How Guided Imagery Works

There's a constant, interactive dialogue occuring between your body and mind.    Your autonomic nervous system  (unconscious regulation), endocrine system  (hormonal regulation), immune system (antibody protection), and central nervous system (brain, spinal cord, etc.) are all in direct communication with one another through the production of neuropeptides that seem to be able to go EVERYWHERE.

This understanding has opened up a whole new field of science called psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), with its focus toward helping us identify all of the ways in which the mind is affecting the body, especially in the case of disease and illness.

But the topic of body-mind medicine is not new. The public has been drawn to complementary approaches for many years. Most people look for a more complete search of mind, body, and spiritual health, rather than treating the body as a simple machine that needs to be "fixed" whenever it's broken.

To understand a three-dimensional bodymind approach to your health, you only need to know that your mind and body are in constant two-way communication using the language of intricate neurochemical pathways of organic messengers (called neuropeptides). Your immune system contains receptors for these messengers, and is eagerly “listening” for whatever feedback is being offered by your mind.

 

Your neuropeptides are regulated by various hormones, which are also controlled by the brain. Direct links exist even between the immune tissues and the nerves that connect to the brain.

 

Immune cells produce more liquid messenger molecules (cytokines, steroids and peptides), which are capable of influencing the brain, so virtually all of the immune system is affecting, and affected by, the central nervous system.

Thus, every idea, thought, and belief is given a dynamic biochemical translation within the body and can potentially have an effect on immune regulation and one’s ability to fight an illness or disease.

 

The mind processes ideas, thoughts, and beliefs in images rather than words, which makes guided imagery an effective way to tap into whatever communication is taking place at the more subconscious level.

 

Imagery is not just a pictorial representation of thought. Imagery also includes all the other forms of dialogue such as sound, taste, touch, and feelings.

 

Every action you ever take, whether it be opening a door or creating a brand new office building, first begins with an internal image of that action. And every belief about this event then acts as a filter for how this image is processed and stored in your mind.

 

In the same way that Olympic champions understand that for peak performance they need to involve both their body and their minds in a complete exercise regime, so too should you be aware that in managing your health, you will want to include your mind in your approach to wellness. An effective way to do this is with the use of guided imagery.

 

        ———— How guided imagery works cont'd ————