GUIDED IMAGERY CATEGORIES

Affirmations

Emotional

Sleep

Walking

Scientific Sounds

Listening Schedule

3 Principles of Guided Imagery

FAQ

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What is Guided Imagery? & Listening Schedule

Tools to Relax, Cope & Treatment

Guided Emotions is a gentle but powerful technique that focuses the imagination in proactive, positive ways. Very effective in calming your mind and body while allowing you to connect with your emotions. This mind-body connection is what makes it possible to activate deeper healing, insight, growth, and acceptance. It can also alleviate distress, reduce anxiety, promote restful sleep, and provide a sense of mastery and confidence. Guided emotions can be used as both a coping tool (reduce stress, worry, anxiety, etc.) and as part of your treatment plan (creates change and healing).

Types of Guided Imagery Tracks

  1. Introduction Track

    • 1st time only

  2. Emotional Track

    • Used to help calm & as treatment

    • Listen to in a distraction free space

    • Listen to in a relaxing position (do not drive when listening)

    • Try different topics outside your problem

  3. Affirmation Track

    • Can listen to while doing simple tasks

    • Helps build self-esteem & self-love

  4. Scientific Sounds - I have sounds to help with:

    • Focusing​​ (beta waves)

    • Relaxing (alpha waves)

    • Sleeping (delta waves)

    • Nature sounds

General Listening Schedule

​If I recommended the use of Guided Imagery, use the following listening schedule.

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Listen to daily: (for 3 to 4 weeks)

  • Affirmation Track (use first thing in the Morning)

  • Guided Track (use in the evening before dinner)

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Listen to as needed:

  • Sleep tracks (anytime you are having problems falling asleep or staying asleep)

  • Need to relax or focus

The more you listen, the less time it will take for the guided imagery to have an impact on your mental & physical health. The use of Guided Imagery by itself can have positive benefits, but it is intended to be used in combination with therapy.

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Affirmation Tracks

Affirmation Homework Listening Schedule
 Affirmations are most effective by listening to them with the following schedule

  • Listen to at least one affirmation track daily.
  • Listen to any of the tracks first thing in the morning.
  • You can listen to the tracks while doing simple tasks (brushing your teeth, eating breakfast, etc.).
  • The reason we listen to the tracks daily is because they have an accumulative affect, therefore listening repeatedly to the tracks will result in better results for the listener.

Is this your first time listening to the Affirmation tracks? Listen to the Introduction Track first —>

Emotional Imagery Tracks

Emotional Imagery Homework Listening Schedule
 Emotional Imagery is most effective by listening to them with the following schedule

  • Listen to at least one Emotional Imagery track daily.
  • Listen to any of the tracks first thing in the or in the evening
  • You do need to listen to these tracks in a distraction free environment.
  • The reason we listen to the tracks daily is because they have an accumulative affect, therefore listening repeatedly to the tracks will result in better results for the listener.

Is this your first time listening to the Emotional tracks? Listen to the Introduction Track first —>

Healing

Anxiety

Progress

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Sleep Imagery Tracks

Is this your first time listening to the Sleep tracks? Listen to the Introduction Track first ———>

Dr. Jeffrey Thompson Scientific Sounds

These sound tracks coax your mind into an optimal state for deeper, more restorative sleep all night long.

  • For Sleeping, listen to sounds that contains Delta Waves

  • To Relax, you want to listen to sounds with Alpha Waves

You can purchase any of Dr. Jeffrey Thompson’s sounds on his store front.

This is my favorite sleep sound that I used every night for the past 5 years.

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Walking Imagery Tracks

Is this your first time listening to the walking track? Listen to the Introduction Track first ———>

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Scientific Sounds

Sounds for Relaxing

Sounds for Focusing

Nature Sounds

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Playlist 1

Instructions: Each track has the days and time to do them.

Instructions: Affirmations

Instructions: Walking

Instructions: Guided

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3 Principles of Guided Imagery

Guided imagery works because of 3 very simple, common sense, mind-body principles. You already know them. They are at the heart of integrative medicine and holistic health.

First Principle: The Mind-Body Connection

To the body, images created in the mind can be almost as real as actual, external events. The mind doesn’t quite get the difference. That’s why, when we read a recipe, we start to salivate and get hungrier. The mind is constructing images of the food –– how it looks, tastes, smells, and feels in the mouth, and the body is thinking "dinner is served". And that’s why, after imagining those cancer fighting white blood cells coming out of the thymus gland in full force, we find up-regulated immune function showing up in blood work drawn 45 minutes later.

