The whole mind-body connection ... part three
Can everyone successfully do imagery?
Yes, most anyone who wants to do imagery can learn how. And this skill is empowering to anyone who wants to make a difference in their life. The book Your Body, Your Mind, can teach you the basics.
Some people may think they have difficulty seeing "pictures" of things when they close their eyes (for example, some people even have a hard time picturing the face of a close friend with their eyes closed). But that doesn't mean that they can't perform imagery. The following example helps to explain:
Sit with your eyes closed and ask yourself how many windows there are in your house. Without actually walking around the house to count them, most people can go mentally from room to room to count all the windows. That is doing imagery! We all just happen to be unique as to "how" we figure it out.
Those who don't focus on just the visual portion of imagery may even be most apt to effect body chemistry. It is believed to be most effective when using all styles of communication available to the body, such as auditory and kinesthetic processing too. Visual uses the process of sight, but auditory uses the process of hearing, and kinesthetic uses the process of touch and one's emotions. Using them all allows us a better opportunity to communicate with the total body.
Interestingly, although it is definitely practice, practice, practice that makes a person more likely to be successful in the ability to alter body chemistry through imagery, it is actually the act of not trying too hard that matters the most!
