Now none of us should leave the apartment. But this does not mean that we are locked in four walls. After all, the mind is free. Imagination will take us where we want and to whom we want. It is enough to imagine a person or a place. Publicist Peg Streep talks about the visualization technique and suggests how it can be used.
And at the best of times, many of us have struggled with managing our emotions. And the pandemic period is a serious stress for everyone, regardless of our emotional intelligence. For some, the task of calming down may seem impossible. We all remember to take deep breaths and ground ourselves by feeling our feet on the floor, but can everyone do this in a panic attack?
Peg Streep, publicist and author of books on family relationships, suggests using visualization as a self-help tool for these conditions. Her confidence in the effectiveness of this method is supported by scientific research.
“Good bad evil”
Participants in the study, led by scientists Sander L. Cool and David Fokenberg, were first tested for emotion management. Then they were asked to describe in detail either a difficult person with whom they had to communicate, or an understanding and friendly person.
Our emotional states are influenced by many signals. So the scientists wanted to see how negative or positive focus affected the participants. They were asked to visualize the person they were writing about. And then they showed images of faces with polar emotions – for example, a smiling one flashed among the gloomy ones, and vice versa.
Participants were then asked whether they identified themselves with negative or positive facial expressions. The results showed that people with good self-regulation skills were able to think about an unpleasant person in their lives without slipping into negative experiences.
And those who had weaker emotion management skills were unable to contain anger, irritation, shame, guilt at the mere memory of a difficult person. And, even more interestingly, those who remembered a good friend, imagining him, felt better and coped with emotions more easily.
Setting up for visualization
Ideally, this practice should be done in seclusion, away from family, phone, and news. This is the time for an emotional and mental break. And we need a place where we feel comfortable. If you wish, you can turn on music that helps to calm down, writes Peg Streep. She shares ideas for practice.
1. Visualization of a person who helps relieve stress
According to the research of Kathryn B. Carnelli and Angela K. Rowe, visualization can affect the state of mind not only in the short term, but also for a longer period – even for several days.
You need to spend some time preparing and writing down specific details about the actions and words of a person in order to make the practice more effective. Experiments have shown that this works.
“Visualize the chosen person using all your senses. Recreate in memory his or her voice, laughter, smile. Recall the interactions and conversations in which you felt safe, and try to take a deep breath as you fill in the imaginary picture with details, ”advises the expert.
2. Visualization of a place where we are calm and happy
Perhaps we were there, or perhaps we only dream of visiting. The images found in advance – photographs, paintings – will help us to imagine this place more accurately. The more details the better.
Imagination can take us from home to the middle of a green forest, to the banks of a babbling stream, or to the top of a mountain. We can imagine a place and an activity that gives us joy, such as hiking, photographing, or gardening.
“Remember to use all your senses. For example, if you imagine that you are on the beach by the ocean, remember the splash of waves and the screams of seagulls, the taste of salt on your lips, the fresh scent of the breeze and the feeling when your feet touch the sand.
3. Visualization to Feel the Energy of Inner Growth
This practice is designed to help focus on inner growth, to play the role of a gardener for yourself.
- Relax and focus on visualization. Imagine yourself in a garden filled with beautiful flowers with a pleasant aroma. Smell the earth, listen to the birds singing and the faint rustle of leaves in the wind.
- Find the areas of your body that feel the most tension and stress. It could be your back and shoulders, or your arms. Take a deep breath and try to relieve tension.
- Imagine that you are a sprout breaking out of the ground and slowly opening up towards the sun. Imagine bright light and rays on your face, feel how they slowly move through the body, warming your neck and chest.
- Relax your arms and hands, releasing the inner strength you have long forgotten about.
- Take another deep breath and imagine yourself as a gardener growing a flower.
- Hold this image in your mind – you are both a gardener and a flower.
- Take a deep breath and stretch well.
Everyone can come up with their own visualization options or use those offered by the author. Practice and you will be able to easily bring to life images that will take you to a wonderful place, return inner strength, self-control and peace.
About the author: Peg Streep is a publicist and author of 11 books on family relationships, including The Unloved Daughter. How to leave a traumatic relationship with your mother behind and start a new life.