CALM YOURSELF WITH VISUALIZATION

The purpose of visualization is to enable you to quickly
clear mental stress, tension, and anxious thinking. The
visualization can be used when feeling stressed and is
particularly useful when your mind is racing with fearful,
anxious thinking.
This visualization process, when practiced frequently, is
very effective for eliminating deep-seated mental anxieties
or intrusive thoughts. To gain maximum benefit, the
exercise must be carried out for longer then 10 minutes at a
time, as anything shorter will not bring noticeable results.
There is no right or wrong way to carry out the
visualization. Be intuitive with it and do not feel you are
unable to carry it out if you feel you are not very good at
seeing mental imagery. As long as your attention is on the
exercise, you will gain benefit.
It is best to do this exercise in a quiet place where you
won’t be disturbed, and then when you are more practiced
you will be able to get the same positive results in a busier
environment such as the workplace. You should notice a
calming effect on your state of mind along with a sensation
of mental release and relaxation.
Either sitting or standing, close your eyes and move
your attention to your breath. To become aware of your
breathing, place one hand on your upper chest and one on
your stomach. Take a breath and let your stomach swell
forward as you breathe in and fall back gently as you
breathe out. Take the same depth of breath each time and
try to get a steady rhythm going.
Your hand on your chest should have little or no
movement. Again, try to take the same depth of breath each
time you breathe in. This is called Diaphragmatic Breathing.
When you feel comfortable with this technique, try to
slow your breathing rate down by instituting a short pause
after you have breathed out and before you breathe in
again. Initially, it may feel as though you are not getting
enough air in, but with regular practice this slower rate will
soon start to feel comfortable.
It is often helpful to develop a cycle where you count to
three when you breathe in, pause, and then count to three
when you breathe out (or 2, or 4—whatever is comfortable
for you). This will also help you focus on your breathing
without any other thoughts coming into your mind.
If you are aware of other thoughts entering your mind,
just let them go and bring your attention back to counting
and breathing. Continue doing this for a few minutes. (If you
practice this, you will begin to strengthen the Diaphragmatic
Muscle, and it will start to work normally—leaving you with a
nice relaxed feeling all the time.)
Now move your attention to your feet. Try to really feel
your feet. See if you can feel each toe. Picture the base of
your feet and visualize roots growing slowly out through
your soles and down into the earth. The roots are growing
with quickening pace and are reaching deep into the soil of
the earth. You are now rooted firmly to the earth and feel
stable like a large oak or redwood tree.
Stay with this feeling of grounded safety and security
for a few moments. Once you have created a strong feeling
or impression of being grounded like a tree, visualize a cloud
of bright light forming way above you. A bolt of lightning
from the luminous cloud hits the crown of your head, and
that ignites a band of bright white light descending slowly
from your head all the way down your body, over your legs,
and out past your toes.
As the band of light passes over you, feel it clearing
your mental state. It is illuminating your mind and clearing
any disturbing or stressful thoughts that you may have been
thinking about. Repeat this image four or five times until you
feel a sense of clearing and release from any anxious
thinking.
In finishing, see yourself standing under a large,
luminescent waterfall. The water is radiant and bubbling
with vitality and life. As you stand under the waterfall, you
can feel the water run over every inch of your body,
soothing you and instilling within you a sense of deep calm.
Try to taste the water. Open your mouth and let it run
into your mouth, refreshing you. Hear it as it bounces off the
ground around you. The water is life itself and it is washing
away stress and worry from your mind and body. After a
moment, open your eyes.
Try to use all of your senses when carrying out the
visualization. To make the pictures in your mind as real as
possible, use your senses of touch, taste, and hearing. Feel
the water trickle down your body; hear the sound it makes
as it splashes over you.
The more realistic the imagined scenarios, the more
benefit you will gain. Many people report very beneficial and
soothing results from using these simple visualizations
frequently. The mind is much like a muscle in that, in order
to relax, it needs to regularly release what it is holding onto.
You can use any situation or location that will help calm
you. We liken this to “finding your happy place”. Maybe
you feel relaxed in a swimming pool or on the beach.
Imagine yourself there. Just make sure wherever you go in
your mind is a place where you can be calm and rested.
By visualizing the different situations, you are allowing
your mind to release. It is like sending a message to your
brain that when you close your eyes and begin this process
it is time for letting go of anything that it has been mentally
holding onto, including anxious thinking.
In order to train your mind how to let go of the stress,
it is important to practice this daily. With practice, you can
learn to release all stress within minutes of starting the
exercise. Your daily practice should take place before going
to bed, as that will enable you to sleep more soundly.
Many people do not do these visualizations in the
bedroom but some other room before going to bed. That
way, when they enter the bedroom and close the door, they
are leaving the mental stress and anxious thinking behind
them. Just be sure you have the opportunity to totally
concentrate on your mental images.
Visualization as a tool for dealing with mental stress is
very effective. If such visualization is carried out properly,
you can reach a deep feeling of inner calm. This technique
probably will not work in helping to end an anxiety attack,
but it can help that attack from beginning. It is a very
powerful support tool for ridding yourself of general anxiety
sensations.
With practice, you find you go days without having
anxious thinking interrupt your life, and importantly, this
significantly reduces the level of general anxiety you feel.
Visualization is simply a tool you can use to overcome
anxious thoughts and feelings. Let’s look at various ways
that you can combat excessive stress – beginning with
music.