Auto-Guided Imagery

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.” -Rabindranath Tagore

Level I -- Transcendence: 1st Month, Day 3
Prelude:
I'm ready to start my third session of audio brainwave entrainment, so I start the CD and then settle back onto the yoga mat. I had just come back from a walk with Leslie and our dog Nikita, and it had been a good workout, so it feels good to give into the relaxing sounds of water. I have learned from the two previous days that the meditation is like a form of relief, allowing me to be able to set aside the ongoing burden of my thoughts, and spend 30 minutes letting the stillness flow through me.

Now, as I look upward to the fan spinning above me, I can perceive patterns in the movement of the blades. There are colors in between the patterns, like a motif with an embroidered edge. The shapes and hues are appearing on the ceiling and when I blink and close my eyes... they remain in place as if my eyelids were transparent. These patterns are incredibly beautiful and provoke an immediate sense of familiarity and recognition. I feel connected to them somehow.

Abstract:
The images depicted in Alex Grey's Sacred Mirrors (on display at the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York City), are of human figures viewed in physical detail as well as their revealed ethereal filaments that represent the six chakras and the surrounding aura of the psychic energy system, interconnected with the rest of the universe. Grey’s work explores the subject of consciousness from the perspective of "universal beings" whose bodies are grids of fire, cosmic eyes and infinite galactic swirls.

The powerful mental function of imagination allows us to use our thoughts to accomplish things like healing and repair on the emotional level and sometimes on the physical level too. We can use our imagination to review the past or visualize possible futures, and to do things that we seem unable to do in the outer world. Our imagination is the source of creativity, and gives us the the ability to solve problems. We can plan things in our imagination and then take the steps that we imagined, to accomplish goals that we seek.

Postlude:
Because of my strong interest in investigating this powerful tool and becoming educated in its use, I have trained myself to focus my imagination and use it well. Just as Aristotle represented it as "the window to the soul", I have become aware that using my imagination for storing, processing, and retrieving information, is a completely natural process. But I'm looking for the way that leads way beyond the logical, linear thinking which is so important in normal life, and goes beyond to where Einstein envisioned it as "Imagination is more important than knowledge."

Imagination is important in healing because it seems to have a much more direct link to bodily functions than spoken words. But the use of imagery involves thinking in thoughts that have sensory qualities. These thoughts allow us to see, hear, smell, or feel inside. So by using the language of the arts --of music, poetry, drama, and the visual arts-- it's possible to imagine things that have a close relationship to emotions.

With my eyes closed, I recall a time when I felt very peaceful and quiet inside, and I imagine being there now again, and imagine seeing what I am seeing, and hearing the sounds that are here, and I feel that feeling of deep peacefulness and quiet inside, and I'm just enjoying that for a few minutes.

This is possible because of the mind/body connection, which is mediated through the limbic system or the seat of our emotions. The powers of imagination that are closely linked to healing, produce a shift in my state of being from uncomfortable anxiety and depression, to one that is quieter, happier and far more comfortable. Along with the emotional uplift, there are physiologic changes that accompany the calmer, more relaxed, and yet more energized state that follows this shift. This allows my body to focus its attention on healing rather than spending its energy combating imagined problems and worries.

My mental energy is better utilized in imagining happy, calming, encouraging, mood elevating, pain relieving, and positive thoughts that may allow physical healing as well as mental healing. I am using my imagination to escape and obtain relief for a few pleasant minutes. I am deeply relaxed, and feel a strong ability to express my feelings, and even to connect with an inner source of wisdom and healing.