How God Changes Your Brain - Andrew Newberg, M. D_ [92]
Next, take in a breath and tighten your abdominal muscles. Hold it for a count of ten, then relax, pushing all the air out of your lungs. Push your stomach out, pull it in, push it out again, and then let all of your tension go. Repeat the pushing and pulling ten times.
Take another deep breath, and tighten your buttocks. Hold it as long as you can, then breathe out and relax. Breathe in, tighten your upper legs, then quickly relax as you breathe out. Breathe in, tighten your calves, hold for five seconds, then release. Breathe in again, scrunch up your toes, hold, and release, then stretch them upward and apart as you slowly breathe out all the air in your lungs. Now shake your feet and legs as fast as you can for another ten seconds, then rest.
Yawn, and spend a few moments feeling the relaxation flowing through your legs. Once more, take a huge breath in, tighten your entire body, hold for ten seconds, then release as you force all the air out of your lungs.
Do a body scan: Feel how relaxed your face is … then your neck … your shoulders … your arms … your chest… your abdomen … your back … your legs … and finally your feet. Lie there for a few minutes and gently stretch.
When you feel ready, slowly stand up, and slowly walk around, feeling how each part of your body moves. But take it easy for a few minutes—you are very relaxed at this point, and your consciousness may be in an altered state of awareness.
EXERCISE 5: VISUALIZATION AND GUIDED IMAGERY
Even if you don't think you're good at visualization, your brain is built to envision virtually every thought it has. Even abstract notions like peace are first processed unconsciously within the visual centers of the cortex. As I've said before, the more you visualize a spiritual or emotional state, or a specific goal in life, the easier it will be for your brain to bring that intention into your inner and outer reality.
Guided imagery simply refers to the process of using pleasant visions and memories to induce a deep state of relaxation, and it has been proven to be very effective in reducing pain.23 It effectively lowers anxiety and depression in people before and after they undergo a medical or surgical intervention,24 and if you visualize a positive outcome prior to surgery, you'll have a better recovery.25 Guided imagery and visualization will even buffer the effect of stress on the immune system, making you less susceptible to viral infections.26
In a recent brain-scan study I just completed, guided imagery reduced the symptoms of patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder by lowering activity in the emotional centers of the brain and raising activity in the areas that allow us to voluntarily control our feelings and thoughts.27 Thus, guided imagery techniques can help individuals deal with trauma, as well as a variety of physical and mental illnesses. In fact, a recent fMRI study conducted at Yale University found that visualization and guided imagery stimulate almost the exact same areas in the brain that our meditation subjects activated when doing Buddhist, Christian, and yoga meditation techniques.28
To experience the benefits of visualization, choose any place—imaginary or real—that feels beautiful and relaxing: a beach, a mountaintop, a waterfall, a sailboat on a lake. Now, pretend you're watching a movie. Can you see yourself there? Can you slowly turn around and visualize the tiny details on the ground and in the sky? If you're at work and feeling especially pressured and tense, you can take a three-minute “vacation” to calm the neural dissonance in your frontal lobes by simply recalling a pleasant memory. If you wish, you can visualize a loved one, or a romantic scene.