Healing through Visualization
Deeply Invested: Healing through Visualization
A pioneer in the self-help movement, Shakti Gawain taught us to harness the power of creative visualization in her seminal books, Creative Visualization and Living in the Light. Once we can calm ourselves down through breath, we can enter the realm of the imagination and use our capacities to visualize for healing and well-being, not just for ourselves, but for others as well.
We all know that a thought form has vitality and power. When we feed that thought, we change our physical reality for the better — or for the worse. Therefore, we can train ourselves to modify and reverse negative thinking and obsessing, while redirecting ourselves toward success and wholeness. However, this is not a simple, quick process as Gawain tells us, “The process of change does not occur on superficial levels, through mere ‘positive thinking.’ It involves exploring, discovering, and changing our deepest, most basic attitudes toward life.” We cannot simply will something away or invite something into our lives in a cursory manner.
Take fear for example. It’s said that when we emphasize our fear, the inordinate amount of attention we devote to it will not eliminate them, but result in their expansion. It’s like rolling a small ball of snow. By giving it our time and attention, the fist-sized snowball accumulates more snow as we roll it along. By the end of the path, it becomes a boulder; a huge obstacle and threat that may, in fact, reverse course and roll us over. If we could have eliminated the ball in the first place, all that time and effort could have been redirected to positive outcomes. We have all succumbed to this anxiety at one time or another. Now is a good time to remind ourselves again to reclaim our thoughts using visualization.
Another common example is the person who accepts and even asks for a healing, whether it is Reiki, psychic surgery, or another modality. If the client thinks merely reclining on a table and giving consent is enough to facilitate healing, the results will be disappointing. Healing requires partnership and deeply rooted desire. The partnership is not with the healer and client, but with the client and the deepest parts of himself.
This means we must go deep, trust ourselves and the Universe, believe in the process and commit to it on a soul level if we expect change. All energy exists first on the spiritual level, and it is to that level of our being we must turn to create change in our lives. A thought exists before it manifests as physical reality. Illness exists in energetic form before it descends into the physical body. The spiritual center of our multi-level existence is the force the drives all action. Conscious connected breathing, yoga, and meditation align us with our spiritual core. Only then, Gawain says, can healing begin, “as we begin to consciously reconnect with our essential being — the wise, loving, powerful, creative entity that we are at our core.”
Now, look at its opposite, joy. How often do we claim we want a joyful life, but that joy remains elusive? How deep must we go? It’s a scary proposition to meet our darkest fears and most hidden obstacles. Yet, diving in is worth the risk as the great reward is the lightness that awaits us in this life. We can’t treat parts of ourselves in isolation, and we can’t become selectively whole.
In his 1997 book, Deep Healing, Dr. Emmett E. Miller stressed the need to connect to our inner core to facilitate healing: “We want a healing that doesn’t merely eliminate symptoms, but that makes us feel more whole again….we want to be aware of and express all that we are, mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, socially.”
How do we get there, to healing? Here’s a basic starter kit:
1. Trust yourself.
2. Begin to meditate. You don’t need a purpose or a mantra. Play healing music and just sit and breathe slowly. Close your eyes. Just be.
3. Free write for a specified time. Relax through breath, pick up a pen, and just begin writing. Let your hand over power your brain. Don’t think. Let your deepest thoughts flow onto the paper. Don’t look at them. Don’t think about them. Don’t fear or control them. After ten minutes, read your writing. You will discover insights and revelations.
4. Ask the Universe for help. What do you want to discard? What do you want to invite? Ask your guides and teachers to present you with the discovery and release path that will work best for you.
5. Program your dreams. Before you go to sleep, articulate what you want to discover in your dreams. Ask for a gentle, non-threatening release. The dream state is a powerful realm of healing.
6. Draw. Sketch a picture of a boat, train, or plane, and populate it with the events, objects circumstances, and people who have contributed to your pain and fear. Then, burn it or place it in a natural body of water. The Universe will assist you in removing these obstacles if you are willing, in your heart and soul, to progress.
Wishing you the joy and ease you deserve.
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About the Author
Lisa Shaw is an animal communicator, Reiki Master, professor, and writer who lives in South Florida. Her e-book, Illumination: Life Lesson from Our Animal Companions, is available on Amazon. Her web site is www.Reikidogs.com.
