f you were watching a movie
about your life with a wise and
loving spiritual presence, what
images would appear on the screen?
about your life with a wise and
loving spiritual presence, what
images would appear on the screen?
Spiritual Solutions for Any Difficulty
Using Relaxation and Imagery
to get Beyond the Everyday Mind to Truth
If you could sit on a sofa with Jesus and watch movies of
your life, you would gain a new and surprising perspective
that would unravel any difficulty and bring your emotional
struggles to peaceful closure. This simple guided imagery
format is a powerful tool to elicit deeper truth. I first heard of
the idea of symbolically using Jesus, a sofa, and a TV as a
starting point for meditation during a lecture by Kenneth
Wapnick at the Foundation for The Course in Miracles. I
was delighted that Ken's ideas dovetail perfectly with the
principles of interactive guided imagery work that I have
been taught to use with clients for the past ten years.
Spiritual solutions that come---even amid the most painful
difficulties of our lives---defy description. I cannot explain
how you arrive at them, or give instructions that will make
any kind of sense for you. The only way you can
experience the sense of wonder and relief that comes when
you access your highest wisdom is to allow it to happen, and
then you'll know.
Hypnotists try to solve the problems of others by feeding
them the scripted suggestions the hypnotist decides on. But
when I worked as a hypnotist, I became aware that within the
subconscious of each individual in my chair, was an
incredible wisdom, and that it materialized for that person in a
way that was uniquely right and understandable for each
person. I learned that to facilitate a session to get the highest
benefit for all involved, the most important task I had as
facilitator was simply to encourage the individual to press
onward, but to stay out of the form and content that arose, so
that the higher wisdom had expansive openings to follow its
natural evolution.
One of my first and most memorable experiences with
higher wisdom happened unexpectedly in a group
meditation with hynotherapy students. One woman in the
group, from Iran, had a favorite uncle who was executed by
the Ayatollah. Her grief over the loss was intense and
especially nightmarish. The uncle had been dismembered,
and parts of the body were not returned to the family for
burial. During the session, her spiritual solution came.
"My body is in pieces, but my spirit is whole," she heard her
uncle tell her." This might sound like a mere aphorism, but
the woman was able to resonate with this answer on a
powerful level, understand its truth, and then come back to
full awareness after her session crying happy tears.
These kinds of early experiences encouraged me to
continue this type of work, and I used my own psyche, the
classroom where I was a teacher, any book I could get my
hands on, and trips to study with renowned Jungian therapist
Marielle Fuller, to experiment and learn as much as I could.
My learning process inspired me to write a 250 page book
that I named, "The Users' Guide to the Collective
Unconscious." I worked on the book for over five years,
describing this processes, how to activate it, various
exercises, and the results that came from them. I included
transcripts of sessions with clients and they gave their
permission to print them. But as I learned, and as I
wrote---working diligently on myself and on countless others,
individually and in groups---the book and its premises and
exercises seemed to collapse inward and disappear,
becoming nothng. At first I needed 250 pages, but by the end
I only needed one. All that remainded was one central
principle: there an aspect of ourselves that is divine, we can
get in direct touch with the divine, and once we do that, the
"problems" that we once experienced as difficult begin to
unravel.
I never published the book. I now realize it was just a
vehicle for my own learning. The transcripts of sessions
seemed too highly charged and intensely personal. And
even a black and white transcript of a session where the
highest wisdom materializes and the individual experienced
a deep, resonating relief, meant nothing to the reader who
was skeptical and had never encountered their own inner
power. The only way the experience could be meaningful for
me and for others, was for me to facilitate it---one person at a
time.
Everything about you, and about your life is unfolding in
absolute perfection according to divine plan. Your body,
your health, and where you are on your path in life right now
is also perfect just like it is. If our medical and psychological
establishments sought to teach this to their patients, their
business models would crumble.
Unfortunately, you may be unable to perceive this truth
now, and these concepts may even be personally insulting,
especially if you are in the midst of a trauma or a tragedy.
Many are afraid to open the doors to their higher wisdom,
fearing the emotional pain that could rush out would
overwhelm them, but his is far from the case. It may take a
little courage, and an expert facilitator to open the doors, but
once they are open, joy and freedom await.
Using Relaxation and Imagery
to get Beyond the Everyday Mind to Truth
If you could sit on a sofa with Jesus and watch movies of
your life, you would gain a new and surprising perspective
that would unravel any difficulty and bring your emotional
struggles to peaceful closure. This simple guided imagery
format is a powerful tool to elicit deeper truth. I first heard of
the idea of symbolically using Jesus, a sofa, and a TV as a
starting point for meditation during a lecture by Kenneth
Wapnick at the Foundation for The Course in Miracles. I
was delighted that Ken's ideas dovetail perfectly with the
principles of interactive guided imagery work that I have
been taught to use with clients for the past ten years.
Spiritual solutions that come---even amid the most painful
difficulties of our lives---defy description. I cannot explain
how you arrive at them, or give instructions that will make
any kind of sense for you. The only way you can
experience the sense of wonder and relief that comes when
you access your highest wisdom is to allow it to happen, and
then you'll know.
Hypnotists try to solve the problems of others by feeding
them the scripted suggestions the hypnotist decides on. But
when I worked as a hypnotist, I became aware that within the
subconscious of each individual in my chair, was an
incredible wisdom, and that it materialized for that person in a
way that was uniquely right and understandable for each
person. I learned that to facilitate a session to get the highest
benefit for all involved, the most important task I had as
facilitator was simply to encourage the individual to press
onward, but to stay out of the form and content that arose, so
that the higher wisdom had expansive openings to follow its
natural evolution.
