"Beginnings" Newsletter of the American Holistic Nurses Association. July/August issue 2000

byToni Gilbert

When he came to see me about his symptoms, fifty-year-old Martin was having trouble with headaches, stomach and intestinal upset (to the point of regularly spending the first part of his work morning in the bathroom). He also had a seizure disorder and was experiencing the dizziness he usually felt prior to each seizure. Needless to say, he was anxious. Martin told me that he was self-employed and was "stressed out" about his business. I listened to Martin's symptoms and suggested that he would benefit from work with "imagery."

What is imagery? It is a way that your mind stores, codes and expresses information. Imagery consists of thoughts that you can smell, hear, see and taste. It is an inner representation of your experience (or your fantasy). Imagery manifests as your dreams, daydreams, memories, plans or possibilities, and projections. It has been called the language of the arts, emotions, and the deeper self.

Guided imagery is a natural therapy. A therapist uses a hypnotic induction to place the client's mind in a state of relaxation. The therapist then verbally guides the client to access the unconscious mind for valuable information and insights on the nature of an illness. This information can then be used to assist in the client's healing.

Martin and I discussed the use and benefits of guided imagery. We decided to use a technique known as "dialogue with an inner healer."

The guided imagery session with Martin began with the induction of a state of relaxation and focused attention-like "dreaming" while awake. When Martin was ready, he was asked to picture, in his imagination, a scene where he felt safe and comfortable, and to describe the details of that scene. He described a forest scene with tall trees, ferns, small animals and the smells of the forest. When he had looked around and experienced the scene for a few minutes, he was asked to invite an inner healer to appear. In his mind's eye a wolf appeared on a ridge overlooking a valley. The wolf was friendly and communicated that he was there to help. Martin described the wolf as "very healthy, relaxed and calm." After a few moments spent getting to know the wolf, I asked Martin if he wanted to become the wolf (a technique known as getting to know an image). He thought that was OK since, in the imagination, anything can happen. So, in his mind he became the wolf and at once experienced the feeling of "being" the wolf. He said he could feel in his own body the calmness and confidence the wolf felt, how the wolf viewed the world as it truly was, not hurrying to make something happen in it. Martin gradually took on the persona of the wolf and could feel himself calming down.

Martin has continued to use the image of the wolf in his life. He resolved to check in with his wolf every day, by closing his eyes and imagining the wolf with him or himself as the wolf. Martin applied the experience of the wolf to himself, thus gaining the wolf's feelings of relaxation, confidence and calm. Over two years later, Martin is mostly symptom free and feels he has incorporated the essence of the wolf into his own personality. He still visits his wolf in his imagination nearly every day.

A Half Century of Imagery

As early as the 1950s, researchers and clinicians in China, Japan, Europe, and the United States began to explore the role of imagery as an important factor in health and illness, life and death. During the past thirty years, findings from basic stress research, biofeedback instrumentation, the clinical use of relaxation, and the emerging field of psychoneuroimmunology, have cumulatively built up a large body of knowledge indicating that psychological factors (the mind) can and do significantly affect the physiology of the body. Guided imagery is one modality that research has shown facilitates the mind-body connection in healing. No physical ailment is beyond this mind-body approach.

Simply put, your mind can affect the healthy functioning, or dis-functioning, of your body. When you imagine, or "image," scenes, you experience them in your mind, and your body responds as though it was actually happening. What you imagine can and does affect your hormonal secretions, the functioning of your various systems, your very heartbeat. For example, when you're hungry, you begin to salivate at the thought of food; you blush as you think about an embarrassing moment; your body responds to a sexual fantasy. In the same way, visualizing certain images (for example, Martin's wolf) can help you through some difficult emotional or stressful times.

Positive emotions, thoughts, and images have specific biochemical correlates that influence how the body works. Imagining the immune system functioning to perfection can counteract a life-threatening disease. By focusing attention on, and consciously directing imagination and emotions to different areas of the body, it is possible to actually alter the quality of blood flow, dilating or constricting blood vessels.

Imagery as a therapeutic intervention works because the images are "novel stimuli" and the bodymind responds to events that have new informational value. The images also facilitate mind modulation of the autonomic, endocrine, immune, and neuropeptide systems. Imagery is based on the process of information flow and transforming the images into and act of relaxation and physiologic healing.

Guided imagery has proven especially useful for surgical patients: In a double-blind study of 130 patients at the Cleveland Clinic, subjects who listened to guided-imagery tapes for three days prior to, and six days following surgery, rated their anxiety levels as significantly lower than a control group. The first group described their pain to be half as severe, used 37 percent less pain medication, and were released from the hospital almost two days sooner than the control group.

A popular physician, Harvard educated Andrew Weil, lists guided imagery as one of the ten things you can do to have a successful surgery outcome. He advises anyone who is preparing for surgery to practice guided imagery regularly. He suggests it is best to work with a guided imagery therapist who can help you develop your own personal imagery. If this kind of help is not available, audio tapes, such as those cited in the above study, can be purchased.

The Power of Imagery

The images of our imagination are potent because they have been created from the depths of our emotions. These images come from the same place as our dreams and, because they are formed by feelings, they evoke feelings. These symbols represent emotional energy and the spirit of the figure represented (i.e. a wise person, mother, father, animal or plant, etc.). The images can calm and reassure us; they can give us emotional strength as well as affect our body processes.

The use of imagery may be the most ancient healing technique used by our primitive ancestors. The earliest records of such techniques are found in Babylonia and Summaria. These ancient people, and some Indian tribes such as the Canadian Eskimo and the Navahos of the American Southwest, held a common view that included a rich fabric of imaginary figures. In Egypt, the physician-priest would initiate healing ceremonies. He would perform rituals using herbs, healing symbols, and incantations consisting of both prayers and imagery.

Paracelsus, a physician of the Renaissance, said "The spirit is the master, imagination the tool, and the body the plastic material… The power of the imagination is a great factor in medicine. It may produce disease in man and in animals, and it may cure them…"

Our ancestors believed that our images come from our deepest self and that they have much to teach us. We may be wise to heed our ancestral teachings. In working with images, it is most important to do the things that help you understand and believe in your self, in your own power to heal.

Sources for practitioners, Audio tapes and Books

Beyond Ordinary Nursing: (650) 570-6157
Academy for Guided Imagery: (800) 726-2070
Dr. Andrew Weil: (800)523-3296

References

Dossey, Barbara et al. (1995) Holistic Nursing: A Handbook for Practice. Gaithersburg, MA: Aspen Publishers. 91-2

Bressler, David, PhD, Rossman, Martin, MD (1993) Interactive Guided Imagery: Clinical Techniques for Brief Therapy and Health Psychology (6th ed.). Mill Valley, CA: Academy for Guided Imagery, Inc. 9-18

Miller,Terry, RN, MS, Ezra, Susan, RN (1998) Nurses Certificate Program in Interactive Imagery (handbook). Foster City, CA: Beyond Ordinary Nursing. Phase II, IV

Samuels, M. MD, Samuels, Nancy (1990) Seeing With the Mind's Eye: The History, Techniques and Uses of Visualization (19th ed.). New York, NY: Random House Inc. 212-13.

Weil, Andrew, MD, (1997) Self Healing: Creating Natural Health for Your Body and Mind (annual ed.) Ten Steps to Successful Surgery. Watertown, MA: Thorne Communications, Inc. Sept. 1&6-7