Imagination
can make a cloudy day sunny and overpower stress. Here are the 3 ways to create
mental pictures that offset daily stressors:
Music. Choose a recording you find
soothing. Find a quiet, calming environment to listen to it. Feel yourself becoming part of this calming
environment of sound, a physical extension of every note. If your thoughts stray, simply release them
and refocus on the music. When the music
ends, compare the way you feel to how you felt before listening to it. You should
feel more relaxed.
Colors. Imagine two colors, one (like
bright red) representing tension, and other (like pale blue) representing
relaxation. Close your eyes and imagine
that your muscels are the “tense” color.
Then imagine each muscle changing to the “relaxation” color. End the exercise by imagining that your
entire body is now vivid hue of the relaxation color (like vivid blue),
symbolizing complete relaxation.
Paint a picture. If you have trouble visualizing abstract concepts
like tension and relaxation, substitute concrete images that connote these
feelings. Use symbols that can interact,
like jagged rocks to symbolize tension and rolling waves to symbolize
relaxation. Then imagine the waves
slowly smoothing out the surface of the rocks. An alternative: imagine warm
sunlight (relaxation) gradually melting icicles (tension) until they disappear.
Used with permission from A Year of Health Hints by Don R Powell, PHD and the American
Institute for Preventive Medicine, copyright 2010. www.healthylife.com