One of my first and most memorable experiences with
higher wisdom happened unexpectedly in a group
meditation with hynotherapy students. One woman in the
group, from Iran, had a favorite uncle who was executed by
the Ayatollah. Her grief over the loss was intense and
especially nightmarish. The uncle had been dismembered,
and parts of the body were not returned to the family for
burial. During the session, her spiritual solution came.
"My body is in pieces, but my spirit is whole," she heard her
uncle tell her." This might sound like a mere aphorism, but
the woman was able to resonate with this answer on a
powerful level, understand its truth, and then come back to
full awareness after her session crying happy tears.
These kinds of early experiences encouraged me to
continue this type of work, and I used my own psyche, the
classroom where I was a teacher, any book I could get my
hands on, and trips to study with renowned Jungian therapist
Marielle Fuller, to experiment and learn as much as I could.
My learning process inspired me to write a 250 page book
that I named, "The Users' Guide to the Collective
Unconscious." I worked on the book for over five years,
describing this processes, how to activate it, various
exercises, and the results that came from them. I included
transcripts of sessions with clients and they gave their
permission to print them. But as I learned, and as I
wrote---working diligently on myself and on countless others,
individually and in groups---the book and its premises and
exercises seemed to collapse inward and disappear,
becoming nothng. At first I needed 250 pages, but by the end
I only needed one. All that remainded was one central
principle: there an aspect of ourselves that is divine, we can
get in direct touch with the divine, and once we do that, the
"problems" that we once experienced as difficult begin to
unravel.
I never published the book. I now realize it was just a
vehicle for my own learning. The transcripts of sessions
seemed too highly charged and intensely personal. And
even a black and white transcript of a session where the
highest wisdom materializes and the individual experienced
a deep, resonating relief, meant nothing to the reader who
was skeptical and had never encountered their own inner
power. The only way the experience could be meaningful for
me and for others, was for me to facilitate it---one person at a
time.
Everything about you, and about your life is unfolding in
absolute perfection according to divine plan. Your body,
your health, and where you are on your path in life right now
is also perfect just like it is. If our medical and psychological
establishments sought to teach this to their patients, their
business models would crumble.
Unfortunately, you may be unable to perceive this truth
now, and these concepts may even be personally insulting,
especially if you are in the midst of a trauma or a tragedy.
Many are afraid to open the doors to their higher wisdom,
fearing the emotional pain that could rush out would
overwhelm them, but his is far from the case. It may take a
little courage, and an expert facilitator to open the doors, but
once they are open, joy and freedom await.
For Students of "The Course"
A serious study of "A Course in Miracles" can be
confusing, emotional, unsettling and frustrating, as we try to
re-organize and re-examine our daily lives while at the
same time to live in alignment with the peace of God that The
Course promises is our right. The more we strive and
study, the more that peace may elude us.
Like other spiritual texts, The Course can easily be
misinterpreted, especially when we attempt to understand
the material with ego and logic.
Interactive guided imagery is an ideal venue to allow ego
and logic to be temporarily bypassed, so that the principles
of The Course can be assimulated intuitively by the "right"
mind.
According to The Course, "Miracle's are everyone's right,
but purification is necessary first." Interactive guided
imagery is also an ideal vehicle for "purification," as the
emotional trauma that needs attention will tend to arise
spontaneously so that it can be reinterpreted.
When I studied The Course, I was more than pleased to
find that the way I was already working with people was in
sync with its principles. Additionally, learning more about the
principles of The Course solidified my own understanding,
and even gave me a workable terminology to explain certain
aspects of my work to other students and teachers.
As a facilitator of interactive guided imagery, I've sometimes
been astounded when people who had no knowledge of The
Course whatsoever started describing and understanding
concepts outlined in the Course while in a light and pleasant
state of trance.
The result is wonderful and refreshing. If you are stuck on
your journey with The Course, or hesitate to sit on the sofa
with Jesus and watch movies of your life on your own for
whatever reason, just as you deserve miracles, you
deserve a few sessions to help you get unstuck.
Please call to talk about how this work could be of assistant
in your situation.
A serious study of "A Course in Miracles" can be
confusing, emotional, unsettling and frustrating, as we try to
re-organize and re-examine our daily lives while at the
same time to live in alignment with the peace of God that The
Course promises is our right. The more we strive and
study, the more that peace may elude us.
Like other spiritual texts, The Course can easily be
misinterpreted, especially when we attempt to understand
the material with ego and logic.
Interactive guided imagery is an ideal venue to allow ego
and logic to be temporarily bypassed, so that the principles
of The Course can be assimulated intuitively by the "right"
mind.
According to The Course, "Miracle's are everyone's right,
but purification is necessary first." Interactive guided
imagery is also an ideal vehicle for "purification," as the
emotional trauma that needs attention will tend to arise
spontaneously so that it can be reinterpreted.
When I studied The Course, I was more than pleased to
find that the way I was already working with people was in
sync with its principles. Additionally, learning more about the
principles of The Course solidified my own understanding,
and even gave me a workable terminology to explain certain
aspects of my work to other students and teachers.
As a facilitator of interactive guided imagery, I've sometimes
been astounded when people who had no knowledge of The
Course whatsoever started describing and understanding
concepts outlined in the Course while in a light and pleasant
state of trance.
The result is wonderful and refreshing. If you are stuck on
your journey with The Course, or hesitate to sit on the sofa
with Jesus and watch movies of your life on your own for
whatever reason, just as you deserve miracles, you
deserve a few sessions to help you get unstuck.
Please call to talk about how this work could be of assistant
in your situation.
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