How to Coach Yourself and Others Better Coaching Through Visualisation | Page 168
scarred and scabbed severely from her digging and scratching. After
discussing the various issues in her life that are “making her itch”,
she is guided through a mental imagery exercise (Epstein, 1989) for
general relaxation. Several days later, Dee emails the clinician the
following (personal communication, with Shafer, 2003) exercise she
developed on her own, evolving from the general relaxation exercise
she was given in session. Her intention is to stop the itching and heal
the wounds on her arms:
I sit in a quiet place (if at all possible). I close my eyes gently and
take a few deep breaths. During this time, my mind travels to the
spleen and watches as red blood cells (rbcs) come out to travel
around the body. They travel to the heart and to the lungs and I
watch as they pick up oxygen and return to the heart to be sent to all
parts of the body. At this time, the rbcs have also picked up glucose
and there are white blood cells and antibodies travelling with them. I
view them as they descend through the network of arteries,
arterioles, and capillaries and then, they are at the sites that need
healing. I like to visualize the right and left sides separately, but if I
am tired and start fighting sleep, then I pull my perspective back and
watch both sides at the same time. I see the rbcs leaving oxygen and
glucose at the base of the lesions. I see the antibodies surrounding
the areas to prevent infection and I see the wbcs backing up the
antibodies.
I then pull my perspective back and gently stroke each arm
separately and visualize more blood going to the areas to help them
heal. The last thing I do is to take several deep breaths and tell my
body that I do not want it to show me evidence of my anger,
frustration, or stress. I tell it that there is no need for my body to hurt
itself. Then I take three long breaths out and with each exhale I say
(imaginally): “With this breath, I breathe out all of my anger, with
this breath, I breathe out all of my stress, with this breath I breath out
all my frustration.”
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