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Fibromyalgia, Creative Visualization, and Healing (Part III)

© T. Darlene Cheek

Our bodies do not discriminate between sensory images in our minds and what we know as reality. What does this mean? Imagine for a moment that you were in a car accident (perhaps you have been), and you injured your neck. Months later, as you are driving down the road, you hear someone's tires squeal. This immediately causes you to tense up... your neck hasn't bothered you in a couple of months, but all of the sudden, it begins to hurt... you feel very nervous. Your mind learned to associate that sound with being hurt.

Can the same association be used to create a positive effect? Yes, and because we respond more strongly to positive stimuli than to negative, the benefits can be extremely powerful. A college professor decided to do a small study with his class on the effects of guided imagery: He divided his class up into three sections... the first section was to do hand exercises, the second was to imagine themselves doing hand exercises, and the third group did no exercises. The results? There was little difference in gained hand strength between the group who did the hand exercises and the group that imagined themselves doing the exercises.

Creative visualization can heighten immune functions, lower blood pressure, speed healing, alleviate depression, reduce perception of pain, lower fatigue, increase relaxation, just to name a few. How does it work? Creative visualization is much like self-hypnosis, except you want to practice until you can actually SEE what you want to happen. Once again, you can use the progressive relaxation script to take you into hypnosis and simply add to it. The script we have used up to this point will have you in your favorite place at this point:

HEALING SCRIPT: Now, imagine yourself floating up from wherever you are... you float up above the trees... you feel very safe... as you look below, you see a beautiful mansion... you can sense the healing vibrance of this place... you want to go there, and you do... as you walk up the beautiful front stairs, your body begins to feel differently... you feel a subtle shift deep inside yourself...

You find yourself standing at the front of a great hall... on each side of the hall stands mirrors... hundreds of mirrors... lining both sides of this enchanting place... as you stand before the first mirror, you reach to touch the wood... you can actually feel it beneath your fingertips... you see a figure in the mirror... this person is part of you... it is the part of you that is completely healed of any disease or discomfort... imagine yourself now, reaching into the mirror...

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