Using Creative Visualization Effectively · Creative Visualization Breathes Life Into You By Jeanie...

© 2009 Marshall House. Jeanie Marshall http://www.empowering-personal-development.com

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Using Creative Visualization Effectively

A Personal Development TeleSeminar With Jeanie Marshall

These pages are designed for you to print (if you choose) so you can have them available for taking notes before and during the TeleSeminar. You have two assignments before the TeleSeminar, which are explained on the next page. By doing them, you'll optimize your time at the TeleSeminar. Two articles are included along with some other resources for later follow up. If you're unfamiliar with my work, I suggest you read the articles in advance as they might help you to be more acclimated to the experience. If you don't read them before, you'll find they'll reinforce the ideas afterward:

Creative Visualization Breathes Life into You, Page 9 Fly a Kite in the Energy Field, Page 14

Jeanie Marshall Personal Development Consultant © 2009 Marshall House. All rights reserved. http://www.empowering-personal-development.com 1223 Wilshire Boulevard, #300 Santa Monica, CA 90403 (310) 392-1987

http://www.empowering-personal-development.com



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Before the TeleSeminar …

===================================== Your Intention/goals/expectations for this TeleSeminar

===================================== Write a statement that directs you in experiencing the greatest benefits of this TeleSeminar. It can be rough or clumsy, just begin the process of getting clear about your intention or goals or expectations, and write your statement. Please don't over-think this. If you need some prompting, you might find the article, "Creative Visualization Breathes Life Into You" on page 9 helpful.

===================================== List of Possible Subjects to Focus on in the TeleSeminar

===================================== List 3-7 subjects that you might want to focus on during the TeleSeminar. Make the subjects different from each other. During the TeleSeminar, you'll have plenty of chances to apply techniques. Identify subjects that are easy or tough, immediate or long-term, clear or confusing, etc. What subjects are important to you?



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During the TeleSeminar … =====================================

Definitions and Basic Ideas ===================================== Please note: this is not a lecture. I'll present some foundational concepts which you may take notes on or not. The most important ideas are the ones that come to you from inside yourself.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world."

~ Albert Einstein (1879-1955)



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===================================== The A B C's of Empowering Change

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===================================== Creative Visualization Technique

===================================== Please note: this page is intentionally left blank to avoid influencing your own creative images.



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===================================== Creative Visualization Technique

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===================================== Action Plan and Visualization for Next Steps

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Creative Visualization Breathes Life Into You

By Jeanie Marshall

"Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Creative Visualization" is a wonderful phrase to capture a concept that is foundational to all manifestations in life. "Dreaming" and "Visioning" and "Imagery" and "Mental Imagery" and "Imagination" and "Expectation" convey similar ideas. More important than choosing the perfect word or phrase is to understand the ideas. We are always individually developing ourselves and creating and our own individual lives. We create with a combination of these: (1) desires and dreams, (2) thoughts and images, (3) language in writing or speaking, and (4) actions. In our culture, many people believe that actions, and only actions, get results. I consider that it's the combination of these, in alignment with each other that create the desired results. The concept of "creative visualization" combines aspects of (1) and (2) in my list above. All life grows because of desires and the thoughts associated with the desires. All through the day, you have a variety of desires: to breathe, to interact with others, to open the door, to eat, to sleep, to walk to your car, to do a good job, to relax, etc. How you think about each reflects and determines your relationship to it.



