Harnessing Your Power to Visualise
The Extraordinary Range of the Imagination
Do you like to close your eyes sometimes and day-dream about far-away places and pleasing scenes and situations? It’s something that’s more closely associated with childhood because that’s when our imaginations seemed to be permanently engaged. You can probably remember what it was like to inhabit a fantasy world that was as real for you as the physical environment that surrounded you.
Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions.
― Albert Einstein
As we grow up, we lose something of this free-flowing capacity to create worlds of enchantment. It seems instead that we learn to imagine all the dangers, risks and threats that could possibly affect us and live our lives in a constant state of fear, stress and anxiety. We usually refer to this as being grown up! Which is a tragic condemnation of how most of us live.
Yet the imagination can provide us with immensely powerful advantages. If only we can learn to harness its rich and vibrant potential.
I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
― Albert Einstein
There are many reasons to explain why our imagination can provide us with an astonishing array of benefits - but the most interesting one is that our bodies cannot distinguish between what is real and what is imagined. Just think about that for a moment. Our bodies react to whatever we imagine as if it were absolutely real.
That in itself is astonishing.
But it also explains why we enjoy movies and the theatre so much. We sit in a darkened cinema and watch a blank screen fill up with colours and movement and we react as if the scenes unfolding on the screen were somehow real. Our hearts beat faster, people cry, we feel scared, we feel joy. Even though the images are just a creation of lights projected onto the screen, the experience is fueled by our emotional engagement. And that’s exactly how our imagination works. We project thoughts and feelings onto our private cinema screen and react as if whatever we’ve imagined was real.
That’s why so many of the things we’ve learned to imagine serve to increase rather than reduce our stress and anxiety levels. We rarely focus on the positive news. We seem conditioned to gravitate towards the depths rather than the heights.
Our imagination flies and we are the shadow that it casts upon the earth.
― Vladimir Nabokov
But if the imagination possesses this extraordinary capacity to influence our bodies, we could easily learn to apply its powers and potential for our benefit. This, however, is not a new discovery. Like so many insights into the human condition, the concept’s been around for thousands of years. Mystics and philosophers have always understood the power of a trained imagination.
As we learn to direct our imagination and focus its power on images and feelings that reflect a much more positive outlook, our bodies respond as if we’ve just won an extraordinary prize. We feel more confident. Elated. Empowered. We experience surges of joy. We stand taller. Life suddenly seems enriched with fresh opportunities. All of this from a discrete and judicial application of the imagination’s amazing power to influence how we feel. By choosing positive images, we channel the power of the imagination towards positive outcomes that can raise us to new levels of expectation and achievement.
Imagination does not become great until human beings, given the courage and the strength, use it to create wonderful vistas.
― Maria Montessori
There are deeper levels that appear to border on the enchanted.
When you learn to close your eyes and imagine that you’re standing – or sitting – beneath a waterfall of light, choosing perhaps your favourite colour for the exercise and feeling its radiance coursing through your body, you’ll experience an astonishing reaction throughout your system that can be fine-tuned to determine exactly how you wish to feel. It’s a powerful way of inter-acting with the endocrine system and has been shown to enhance our resistance to stress and our capacity to resist illness and disease. That’s a singularly powerful formula for leading a healthier and happier life. And the benefits flow from the simplest use of the imagination.
I believe in the power of the imagination to remake the world, to release the truth within us, to hold back the night, to transcend death, to charm motorways, to ingratiate ourselves with birds, to enlist the confidences of madmen.
― J.G. Ballard
Our bodies certainly respond positively to these unorthodox methods of introducing a new form of reality to our perception. It just takes a little practice.
We could argue that we’re using this faculty already. It’s simply unfortunate that we use it so often to create shadows of doubt, pain, guilt, remorse, anger, regret and fear. The suggestion here is that we should learn to deploy this super-ability for the highest good rather than for maintaining the old habits of stress, fear and anxiety that degrade the quality of our lives.
Children see magic because they look for it.
― Christopher Moore
Take a few minutes today to turn your imagination loose on the most beautiful and positive images you can summon to your mind. Let the light of your imagination cascade through your body and feel its healing, empowering force as it transforms your relationship with your wellbeing and enhances your capacity for feeling absolutely wonderful. You might just be amazed at how good you can really feel.
CAN YOU SEE THAT IT'S TIME FOR A CHANGE?
We all know that life can be extremely challenging and difficult - but you certainly don't need to face any of your challenges alone. And you certainly don’t have to abandon any of your dreams and plans for the future.
Can you imagine how helpful it is to have a caring, experienced navigator at your side to help you chart your course safely through life’s uncertain waters? We've been helping people to overcome life's difficulties for more than twenty years. Perhaps it's time for you to get the kind of support that could really make a difference to your life.
We've got the experience and all the resources to help you right now.
You can contact us directly to work through our Cognitive Behavioural Empowerment Programmes on a one-to-one basis or - if you prefer - the Wellbeing Foundation Courses for Personal Growth and Transformation are now available for you in a super online format. It really couldn’t be easier to access our resources. It’s like having Greg and his Team alongside you in the comfort of your own home. And the Courses have been designed to help you work through the material at your own pace and at your own convenience. We’re here to help you:
- Master Your Stress
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Come and join us today and discover fresh, new ways to experience your life on a whole new level of personal happiness, enjoyment, success and fulfilment.
We’re here to help you make a world of difference to your life!
We’re the Wellness Foundation and we specialise in developing effective mindfulness programmes, greater awareness techniques and effective stress reduction courses so, if you enjoy these blogs, you can imagine how much fun it is to have Greg in the room as an inspirational and highly perceptive speaker. If you’d like to invite Greg to talk to your company or organisation or event, either in person or via the Internet, please feel free to get in touch. We’re already working with some great organisations online and we'd love to hear from you.
Greg created The Wellness Foundation and the Cognitive Empowerment Programs specifically to help people master their stress, overcome their limitations and explore the power of their true potential. If you’d like to invite Greg to talk to your company or organisation or event, feel free to get in touch.
You can contact Greg and explore our websites at: