Create a specific imagined reality. Imagine what you can see and the sounds you hear or don’t hear, what you feel, what you don’t feel, what you smell, what can you taste? How do you feel emotionally? How is your posture? What are your thoughts? How do your feet feel? What do they feel? What can you touch, and what does that feel like? Utilizing your senses to help build an image in your mind guides you towards a specific scene with a specific outcome in mind.

In Guided Imagery, our mind enters a deep state of relaxation. Something people in chronic pain are not familiar with. Being in that deep state of relaxation reduces the presence of stress hormones, decreases muscle tension, and shifts our attention away from pain. Using our imagination to create positive, pleasant images distracts us from pain and provides us with a sense of comfort and control. As you continue to practice positive Visualization, you break that chronic pain cycle by weakening the neural pathways associated with pain. Imagine your good cells fighting your bad cells like an action movie. Another I would do is trace the pain from my arm to my brain and release it replacing it with a good sensation.

I used Visualization to imagine myself performing painful movements, free of pain. It helped me to get as descriptive as possible when doing Visualization. For example, I would imagine myself putting dishes away, showering, getting dressed, typing on a computer, driving, holding a plate, holding a glass, being outside. I would imagine myself outside, the warmth from the sun on my skin, the wind gently blowing, the smell of fresh-cut grass with roses in full bloom, hearing the birds sing, and the neighborhood kids laughing and playing. My son touches my arm; I feel love, not pain; he wants to have a catch. We get our gloves and a baseball and start throwing it back and forth. The pop the ball makes as it hits the glove’s pocket; I grip the ball, raise my hair, and throw it back, painless. These pain-free imagined movements help reduce pain sensitivity and break your brain’s perception between the associated movement and pain. Seven separate studies have shown that guided imagery helps treat pain and positively affects mental health, mobility, anxiety, and improved effectiveness in managing pain symptoms.

Guided imagery is Visualization, but someone else is talking to you as you relax, listen, and imagine what they are saying.