Imagine that.
It’s MAY. Can you believe it? I realized recently that 2019 was four years ago. That is unreal to me. Nevertheless, here we are.
I’ve shared before that in January of this year, I started a nervous system retraining program. Through a series of events, I happened upon Sarah’s program, and it’s by far been one of the most life changing experiences for me. For the past 8 years, I’ve taken every kind of training, therapy, and healing tool I could get my hands on. However, what they all lacked was the particulars on how to get trauma out of the body. While my mind could logically understand things, my body was having a hard time catching up.
One of the most powerful tools I’ve learned through this program is visualization. Did you know that your body experiences what your brain imagines? I’ll give you a really simple example. Imagine right now that you’re holding a lemon. You cut the lemon in half, and then in quarters. Now, imagine that you bite into that lemon. You eat that bad boy like an orange.
What’s happening to your mouth right now as you read those words? Maybe your mouth is drawing up, or you instantly have more saliva like I do writing them. But did you actually bite into a lemon? No. You just imagined that you did, and your body experienced it.
Take that same idea and imagine the first day of fall, or the feeling of Christmas. A hug from someone you love, or the sun on your shoulders at the beach. When we imagine things that are pleasant, our body experiences the safety and beauty of those things. How often, though, do we imagine negative, or even harmful things? That conversation that didn’t go the way you wanted to. That hurtful thing that was said. The worst case scenarios. Because our brains can’t tell the difference between the past, present, or future, when we think on these things over and over, our bodies experience them as if they’re actually happening in the present.
A gentle way to interrupt these patterns is through visualization. The more we practice seeing and experiencing the positive and lovely things in our lives, the quicker our brains are able to notice them. (This is especially helpful and true for those of us who have experienced trauma or chronic stress.)
Our imagination is one of the most powerful and beautiful tools we have. We’re using our imaginations all the time, whether we realize it or not. But the really good news is that we have the ability to use it to create new muscle memories in our brains.
A practice to care for yourself
The Happy Chill Fun Time podcast is a podcast of guided visualizations! The host, Holly, picks pleasant scenes, and verbally guides you through them as if you’re presently there.
My practice for us is simple this month. Find a quiet, and peaceful spot in a place where you feel safe and cozy. Scroll through the Happy Chill Fun Time podcast episodes, and pick one that sticks out to you!
If this isn’t your thing, just try setting a timer on your phone and visualizing a happy memory. One of my most recent favorite memories I’ve been revisiting is the very first time I ever went boogie boarding at the beach. It makes me involuntarily smile every time I imagine it. Engage your five senses in your memory. What do you see, smell, feel, taste, and hear?
This is something you can do every single day, or every once in a while. Either way, the more you do it, the more your brain will be bathed in the good chemicals.
A practice for connecting with God
This month, I want to offer a practice called “Head to Heart Prayer.” I first heard about this from Jonathan David Helser who learned it from his mentor, and it’s been my go-to practice for the past few months.
It goes like this: Imagine yourself in your mind. See a staircase, and walk down that staircase. At the bottom of the staircase, find yourself in the most beautiful room you can imagine. Wherever that is, and whatever that looks like, Jesus is waiting in that room for you. In that space, open up your journal, and write out exactly what’s on your heart, as honestly as you can manage. Then skip a couple of lines, and write what you feel His response is to you.
This practice can go a thousand different ways, however it serves you and your relationship with God. Here is a little bit of a peek into how it looks for me.
I imagine that I’m driving on a highway, 70-75 MPH. I can feel the rushing and hypervigilance of being on a highway. There are lots of cars. I see my exit coming up, so I switch lanes to take it. Once I turn off of my exit, I’m driving through a town at about 45 MPH. I notice what’s all around me. I continue taking turns, and slowing down, until I am on a gravel road. I park at a little bridge, and get out of my car. Once I cross the bridge, I find myself at a stone staircase that goes down. I walk down it slowly, and find myself in the most beautiful and peaceful place I can imagine.
For me, that is a little cottage, with a garden. I always see the Holy Spirit working in the garden. Sometimes I talk with Him, and sometimes I go inside of my cottage to see Jesus or Father God. We’ve sat in many different rooms, and there are still more rooms for me to explore. But we talk about everything there.
This has been a deeply nourishing and gentle practice for me. It’s grown my relationship with God more than I could say. Meeting with God in our imaginations is one of the greatest gifts we’ve been given.
“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.” Philippians 4:8
Something lovely
Okay, listen. I have been bragging and bragging on this podcast to all my friends. So, I am so happy to have other people to share it with.
A few weeks ago, I was looking for a lighter, and not so self-helpy podcast. Something that would inspire me, but also make me laugh. I happened upon These Are Good Days, and let me tell you. I am obsessed with this podcast! They make me belly laugh right out loud all by myself.
It’s a podcast hosted by two longtime friends where they explore the things that make life worth living. The goal is just to pause and enjoy the day in front of us. L I S T E N to it! And then message me and tell me what made you laugh out loud. You won’t be disappointed.
I just want you to be reminded today that your mind is beautiful. It’s full of so much goodness, and power. You aren’t stuck. Your life is full of beautiful things just waiting to be seen and experienced specifically by you. I hope that this month, you find the space to think on those things. Until June…
Your Softie Friend,
Kiersten