Appreciate and Emerge

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Tune back into the original image. What is happening now? Is there a change? How do you feel about the future? Review the pictures and feelings you have just been through, and notice the best picture/feeling in all that. Allow yourself to feel/be that again, and notice exactly what it is like, both physically and emotionally, so that you can recognize that state of mind and body in future.

Reflect

Using your conscious resources, spend a few moments reflecting on what you have just been through, and also keep the image in the back of your mind over the next few days and continue this process. Ask yourself: 'How does this image reflect my life as it is and has been? What do I feel good about as I look at this clarification of my underlying programme? What do I feel uneasy about? How does the image fit in with previous images I have had of myself?'

Lookforward

Ask yourself: What are the practical implications of all this? What does it really mean to make this change? What do I need to do to take the next step?' 'If I had already made this change, suggested by the image, how would I deal differently with this problem and with life in general? What would a day in my life be like if I had this new image in the background? How does it differ from a typical day now? What could stop me from making this change? How do I usually sabotage myself?'

Emerge

When you are ready to emerge from this deeply relaxed state, suggest the following: 'I'm going to count up from one to five and when I say five, I will open my eyes, feeling relaxed and alert, feeling better than before, as if I've had a long refreshing sleep, and bringing back with me the best feelings, pictures, and insights from my explorations. One, two-coming up to the surface, eyelids lightening; three-alert but still relaxed; four, five-eyes open.'

At various moments during the next few days or weeks, ask yourself how you might experience things differently if you were the image-being at its best. Or ask it for advice: 'What do you think I should do now?' Every now and then, tune in to the image-being to see what state it is in. Is the bear feeling friendly, or is it running around in a confused way, or is it hiding in fright? This is a good indication of your present state of mind.

My future self

This exercise can be used for any time period in the future. It is useful to start by imagining your eighty-year-old self, so as to get a sense of your long-term goals. Then choose whatever shorter time period feels most relevant to you.

Clear a space and relax, as above. Suggest to yourself: 'I am on a spaceship zooming off the face of the earth. I return to earth at age eighty (or six months/ five years/ten years later-whatever period you want to work with) and I discover my future self-completely happy with my life.'

Explore the image of your future self, in the given period of the future. Make the image as vivid and concrete as possible: what are you wearing? How do you feel in your body, mind and spirit? Ask yourself: 'What is the good feeling I have? What was the most important thing I did or experienced to reach this good feeling? Looking back at the younger me, what do I notice? What do I want to whisper that would make life easier for him or her?' Having established a clear image, ask it specific questions:

This exercise can also be done from the negative point of view: It's x time from now and I feel absolutely terrible. What is this terrible feeling? What is the most important thing I did to make it happen?

Reviewing my personal and professional life, where did I go wrong? What could I tell the younger me that will help him or her not to end up like this? Finally, before and after emerging, reflect on what all this means and what the implications are. Decide on specific and practical ways in which you can use these new insights to improve your life now.