Search Blog Content

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Imagination Keeps You Stress Free


By: Rene Lacape

You imagine yourself admiring the beauty of the sun setting in a beautiful pristine beach, feeling the soft breeze against your skin and hearing the calming sound of waves. You are having a great time and enjoying every moment of this wonderful experience. Pregnant women had long been taught to paint in their minds, ideal thoughts during labor as a relaxation method.

Separately, you see yourself able to move about freely after being bed ridden for months due to a serious accident. The injury that takes normal person years to heal is instantaneously undone on your body. The doctors have no reason to retain you in hospital and discharge you at once.

All these positive thoughts are referred to as guided imagery and are applied to huge areas of our daily lives. Guided imagery seeks to relax one's thoughts and rejuvenate one's physical through the picturing of ideal experiences or sights. Proper breathing techniques coupled with a calm mind allow both body and spirit to be in tranquility. This method of visualization could be practiced by all. The fact that it costs nothing means it is one of the best ways to lower your stress levels.

Imagining a peaceful scene is among one of the most practiced relaxation exercise. A beach, forest or other natural surrounding is more often than not the preferred scene as it is usually a place people visit to be alone and be calm. We could convince our senses to savor that wonderful moment in our mind just as it were real. This allows us to achieve a greater peace of mind with ease. These scenes can be replayed often whenever we are tired to soothe my minds.

The feather plays a major role in another Guided Imagery exercise. A person is to imagine himself as a feather, drifting to wherever the wind blows. As a feather is lightweight, it is supposed to relieve us of all problems and allow us to be as carefree as possible. We could be free as far as our imagination carries us.

Alternatively, one could become drop water in the vast ocean and move with the current. As water is fluid, we shall not have any obstacles in our way.

But what if you try imagery and it doesn't seem to work? The trick may be practice. The more you imagine your quiet place, the easier it should be to get there. You may have to try it for a week before you can determine if it is actually impossible for you. Also, it is vitally important that you maintain deep breathing throughout the exercise. It is no surprise that pregnant women often practice relaxation exercises every week.

The place for our imagery exercise should be considered with utmost care. While these exercised may not be restricted to any particular location, it would be wise to settle on a place that you are most comfortable with. Being indoors may be more suitable as we would not be overly affected by the sometimes harsh weather conditions outdoors. Imagery just like any ability has to be acquired through constant practice and there is no better way of doing this than immersing oneself through imagination before and after sleep daily.

It is a common perception that people who embrace Guided Imagery are awkward and there are no apparent benefits of such practices. Far from the misconception, Guided Imagery despite requiring continuous practice through trial and error brings immense benefit. It is only through better understanding of this discipline we could truly be convinced of its power to heal our drained spirits and fatigue physiques. There is absolutely nothing to lose to equip ourselves with essential knowledge to combat the never ending obstacles of the modern world.

About the Author:

Rene Lacapehas been in the stress management field for quite some time. He has done many remarkable deeds to help cure the stressed patients together with medications. He is very understanding and people like him with it.

No comments:

Post a Comment