Albert Einstein first realized the distortion of time and space by imagining himself riding on a ray, traveling at the speed of light. Images are thoughts that draw on senses, they may involve one or all; sight, auditory, touch, taste, smell. For most people visual imagery is predominant.

Imagery is a form of communication used to bridge the mind and the body. Understanding the scientific basis for how imagery works can help us understand how healing takes place, and how to create effective healing images.

The mind reacts to imagined events just as it does to real events. In fact, imagination can be more important than knowledge, when we recall emotional memories that make us laugh or bring a tear to our eye. Tears are a good example, because we have no conscious control over them.    Actors must first conjure up some mental images to enable them to cry for a needed scene. Any one who cries at movies knows well the power of the imagination. We know it's not real, but our imagination stimulates a real physical response.

The chemicals of the immune system, immunomodulators, have been found to be effected by mental images. Recent studies have found that when people were trained to image immunomodulators, specifically T-cell, neutrophils, salivary IgA, these actually underwent change.  When we generally feel “bad” or “good”, we can expect that feeling state to have an impact on how our immune system responds.

Types of  Healing Imagery:
 

• Relaxation Imagery - Finding a “favorite place”  where you feel most relaxed and at ease, or guiding someone else to a peaceful scene, usually a scenic place in nature.
• Sensation Imagery - tuning in to internal feelings and sensations and creating mental images that represent them.
• Process Imagery - seeing your self going through the process successfully, while feeling confident and relaxed. Using biologically correct healing process imagery; a broken bone growing back together, blood pressure lowering, white blood cells eliminating infection, or symbolic images;  natural cancer killer cells cruising through your body like stealth jet fighters that fire guided missiles which hit only the cancer cells, eliminating them with surgical precision, or imagining the urge to smoke a cigarette like a cord which can be cut with scissors to eliminate the signal.
• End Result Imagery - imagining the positive end result of your goals.  Seeing yourself where you want to be, in the healed state, doing all the things you would normally do in that successful place.

Healing Imagery can be used to tune in to sensations or “diagnose” what is going on. To send new or healing messages to the body. For relaxation, and to reduce fear or anxiety. To compliment medical treatment and procedures.
Imagery allows us to experience all of our senses within our mind, without actually being in the real physical situation. The unconscious mind does not distinguish between real and imagined events. We are the creator, and the images that we create have a dramatic effect on how we think and feel, physically and emotionally. Olympic and professional athletes have used visualization as a valuable mind tool, to practice and perfect their performance, and to develop and nurture their goals. 

When you focus on positive mental images, enjoying all the sights, sounds, tastes, smells, and feelings, our attention is focused on where you want to be, not on old habits and behaviors which may have been holding you back. Since sensory experiences allow the conscious mind to relax, your unconscious mind is left free to work out the negative content of thought, in a creative non-judgmental and effective process. The unconscious part of your brain is left free to find associations that normally are not made. This mental activity takes place behind the scenes, we become aware of it only occasionally. This allows our mind the freedom and playfulness that makes it possible to come up with creative and original solutions.

Replaying images that you create actually allows you to practice skills, perform rehab exercises mentally between treatments, and develop a clear image of your desired end result.  By using imagery as a tool to plan and rehearse the things we need and want to accomplish, patients can take an active role in their own health and recovery. 

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