 be grateful for the blessings you have in your life – even being alive is a blessing. These techniques may be used in combination with other therapies such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) or pharmacological solutions.
- Insomnia: Regardless of the reason for your sleeplessness, many studies support the use of visualization techniques as treatment for insomnia. Biofeedback, which monitors how relaxation causes physical changes in the body, may further with relaxation and sleep.
- Benefits for Asthmatic Patients– Asthma can be triggered by emotional and psychological factors, and well as other physical stimuli in the environment, such as pollutants. Stress and high levels of emotion can also trigger asthma. Visualization can help asthmatics manage their stress levels and emotional response, thereby managing symptoms.
- Pain Relief– Visualization is often used to treat pain, including chronic pain, back pain, migraines, headaches and fibromyalgia. Biofeedback monitors how relaxation causes physical changes in the body. Patients monitor their pulse, blood pressure and temperature as they practice deep breathing or another relaxation technique. Often the way that the body changes in response to visualization stimulates a positive feedback loop, encouraging further relaxation.
While there are very few negative side effects from visualization techniques, it can be difficult to sustain the focused concentration that they require. Without this focused meditative state, the benefits may be are negligible. For this reason, it is best for beginners to a guide or teacher assist with their visualization techniques. Without a guide, a person may wander away from the objective, as It can be easy to get lost when imagining and visualizing things. There is also a danger of releasing the stored tension, anxiety and repressed emotion through the mediation and visualization techniques. Beneficial in the long run, this may cause feelings of instability in the short run. For this reason, it helps to have a meditation community or guide in the beginning.
Visualization techniques help to focus meditation, making it easier and more effective by providing a positive goal for the brain. Visualization can have a number of psychological and physiological health benefits. However, it is best for beginners to start with a guide. As you go deeper, they can release stored emotion, which may cause periods of mood swings or emotional instability. Meditation and these techniques require practice.