Imagining Good—Using Guided Imagery for Better Health

Throughout history, human beings have used imagination to help us deal with uncertainty. We have imagined higher beings, evil spirits and fantasies involving fairies and dragons. We have used our imagination for innovative thinking and creating, and to especially help us manage through an often difficult life or world.

Think about it, if you come up against a problem, how do you figure out the solution? Somewhere it your memory bank lies a history of having solved a similar problem before. To handle the situation, you will use this memory plus your imagination to project how you will deal with it this time around.

If you cannot imagine a successful outcome, your brain will assume the stress or challenge is unmanageable or that you are doomed. As a result, your stress response will be over-activated, firing out of fear non-stop, eventually negatively affecting your mind and body. The more this response fires, the more your mind shuts down. The more fear you find yourself in, the less possible it is for you to think positively and creatively. It becomes harder to use your imagination to expect or imagine a good outcome; when you do not have expectations of a positive outcome, your stress response fires, stimulating more negative emotions and behaviors and in turn hurting your health, both mental and physical.

It sounds like a vicious cycle, but there is good news. You can choose to use your imagination to be healthy and creative. You can override negative beliefs, assumptions and memories by using guided imagery to visualize positive outcomes, possibilities and experiences. Using your imagination in this way stimulates higher brain centers which stimulate positive emotions and behaviors and a more controlled stress response.

Let’s take a “for instance”:

Let’s say you are finding yourself reverting to negative thoughts, especially ones that lead you to see yourself in a negative way. For example, you are beating yourself up for eating that chocolate cake and now cannot imagine ever being the weight you wish to be.

Now try using guided imagery to redirect your focus to a positive thought or image. You can imagine yourself in a place or experience when and where you were/are happy. Really allow your imagination to take you there, as if you are really there. Breathe in feeling good! The associated brain cells will fire and you may soon find yourself feeling and acting differently—perhaps happier and more positive about yourself and your life.

The more positive light you see yourself in, the less likely you are to take part in self destructive behaviors, but rather, self loving ones.

This is where guided imagery can be very powerful; you can guide yourself (or listen to someone else) guide you to use your imagination. Here’s a great example. Imagine a healing light moving through your body, making your cells stronger and more resilient. Or, you can imagine yourself being healthy and fit, running a 3 kilometer race. The more you imagine or are guided to imagine positive experiences and imagery, the more your brain will keep the stress response off, your muscles less tense, your heart rate and blood pressure down and your immune cells strong.