
Often clients have told me that they can’t do guided imagery because they “can’t visualize.” I find it ironic, because the truth is, we are all absolutely expert at what I call ‘negative imagery.’ Sending our bodies messages that they obediently respond to; “I’m clumsy, I’m fat (and I’ll always be fat!), I have a bad back, a sensitive stomach, that medicine will make me nauseous, I’ll never heal…” the litany of negative thoughts and negative imagery goes on all day.
So what if we could harness this ability we all seem to have and creatively use it for health and healing? What if the messages were positive and health-promoting, instead of critical and judgmental? What if we were actually kind to ourselves?
My friend Bernadette Hunter wrote a wonderful blog recently called “The Surprising Link Between Kindness and Performance.”
Bernadette is a remarkable EFT practitioner and performance specialist and she said “I’ve been struck by how much kindness and acceptance catapults success in healing pain and accelerating performance. It seems that many people, including myself, learned that getting tough with ourselves or somehow giving ourselves some little “lecture” for our less-than-stellar performance would somehow help us improve!”
Somewhere, most of us got the message that criticizing ourselves would somehow make us better. Bernadette asks some very important questions: “How has criticism helped you?… What exactly were you criticized for? I wonder if you are continuing that history of criticizing yourself … Has this criticism really ever made you a better person?”
So when we look at our self-talk, our imagery, our inner critic and ever-present judge, how kind are we to ourselves? How do we use the power of our words, our opinions and our judgments to perpetuate our pain and our dissatisfaction with ourselves? And how can we bring in the kindness and compassion we so easily muster for another?
I invite you to explore kindness. Kindness to your body – giving it the rest and relaxation, the nourishment and nurturing it longs for. Kindness to your heart – giving it companionship and the comfort of loving friends and the opportunity to expand in love and compassion. Be kind to your mind, don’t inundate it with negativity and violence and the depressing evening news. And above all, let your spirit soar with uplifting thoughts, words, music, company and the inspiring energies of love and service.
To read Bernadette’s full blog go to
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