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Practical Application: Enhancing a Relationship One of my clients, Kevin, a manager in a large company, was having difficulty relating to a new member of his team. He found her brash and competitive. I immediately "got the picture" that he was sending with his initial words, so I let him know I didn't need additional information. If he were to talk longer, he would be planting the seeds for continuing the relationship in precisely the way he didn't want, undoubtedly exaggerating her brashness and competitiveness to make the point more clearly. He would be, in fact, creating more of the opposite of what he wanted. I suggested we do a little creative visualization about this relationship. In a sentence or so, I explained how he could change the relationship simply by thinking about or imagining it differently. I could tell that Kevin was already feeling different about the situation just with my comments, so I asked him if he could feel the relief. His response was an enthusiastic, "Absolutely." He was already benefiting from my own mental image, even though I had not articulated the specific picture to practice. I continued by suggesting a specific mental image, explaining that he was not to act on this image, only to imagine or visualize it. The image is this: He is sitting with her at his desk, with her at the side of the desk (not opposing him, but to his right) with her arm on the desk. He reaches over and places his hand on her arm gently and says, "I'm so glad you're on the team." He got it! The mental image changed him — that's the key. And it began to enhance Kevin's relationship with her, as long as he remembers to activate the mental image that makes him feel better about his relationship with her. At some time, he may say the words "I'm so glad you're on the team," but the actual words won't be necessary if he gets to the feeling that he felt



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when we were doing the creative visualization. Likely he won't actually touch her, although that is acceptable in his company in certain situations. It's also important to mention that saying the words "I'm so glad you're on the team" without the accompanying feelings can be counterproductive. When words contradict your true feelings, the contradiction is received more loudly and clearly than the words. This is one example of the power of creative visualization with almost immediate transformation within a person. Of course, Kevin will have to keep practicing seeing positive mental images. With another person in a similar scenario, the images that shift consciousness will be different from this example. The basis for an effective mental image must be the person's heart's desires, not trying to trick the Universe with some symbols or images from a book. Personal development is, after all, personal. Creative Visualization Applies to Any Subject, Any Time Intentional creative imagery can be focused on any subject, and on any aspect of any subject. Keep in mind, you're creating negative experiences if your images include primarily negative thoughts; you're creating positive experiences if your creative dreaming includes primarily positive thoughts. It's quite common to have a combination of positive and negative thoughts, so you may find yourself experiencing a combination of positive and negative situations. This example with Kevin also illustrates how simple it is to shift from a negative image or expectation to a positive one. It really is simple, although it's not necessarily easy until you practice. When you're in the middle of a situation that's very uncomfortable (I like to say a "mess"), it's not always so easy to turn your thoughts around. The reason for this challenge is that it's most natural to continue to think the most familiar



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thoughts and imagine the same outcomes, unless you make a conscious choice to think or imagine or dream differently. The Way Out of a Mess is With Your Thoughts and Images The way to get out of a mess is the same way you got into a mess: with your thoughts and images and expectations. Often people who find themselves in a mess gravitate to others who will join them in the mess by agreeing, encouraging them to talk about the mess, and tolerating explanations and justifications. When friends respond that way, they do a disservice even though their intentions may be good. You can be a more powerful friend to those in a mess by asking, "how do you want to feel?" Or, "how can you imagine it could be better?" Or, "if this situation were the way you most want it to be, what would that look/feel/seem/be like?" In other words, help to stimulate the positive creative visualization process based on their desires instead of reinforcing the negative images that create more negative situations. If you (or your friends) are in a mess and want to get out, talking and thinking about all the dynamics of the mess will keep creating the mess again and again, and sometimes quite creatively! Y ou will be creating new messes, and re-creating the current or past messes when your thoughts are about messes. There's just no way around this: you pave the way to the future with your thoughts. I've observed again and again the power of imagination and imagery when it shifts an uncomfortable, even painful, situation into one that is more desirable, even pleasurable. With clients, I sometimes make suggestions of a specific mental image, as I did with Kevin. Other times, I lead clients through a guided imagery process that empowers them to perceive new meaning or more positive perceptions. The new meaning might be a slight shift in consciousness that provides



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them with a profoundly new wisdom for enhanced personal empowerment. So that my clients feel the shift, I always start with their desires, not my own desires for them. Dream the Dream You Want to Live In order to create the situation you want to live, you must think the thoughts, dream the dreams, and speak the words that are in resonance with your desires. You can do this in the day-to-day, moment-to-moment situations in your life. You can do it for the long-term dreams or goals, also, but when you start practicing in the immediate situation right in front of you right now, it becomes so much easier to apply the approach to longer term dreams and desires. You experience what you think about, what you dream about.

