Mind, Body & Soul Sessions (#22)

Take a breather and visualize!

The average person has approximately 60,000 thoughts a day. The thoughts we have may vary. They can be positive, negative, we can control and be aware of them but many of these thoughts are uncontrollable simply because we are not aware of them. They just do their own thing in the back of your head.

Next to that we have the tendency to imagine different worst-case scenarios. How many times have you thought about what would happen if you lost your partner, your child, or parents? Or what would happen if you lost your job, or got sick? I am sure you have spent a lot of time and some of the 60,000 thoughts on worst case scenarios. Well written scenarios, in full colour, with all the doom and gloom that goes with it.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could spend the same amount of time and energy imagining something positive and satisfying? Well, here is the good news, all of us, with a little help, can change our way of thinking around. They say that the body follows where the mind goes, so why not lead the mind in the right direction (no GPS needed for this exercise!). When you change your way of thinking, you will feel happier, better and healthier. So, today it’s time for an alternative route. We’re going to concentrate on using the power of our minds to guide us to places where we actually want to be and we are going to accomplish this through meditation and visualisation. Visualisation allows us to see other possibilities and meditations allows us to slow down our thoughts so we can really see what is going on in ourselves and where we want to go.

Meditation means deliberately choosing to concentrate on something other than the thoughts which keep running in your head. Its most basic form involves following your breath. Sounds simple, but it’s actually quite difficult. This exercise starts with 5 minutes of meditation, followed by 10 min of visualisation and ends with a couple of minutes of meditating. Of course you can change the amount of time if you want too. If you have a timer, set it so you won’t have to watch the clock.

Find a quiet, private and comfortable place with minimal distractions. If you want, you can use your sanctuary . You can do this exercise sitting or lying down, but you can also do it whilst walking, just in case you prefer multitasking.
If you want, sit cross legged (don’t worry you don’t have to do the full lotus position if you can’t) on the floor with a pillow, cushion or blanket under you. If you can’t do the cross legged position, stretch your legs out in front of you. Keep your spine tall and lifted, sitting with your back against the wall or a straight backed chair might help. Place your hands in a restful position on your thighs. You can close your eyes when your mind is racing a million miles a minute, but you can also keep your eyes open when you are tired. When you chose to meditate with your eyes open, focus your gaze on a spot on the floor (about ½ meters in front of you) or on the wall.

Now spend 5 minutes focussing on your breathing. As you inhale, say silently ‘inhale’, as you exhale say ‘exhale’ to yourself. Don’t be too hard on yourself, when your mind starts to wander, which will almost certainly happen, just return to where you left off ‘inhale’ in and ‘exhale’ out again!

After (about) 5 minutes stop focussing on your breath and start visualizing something positive, for example:

• Imagine yourself going on a dream trip,
• See yourself working through a difficult problem,
• Imagine yourself getting the dream job your after,
• See yourself healthier if you are experiencing health problems,
• Envision someone who infuriates you finding happiness,
• Envision yourself finding happiness,
• Imagine yourself up when you are down,
• See yourself finding solutions for an unsolvable dilemma,
• Imagine a difficult conversation going well.

Oh, and if you have no difficulties or problems, just visualize yourself lying on a tropical beach, on top of a mountain, or with your feet in a gentle stream (whatever you fancy, will do)
Think of visualisation as a magical mini mental vacation. You can go anywhere you like within your mind and you can look differently at existing problems.

Anyway, this is your party so you decide which scenario you want to visualize. See the details of a situation, explore options, you might even want to explore options you wouldn’t normally take and watch yourself work through it or just enjoy the ride if you have chosen the relaxing visualisation.

When time is up, focus on the breathing again. Say ‘inhale’ and ‘exhale’ a couple of minutes more and when you are done, open your eyes (if closed) or divert your eyes elsewhere (if you focused on a spot) and gently stretch your legs and arms and when you are ready, carefully stand up……and go on with the rest of your day.