MENTAL IMAGERY EXERCISES

Solitude of a Mountain Lake (as heard on the audio CD)

Imagine yourself walking alone in the early morning, along a path of a primeval forest, through a gauntlet of towering pine trees. Each step you take is softly cushioned by a bed of golden brown needles. Quietness consumes these surroundings and then is broken by the melody of a songbird. As you stroll along at a leisurely pace, you focus on the sweet clean scent of the pines and evergreens, the coolness of the air, the warmth of the sun as it peaks through the trees, and the gentle breeze as it passes through the boughs of the pines and whispers past your ears.

Off in the distance, you hear the rush of water cascading over weathered rocks, babbling as it moves along. Yards ahead, a chipmunk perches on an old decaying birch stump along the side of the path, frozen momentarily to determine its next direction, then in the blink of an eye, it disappears under the ground cover and all is silent again.

As you continue to walk along this path you see a clearing up ahead, and you notice your pace picks up just a little to see what is up ahead. First boulders appear ahead, then behind them, a deep blue mountain lake emerges from beyond the rocks. You climb up on a boulder to secure a better view, and you find a comfortable spot carved out of the weathered stone to sit and quietly observe all the elements around you.

The shore of the lake is surrounded by a carpet of tall green grass and guarded by a host of trees: spruce, evergreen, pine, aspen and birch. On top of one of the spruce trees, an eagle leaves his perch and spreads his wings to catch the remains of a thermal current, and gracefully glides over the lake. On the far side of the lake, off in the distance, dwarfing the tree line, is a rugged stone face mountain. The first snows of autumn have dusted the fissures and crevasses, adding contrast to the rock’s features. The color of the snow matches the one or two puffy white clouds and morning crescent moon that interrupts an otherwise cloudless day. A slight warm breeze begins to caress your cheeks and the backs of your hands as you direct your attention to the surface of the mountain lake.

The slight breeze sends tiny ripples across the surface of the lake. As you look at the water’s surface, you realize that this body of water, this mountain lake, is just like your body, somewhat calm, yet yearning to be completely relaxed, completely calm. Focus your attention on the surface of the water. These ripples that you observe represent or symbolize any tensions, frustrations, or wandering thoughts that keep you from being completely relaxed. As you look at the surface of this mountain lake, slowly allow the ripples to dissipate, fade away and disappear. To enhance this process take a very slow deep breath and feel the relaxation this brings to your body as you exhale. And as you exhale, slowly allow the ripples to fade away, giving way to a calm surface of water. As you continue to focus on this image, you see the surface of the lake becoming more and more calm, in fact very placid, reflecting all that surrounds it. Feel how relaxed you feel as you see the surface of the lake remain perfectly still, reflecting all that is around it. The water’s surface reflects a mirror image of the green grass, the trees, the mountain face, and even the clouds and crescent moon. Your body is as relaxed as this body of water, this mountain lake. Try to lock in this feeling of calmness and etch this feeling into your memory bank so that you can call it up to your conscious mind when you get stressed or frustrated. Remember this image so that you can recall the serenity of this image which you have created to promote a deep sense of relaxation, and feel your body relax just by thinking of the solitude of this mountain lake.

Body Colors & The Healing Light

(Note: This you can either read or adlib to your students. You may chose to play some relaxing music in the background)

Imagine yourself lying in a shallow pool of warm water. Visualize your internal body reflecting one color, the color white. As you look all throughout your body you see an outline of your body and the contents within as the color white. Now take a moment to examine all parts of your body from your head down to your toes. As you do this, search for any specific locations which feel tense or active. This can include muscles, joints, organs, or any part of your body which seems a little less calm than the rest of your body as a whole. This might even include your mind as thoughts race through and circulate competing for attention. Try to locate these areas, which under stress and strain have not been allowed to relax to the same extent as the rest of your body. These "active" areas are referred to as hot spots. When you find this area or areas of tension, envision that these are symbolized by the color red. Red indicates a higher metabolic level of arousal or energy state. The color red is in contrast to the color white that the rest of your body reflects. As you envision your body represented by these two colors, a mass of white with one, two, or several red areas pulsating, focus now on the hot spots. Allow these areas to become as calm as the rest of your body. Imagine these hot spots to slowly change their color from an intense bright red to orange. As you look at and feel the orange area of your body, feel a sense of calming beginning to occur. The color orange is often symbolic of change. With this calming sensation continue to see the orange change from a bright orange to the color yellow. As you look at this color you detect that the area which you have focused on is becoming much more relaxed, calmer and begins to match the feelings of calmness that you sense in the rest of your body. As you look at the image of your entire body, a reflection of brilliant white, you notice that the yellow areas are now blending in with the white color that your internal body reflects. As you continue to look at this image you have created you now see that your entire internal body is one color, a brilliant whiteness, radiating light all around it. This color is a symbol of your level of complete relaxation and health.

Once again feel your body lying comfortably in a shallow pool of warm water. Directly overhead, about four feet above you is a pitcher, a container suspended in the air above you. The pitcher contains white light, an unending supply of white light. This white light is a healing light, a healing energy that when poured over your body, has the ability to augment this healing process that you have initiated with your own ability to heal through color transformations. Position the pitcher over the part of your body that you feel needs a reinforcement of the healing touch. Now allow the pitcher to tip its contents on your body on that specific area. Feel the light softly penetrate your body. Feel the warmth of this healing light as it continually pours into your body. Feel the warmth to that location and now feel the healing light pour all over your body. See the image of white light within you and around you. You feel relaxed, you feel calm, and you feel energized. Take a moment to sense this complete mental and physical relaxation.