Creative visualization is powerful. It is the basis for your tomorrow. For me, creative visualizing and breathing are in the same category of importance: both are essential for a satisfying life. Surely, not everyone uses creative imagination or visualization in the same way or to the same level of benefit, but it is an act of creation. Not everyone uses creative visualization intentionally; in fact, it's rather

commonplace to be careless about thoughts, imaginations, and dreaming. These are not as private as most people think they are. So, my suggestion is that you be as intentional and positive as you can about your creative imaginings. When you expect a presentation to your boss will be poorly received, you're using negative creative imagery. For better results, change your expectations and images so that you pave the way for a well-prepared, well-received presentation. When you imagine being embarrassed on the tennis court or golf course, stimulate some creative visualization about a winning game of tennis or



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golf. When you're considering a variety of approaches to ease a relationship, use positive mental images creatively. Creative visualization is a power that is your birthright — it comes with the human package. How you use it is your choice. When you use it with high intention, integrity, and joy, you are empowered! Copyright © 2008 Marshall House. All rights reserved. Jeanie Marshall, Personal Development Consultant and Coach, has developed Empowering Personal Development at http://www.empowering-personal-development.com to encourage you on your path. This article is not available for republication without express written permission.




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Fly a Kite in the Energy Field

By Jeanie Marshall

"You can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre,

but who shall command the skylark not to sing?" — Kahlil Gibran

Inner child work is popular these days, and familiar to most persons, especially those who are focused on personal growth. There's no one way to approach inner child work, just as there is no one way to sing or write a poem. Inner Child Work and Beyond I tend to expand inner work beyond just the "child" and recognize that all the ages you've ever been still exist in you. Also, all the memories and thoughts and emotions you've ever had are still in your energy field. Further, all the experiences your soul has had in other dimensions are also part of who you are today. And still further, you're impacted by ancestors, siblings, and society in general. So, when I said I "expand" the concept of the "inner child" work, I wasn't joking. With my gift of non-ordinary sight and hearing, I have access to all these aspects in a client. Deep transformation happens more smoothly when all the parts are in harmony. Resistance can come from any level.



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I also find that using imagery and playfulness can assist a client to understand himself or herself better. Imagery can be a wonderful form of needed distraction to help someone to let go of a problem, feel better, and be more receptive to insights about the subject itself. In other words, if you place your intention on gently falling leaves or on a song you enjoy, you no longer have your attention on a problem. And if you choose an image to represent your problem, you can more easily change the image with elements like color or shape or size or sound. Since the image represents the problem, the problem itself will change. Kathy and Little Kathy I have the honor of working with a powerful woman on a regular basis. I'll call her Kathy so I can talk about her experiences more easily. Kathy is an organization development consultant who works with groups of people in the change process. Kathy, as many of us who work with others and love our work, sometimes forgets to play. She also sometimes forgets to pay attention to how she's feeling. She easily loses herself in her work, which has profound and joyous benefits as well as costs to her personally. For a long time, Kathy had been aware of her inner child, a ten-year-old she calls "Little Kathy." Her awareness was, however, rather intermittent, peaking in sessions with me, and others with whom she works. I do my energetic check-in* with Little Kathy almost as frequently as I check in with Kathy. * An "Energetic Check-in" is a process I use with all my clients. For thirty days following a session, I check the client's energy field at least three times a day. I notice alignments and continue the clearing process, although I never interfere in the client's life.



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Sometimes Kathy specifically asks me how I perceive Little Kathy. In one session I said, "today she has on a pretty yellow dress and is playing quietly in the back yard, waiting to go to a party." Another time I said, "I see her sitting in the corner. She's telling me that she's scared and doesn't want to do something." Kathy usually finds it easy to connect my perception of Little Kathy with her own experiences and feelings. To my second observation, Kathy immediately said, "Oh, that's so right, I really don't want to do that contract. I was thinking I was just tired and lazy." Recently, Kathy experienced a series of challenges. In one of my check-ins, I noticed that Little Kathy was despondent. She had been crying because she felt abandoned. I talked with her. She lightened up slightly. Kathy had totally forgotten her. My attention to Little Kathy was helpful to Kathy. It might be compared to a telephone call from an aunt living two thousand miles away who cares that a little girl's mother has forgotten to pick her up at school. The aunt is reassuring and loving, but can't take drive to the school to pick up the child. In our next session, I told Kathy about this incident. She appreciated my attentiveness to her inner child. She was also able to recall the precise moment and what was happening for her. Our discussion helped her to remember to be more attentive to this part of her that experiences all sorts of emotions — joy, fear, grief, excitement. Little Kathy Flies a Kite While Kathy Flies Months later, in a check-in, I noticed Little Kathy playing with a kite. I watched her with interest. She wrapped and unwrapped the ball of string with her little hands, keeping one eye on the flying kite with her tongue on her upper lip to facilitate concentration.



