uncomfortable, especially with the longer breaths, but as you get used to it, you will enjoy the results.
Breathe in to a count of three, then out to a count of six. Then in to a count of four and out to a count of eight. Then in to a count of five and out to a count of ten. Then you reverse it: In four, out eight, in three, out six. Then you let the breath return to a natural rhythm and enjoy the benefits.
Learning to relax quickly is invaluable for doing short guided imagery sessions. For many problems, you want to do three to six two minute sessions a day, so you want to relax quickly. Check out my post on short and long imagery sessions.
