This great note arrived at the office last week:

“I just wanted to write and say how much impact Bella (sic) has had on my life even though I have never met her!

“Ten years ago I began my journey to quit cigarettes and started listening to her quitting cigarettes CD.  I listened to it every single day, sometimes twice a day, for over one year. I swear, I knew the thing by heart.

“I tried to quit about five times previously. But the guided imagery tapes made the difference this time around. On April 3 of this year, I will be celebrating my 10 year anniversary.

“In addition, I lost my job last year and began applying for jobs and going on interviews in this crazy economy. It seemed like I always came in second. My self esteem started to slip as well as my confidence.

“I remembered that I had purchased Bella's confidence CD a few years prior and started listening to it every single day. Mostly, I just ended up falling asleep while it played but I know my subconscious picked up on the important issues.

“Long story short, I just got a new job as a manager!

“Again, thanks so much. I could not have had these successes without your input.

“Laura K.”

Question:

Belleruth, first, I have used your visualizations for 12 years and I got through major severe depression with you. Thank you!

I am Puerto Rican and my therapist then introduced me to your wonderful, blessed, special work. I want to be like you when I grow up!  Hahahaha!

I am a likable, sweet, social person, who is loved by her family and friends, but I seem to not be favored in the work environment.

As much as I wish to be a strong team worker, I struggle so much. And I honestly do my very best to be accepted and supported by coworkers, with not a lot of success. I really do not know what I am doing wrong.

I am a science teacher, love my students, love my work, but just never seem to click wherever I work. It is very frustrating.

What visualization would you recommend? Thank you!

Rosa

A friend just sent me this terrific video of a TED presentation by Kathryn Schutz on Being Wrong.  I hope you have time to watch it (it’s about 18 minutes), because it will open up your thinking and goose your creativity.  Really. 

Being Wrong by Kathryn Schulz

This wonderful description from a string player about using his own, personal version of guided imagery to help him play his music and cohere his technical knowledge with the emotionality and meaning of the piece, came from a post in Chamber Music Today.

“In order to have fast mobility and clarity on left-hand fingers, string players have to train their fingers to have these 3 elements when dropping their left-hand fingers on the fingerboard: speed; strength; and the fast release right after the drop.

This true story by Jack Riemer appeared in the Houston Chronicle in 1995.

On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, the violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches.

To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an unforgettable sight. He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play. By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.

This poignant poem goes right to the heart, inspiring a rich, open-hearted awareness of what’s precious with its perfectly chosen words and everyday details.  Please enjoy and linger over it a little. It’s by Ellen Bass, who co-wrote Courage to Heal with the very gifted Laura Davis.  This one is in her latest collection of poems, The Human Line.

If You Knew

What if you knew you'd be the last
to touch someone?
If you were taking tickets, for example,
at the theater, tearing them,
giving back the ragged stubs,
you might take care to touch that palm,
brush your fingertips
along the life line's crease.
When a man pulls his wheeled suitcase
too slowly through the airport, when
the car in front of me doesn't signal,
when the clerk at the pharmacy
won't say Thank you, I don't remember
they're going to die.

A friend told me she'd been with her aunt.
They'd just had lunch and the waiter,
a young gay man with plum black eyes,
joked as he served the coffee, kissed
her aunt's powdered cheek when they left.
Then they walked half a block and her aunt
dropped dead on the sidewalk.

How close does the dragon's spume
have to come? How wide does the crack
in heaven have to split?
What would people look like
if we could see them as they are,
soaked in honey, stung and swollen,
reckless, pinned against time?

Ellen Bass,The Human Line

Because optimism is a personality trait shown to correlate strongly with psychological and physical well-being, researchers at Maastricht University in The Netherlands, investigated whether optimism can be increased by imagining a “Best Possible Self” (BPS).
 
Effects were compared to a control group in which participants imagined their daily activities (DA).  In order to minimize inter-individual differences in content of imagery, participants constructed their BPS according to 3 domains:  personal, relational, and professional.  All participants were instructed to practice their imagery exercise for 5 min per day over a period of two weeks.  Effects on optimism and mood were measured after one session, after one week and after two weeks.

Researchers from the Centre of Research and Innovation in Sport, at the University Claude Bernard and the University of Lyon in Villeurbanne, France, examined whether mental imagery (MI) training can increase muscle strength, especially when movements are under the control of large cortical areas in the primary motor cortex. (It has already been well established that it improves motor performance and motor learning.)

This pilot study experiment assessed whether MI can improve upper and lower limb strength, with complex, multi-joint exercises. 

We’re all inspired around here by Denise Kresevic, RN, PhD, APN-BC, geriatric nurse practitioner and researcher at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center.  She’s long been an active proponent of using guided imagery for patients and staff alike – Denise has been working at this steadily and untiringly for decades.

She’s researched the efficacy of guided imagery for total knee replacement patients (that research is archived here); she’s videotaped guided imagery in-service training programs and made them available to VA staff, system-wide; and she encourages her fellow nurses and other staff members to “pack a lunch and head over to the wellness center for guided imagery.”  She was recently quoted as saying in Nurse.com. “I tell them all it takes is two minutes a day to empower yourself, just close your eyes, take long slow breaths and spend those two minutes picturing a relaxing scene.”