The mind cues the body especially well if the images evoke multi-sensory memory and when there is a strong emotional element involved as well. Calling to mind the sound and timbre of Daddy's smiling voice, telling you he’s proud of you; or the internal bristle of energy all through the body when it becomes clear that a hard won triumph is at hand, is especially impactful.

These sensory images are the true language of the body, the only language it understands immediately and without question.

Second Principle: The Altered State

In the altered state, we're capable of more rapid and intense healing, growth, learning and change..  We are more intuitive and creative. In this ordinary but profoundly powerful, immersive, hypnotic mind-state, our brainwave activity and our biochemistry shift. Mood, sense of time and cognition change. We can do things we wouldn't be able to do in a normal, waking state – write a dazzling, inspired poem; replace our terror of a surgical procedure with a calm sense of safety and optimism; abate a life-threatening histamine response to a bee sting.

The altered state is the power cell of guided imagery and meditation, the special sauce for rapid change. When we consciously deploy it, we have an awesome ally, a force multiplier of great strength and range.

Third Principle: Locus of Control

The third principle is often referred to in the medical literature as the "locus of control". When we have a sense of mastery and control over our own experience, this, in and of itself, is therapeutic, and can help us feel better and do better.

Feeling a sense of mastery, agency and efficacy is associated with higher optimism, self-esteem, energy, and ability to tolerate pain and stress. Conversely, a sense of helplessness lowers self-regard, our ability to cope, and our optimism about the future.

Because guided imagery is entirely internally driven, and we can decide if, when, where, and how to use it, it puts us in the driver’s seat and affords us a therapeutic sense of control.

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Guided Imagery Meditation Tips & Techniques,

for Users and Practitioners

 Here are some general facts and user-friendly tips about how to best use guided imagery, and what to expect from it.

  • Your skill and efficiency will increase with practice. Guided imagery functions in a way that is the opposite of addictive substances: the more you use it, the less you need for it to work.

  • Imagery works best in a permissive, relaxed, unforced atmosphere. Don’t worry about "doing it right". There are many ways to do it right.

  • Your choice of imagery content needs to be congruent with your values, so don’t try to impose imagery on yourself that doesn’t sit right with you, just because you think you should. There are many ways to do this, so find your way.

  • It’s best to engage all the senses, especially your kinesthetic or feeling sense.

  • Imagery is generally more powerful in a group setting, mainly due to the contagious nature of the altered state. So a support group, study group, class or healing group is great way to start.

  • Music, when properly chosen, will increase the effects of imagery. You will intuitively know what music is right for what you need. A small percentage of people prefer no music at all.

  • Imagery that elicits emotion is generally more effective than imagery that doesn’t. Responding with emotion is a good sign that the imagery is working for you in a deep way.

  • If you're using self-talk with your imagery, try to avoid the imperative verb form on yourself, so that inadvertently "bossy" language doesn't marshal unnecessary resistance and interfere with your ability to respond.

  • You do not have to be a "believer" for it to work. Positive expectancy helps, but even a skeptical willingness to give it a try is enough.

  • Touch is a powerful accompaniment to your guided meditation. It will both help with relaxation and receptivity, and increase the kinesthetic impact of the images. Imagery combined with therapeutic massage, Therapeutic Touch, or even the placement of your own hand on your belly is very potent.

  • Using the same posture cues, gestures or hand-positioning with each mind-body meditation session creates an "anchor" that conditions you to respond immediately to the posture. You condition yourself to relax and heal at will.

  • If you aren’t used to being both relaxed and awake at the same time, you are likely to drop off to sleep during a session. If you want to stay awake, you might try sitting up, standing against a wall, walking or listening with your eyes half-open.

  • Even asleep, you’ll benefit from repeated listening, as demonstrated in test results with sleeping diabetics and unconscious surgery patients.

  • Don’t worry if you space out or lose track of a guided imagery narrative. You’re not listening wrong – a wandering mind comes with the territory.

  • You may tear up, get a runny nose, cough, yawn, feel heaviness in your limbs, get tingling along the top of their scalp or in your hands and feet, or experience minor, involuntary muscle-twitches. These are normal responses.

  • Other strong responses to guided imagery are unusual stillness, increased coloring in the face, and an ironing out of lines and wrinkles. The voice will be deeper and lower afterward, and breathing slower and more relaxed.

  • Often after an imagery meditation, aches and pains are gone.