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Some Thoughts on Imagery
When I first started working with imagery fifteen years ago, I didn't have much faith in what I was doing. Compelled to take some action on my own behalf, I put my skepticism on hold and stuck to my daily exercises. Gradually, after weeks of practice something inside me started shifting. Each day the experience of the images became more and more real. My imagery work became part of my self-prescribed healing practice which I followed as strictly as I had once followed a course of antibiotics.
During the last thirteen years I have created a number of imagery exercises for my personal needs as well as facilitated imagery work for the women and men I work with in my workshops, support circles and private classes.
The best time to do imagery is in the morning as soon as you wake up, and in the evening just before going to bed.
For a more in depth description of this work see The Fertile Heart (TM) Imagery CD available through the Market Place, the "Inside Job," chapter in Inconceivable where I talk about my own imagery work after the diagnosis, and the Image by Image chapter in The Fertile Female (A limited number of pre-publication copies are available through the Market Place)
Some suggestions for your practice:
In this particular form of imagery, we begin by articulating an intention, which helps the mind focus on the task at hand. The next step is to reverse our habitual way of breathing, (start with an exhalations), to give ourselves a further signal that we are leaving our habitual reality and creating a new one. It is recommended that we begin our work with a cleansing exercise, in order to make space for new images. Begin each exercise with three exhalations:
Here are a few examples, to give you a more direct sense of this healing modality.
A Fork in the Road
the intention: To choose between several courses of action
Close your eyes, observe your breath for a few seconds, then breathe out three times with a long, slow exhalation.
See yourself at a fork in the road. Choose a path. Take one step in that direction and keep walking. How do you feel? Is there anyone else around? Can you hear anyone or anything calling to you? How is the vegetation around you, the color of the sky? Do you wish to keep walking in this direction?
Breathe out once
Now return to the fork in the road. Do you want to take the other path? If so take a step in that direction, and keep walking. How do you feel? Is there anyone else around? How is the vegetation around you, the color of the sky? Do you wish to keep walking in this direction? Do the exercise until the choice becomes clear to you.
Circle of Protection
the Intention: To validate your own authority, your ability to know what is right for you, to protect yourself from any destructive input, and strengthen your faith in your chosen form of treatment.
Close your eyes, observe your breath for a few seconds, then breathe out three times with a long, slow exhalation.
See, sense and feel yourself standing in front of a silver gate, with a plaque. The plague has your name inscribed on it. The gate leads to your garden of Truth. As you open it, notice the vegetation, colors of the flowers, the sky. Find a path on your right and follow it until you get to a clearing covered with lush green grass. As you sit down in the soft grass, your advisors and guides gather in a protective circle around you. Notice who shows up. It can be one of your ancestors, someone you admire, a sage a historic figure, someone you are or have been close with. You can invite anyone you wish to join you. People who re alive or those who have passed on. Sit in the middle of the circle , breathing in their love and support, letting it flow through your body, enter your bloodstream, seep into your tissues. You may choose to listen to what your advisors have to say or if they are silent, you may choose to simply sit strengthened by their presence.
Breathe out and open your eyes.
Leaving behind the Fear of Pregnancy Loss
Intention To leave our fear of pregnancy loss behind and co-create a healthy pregnancy, healthy birth, and a strong healthy child.
Close your eyes, observe your breath for a few seconds, then breathe out three times with a long, slow exhalation.
Invite an image connected with your fear. Notice any feelings, sensations, realizations connected with that image. Push this image to the left. See it swallowed up in a burst of fire and washed away in a flood of water. See, sense and feel yourself take three steps forward and from the right see an image of yourself going through a thriving pregnancy, an easy birth and holding a strong, healthy baby in your arms. Breathe out and open your eyes. Repeat some variation of this for 14 days or anytime your feel anxious about your pregnancy.
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