Visual imagery unlocks secrets for better health

On a hot summer day in Texas, have you ever imagined that you were sitting by a cool mountain stream in Colorado? Listening to the sounds of water running over rocks? Inhaling the pungent smells of spruce and pine trees? Seeing the Aspen leaves shimmering in the soft, cool, summer breeze?

For a brief moment, you actually felt you were there.

You felt the cool air of the Rocky Mountains; you were transported several hundred miles from the hot, oppressive environment of the dog days of summer.

Or at another time, perhaps you imagine that you are playing a round of golf. You feel the soft spongy turf beneath your feet, take in the visual effects of the well-manicured greens, and see yourself driving a golf ball down the middle of the fairway. You are achieving results that would be the envy of Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus.

These mental trips, or “movies in your head,” are technically called visual images. Using your imagination and “mind’s eye” to achieve this effect is a psychological phenomenon. And it can add new dimensions to your life, and give you a tool that can be very helpful in achieving many of your personal goals. Psychologists, philosophers and other individuals interested in the study of the mind know that visualizing ourselves in successful situations over and over again increases the probability that we will actually be successful in these situations in the future.

Having some control over our own destiny and the use of self-fulfilling prophesies have increasingly come under study during the last few years by scientists. Visual imagery has been utilized to help reduce stress, cope with pain, and increase proficiency at certain tasks.

Coupled with biofeedback, visual imagery is now utilized by some medical scientists in the fight against cancer. In this way, patients – after they are in a deeply relaxed state learned through biofeedback – are asked to vividly imagine a scene inside the body where healthy cells fight cancerous cells in a symbolic manner. For instance, the healthy cells might be portrayed as knights on white horses, and the malignant cells as the dragons being slain.

Athletes are being trained in the use of visual imagery to enhance their proficiency. A golfer is trained to visualize in his mind’s eye the path of the golf ball as it leaves the tee and arcs toward the green, landing close to the pin for an easy putt. A basketball player is trained to vividly imagine the ball leaving his hands, arching toward the basket and dropping through the hoop. An individual practicing visual imagery must concentrate intensely, imagining each scene as vividly as possible by recalling sights, sounds, smells and intensity of feeling and emotion.

The same technique can be used as a form of mental rehearsal whereby the individual mentally practices making a successful speech, or practices completing a successful sale. When the actual event occurs, the individual experiences a feeling of repetition, as though he has completed this same task in the past.

Some people seem to be better at the use of visual imagery than others. Artists, writers and architects are some professionals who regularly employ visual imagery. Musicians tell us they can “hear” the music they are composing in their mind.

As children we tend to daydream more. Often discouraged by adults around us, we frequently lose this facility as we mature.

Although you may be rusty and out of practice, you may want to re-establish this wonderful talent in your own life and find ways where it can be very helpful in many situations.

Harold H. LeCrone, Jr., Ph.D. Copyright 1984