The Power of Visualization

[guthrio]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

QUOTE 1 EXCERPT:



Visualizations can be a very powerful tool in healing, as you duly noted in your post, and that is the area I would like to address specifically both from a medical perspective and a spiritual perspective. I will give a very good personal example as well.

I recently attended a continuing education class for mental health professionals where the presenter was Dr. David Spiegel, MD/Psychiatrist and Professor at Stanford University Medical School. His specific topic was the use of hypnosis and the power of suggestion/visualization in curing patients. The example he gave was that of a person who had asthma with such severe complications that special equipment was necessary in order to breathe. He put the patient under hypnosis and suggested that, upon coming out of hypnosis, the patient would take a small breath,then a bigger breath, and then an even bigger breath. That is exactly what happened and the patient was able to breathe normally upon coming out of hypnosis.

From a medical perspective, he noted that, under hypnosis, the default mode network (internal chatter in simple terminology) was quieted and the power of suggestion/visualization is exponentially increased. He indicated that the same thing is possible with meditators who can quiet the mind as well as with those who can use a simple self-hypnosis technique known to yogis since time immemorial (very similar to Shambhavi Mudra, focusing on the third eye).

I've known this technique for a long time and, along with meditation (which I've done and taught freely for many years), used it successfully with a young fellow from Vienna who was diagnosed with a severe case of Ataxia (INCURABLE genetic degenerative neurological disease where his doctors told him he would soon be in a wheelchair unable to walk and eventually unable to even speak). Getting him out of depression was a challenge but, since he was already investigating meditation, he was able to quiet the mind with a little direction from me (as in Dr. Spiegel's lecture) through meditation and then I encouraged him to start visualizing a healthy recovery. When he started to get positive results, his confidence grew and, to cut a long story short, he was able to reverse the disease through meditation, visualizations, and holistic practices. For those who may be skeptical, a documentary was done on him and it won the 2021 Austrian Science Prize.

I will add one other story about a friend who didn't mediate and had no interest in spirituality. In any case, she asked what I did to facilitate my Viennese friend's recovery. I taught her the self-hypnosis technique and she began to visualize her creatine (kidney numbers) getting better. To cut a long story short, the dialysis clinic where she had been going 3 times a week for almost a year told her that she was only the second person in 9 years to get off dialysis at their clinic. This month, February 2024, is the one year anniversary of her getting off dialysis.

I could say more about the power of visualization in other areas as well, but this should suffice for now. However, I will make a brief mention of a young 20ish fellow who got into meditation intensely ... really intensely ... and, on one occasion, wrote that whatever he thought about would materialize and hence he now had to watch what he thought about.

NOTE: I got into healing and meditation after I emerged completed symptom-free from a 3-day "irreversible coma" ..... alert with a full recollection of all that had transpired during the mind-boggling, life-transforming near death experience. (Actually, my sister recently told me that it was more than an NDE as she remembers the screaming and crying when the medical staff informed the family that I had passed away ... only to return "a while later" to say that I had opened my eyes, was fully alert, and remembered all that had transpired. That gave me insights into the nature of the body-mind-spirit connection that is very relevant to the topic in this thread.

Still_Waters,

Very impressive demonstration of the power of the body-mind-spirit connection. So glad your example can give hope for the rest of us! Thank you for the connection with your experience.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by guthrio

Still_Waters,

Very impressive demonstration of the power of the body-mind-spirit connection. So glad your example can give hope for the rest of us! Thank you for the connection with your experience.

I'm glad that the actual examples (accompanied with explanation) were helpful to you.

I actually got intensely interested in the body-mind-spirit connection relevant to healing after I emerged completely SYMPTOM FREE from a 3-day "irreversible coma" with a clear recollection of all that had transpired. Doctors were shocked since they had said that, in the unlikely event of survival, there would be severe organ damage and brain damage. (More specifically, my sister told me just about a month ago that the medical staff had actually told the family that I had passed away. She remembered the crying and the screaming at that pronouncement. Then, "a while later", the medical team came out and said that I had opened my eyes, was fully alert AND SYMPTOM-FREE.) That NDE (near death experience) turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it served as a catalyst to the spiritual focus that became my top priority in life.

P.S. I may write later about how visualizations applied to aspects of my life other than healing. However, this will suffice for now.