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And then suddenly, she let the kite take her into the air. She was flying a kite! For the first time I experienced "go fly a kite" as a double-entendre. In our next session, which was on the following day, I asked Kathy what she was doing the previous afternoon at the time of my check in. She said that she was giving a lecture that she was thoroughly enjoying. She was entranced by the interplay with the audience. Right after the lecture, she outlined a book that she has now published. Clearly, Kathy was flying! © 1995, 2009 Marshall House. All rights reserved. Jeanie Marshall, Personal Development Consultant and Coach, has developed Empowering Personal Development at http://www.empowering-personal-development.com to encourage you on your path. NOTE: You may save this article, send it to a friend, or use it in your online publications, provided the above attribution paragraph remains with the article with the active link and you make no changes to the article or its title. You may not, however, use the photo without purchasing it from Deamstime. Kite Flying Photo © Photographer: Mark Bond | Agency: Dreamstime.com http://www.mhmail.com/go/dreamstimekite


http://www.mhmail.com/go/dreamstimekite



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Resources for Further Support Meditation. Developing a regular meditation practice can help you to tap into a high intention more easily. See the various resources, especially, Meditate Now, a free MiniCourse & Ezine. http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/meditate Free, Brief Guided Meditations. In less than 5 minutes, you can either calm yourself down or lift yourself up with one of my brief guided meditations. http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/free Meditations for Sale. I have six guided meditations that are available for sale on either MP3 or CD.

http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/guided Books. I've listed some of my favorite books in the Marshall BookStore in several categories. http://www.mhmail.com/bookstore.html DailyAffirm. Each month we explore a different theme for daily exploration on this Personal Development Process. We begin each month with an overarching intention and then focus on "Being and Intending" in the third week of each month. http://www.dailyaffirm.com TeleSeminars. In addition to this TeleSeminar, I offer TeleSeminars on a variety of Personal Development topics. http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/teleseminars Events. On its own separate page, I list my various events such as TeleSeminars, radio shows, and the like. http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/events.html


http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/meditate

http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/free

http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/guided

http://www.mhmail.com/bookstore.html

http://www.dailyaffirm.com

http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/teleseminars

http://www.empowering-personal-development.com/events.html


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Marshall House Santa Monica, CA 90403 (310) 392-1987 I've been consulting to others in the areas of personal development, professional development, and organization development for over twenty-five years. I've been writing for the Internet since 1991, in the same areas of my consulting work. You'll find many of my writings published at a variety of web sites, including my own. Encouraging others is my passion. Watching people move from where they are to where they want to be is very exciting to me. Sometimes I serve as guide; sometimes I serve as a witness, and always I serve as one who holds the space for personal growth and self improvement. Through my own journey, I have learned how important it is to move one footstep at a time and to honor the direction and the movement along the path. Even what looks like a giant step, is preceded and followed by a series of small steps and imprints on the sand. As the Taoist expression says, a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. My web sites: http://www.Empowering-Personal-Development.com http://www.MHmail.com http://www.JMvoice.com http://www.DailyAffirm.com http://www.WritingByCoaches.com


http://www.Empowering-Personal-Development.com

http://www.MHmail.com

http://www.JMvoice.com

http://www.DailyAffirm.com

http://www.WritingByCoaches.com

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Using Creative Visualization Effectively · Creative Visualization Breathes Life Into You By Jeanie...

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