The Multitopic Blog

Imagery when combined with other various methods of stress reduction helps to reduce stress and achieve mental fitness in an easy and effective way.

It is perhaps one of the most popular ways of stress reduction as it is easy to follow and maintain for a long time.

In our daily lives we find certain particular environments to be very soothing and effective, while certain others to be very stressful. . The idea behind the use of imagery in stress reduction is that you use your imagination to recreate and enjoy a situation that is very relaxing. The more intensely you imagine the situation, the more relaxing the experience will be.

Although this sounds unachievable, in reality this method is very effective. You can see fro yourself that by imagining a pleasant scene (which reduces stress) you can actually see or hear the stress in your body reduce and similarly by imagining an unpleasant and stressful situation, you can see the stress in your body increase.

Step wise guide to the use of the Imagery Technique: 

1. Choose a quiet and peaceful place where you are at peace and can relax.
2. Then move to imagine a scene, place or event that you remember as safe, peaceful, restful, beautiful and happy.
3. Bring all senses of sight, touch, taste, sound and smell into this imagery.
4. Use the imagined place as a retreat from stress and pressure.

The scenes that one imagines is left up to the choice of the individual and is essentially those that bring the individual peace and happiness. It is up to one’s own self to com up with effective images. Other uses of imagery in relaxation involve creating mental pictures of stress flowing out of your body, or of stress, distractions and everyday concerns being folded away and locked into a padlocked chest.

With imagery, you substitute actual experience with scenes from your imagination. Your body reacts to these imagined scenes almost as if they were real. Aside from allowing you to rehearse mentally, imagery also allows you to practice in advance for anything unusual that might occur, so that you are prepared and already practiced in handling it. Imagery can be shown to work by using biofeedback devices that measure body stress. By imagining pleasant and unpleasant scenes, you can actually see or hear the changing levels of stress in your body change.