Leslie Davenport - Healing and Transformation Through Self Guided Imagery

Leslie Davenport is an inspiring therapist and healer with a depth to her work that makes her an alchemist of the heart. She has a way of accompanying patients through the challenges of life-threatening illness, which leads them through unexpected portals to the joy of being fully human. A true pioneer in the field of integrative medicine, she brings a compassionate presence to her work, which elicits both clarity and insight that lead to true transformation.

DENNIS KENNY, D MIN, M DIV,
author of Promise of the Soul

Leslie Davenports personal spiritual journey has given her profound insights into the secret wisdom of the heart; her many years of healing work have given her the ability to help uncover that wisdom in others. Read these stories and see deep within yourself!

STEVE BRATMAN, MD,
author of The Natural Health Bible

Like icebergs floating in the seaonly partially visible to others and ourselvesa good part of what goes on in us lies beneath awareness. It helps to connect with the deep layer of fears and desires that shape us. Not to shed light where darkness is appropriate, but to glimpse the forces that make us who we are. When they are handled carefully, images span the gap between the dark unknown and the concerns of living. The bridge, the dialogue, and the connection are all healing. This book can help you make those connections, offering relief from the stresses and conflicts of living.

THOMAS MOORE,
author of A Life at Work

Copyright 2009 by Leslie Davenport

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Celestial Arts, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
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Celestial Arts and the Celestial Arts colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

The excerpts from Alcoholics Anonymous are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. (AAWS). Permission to reprint these excerpts does not mean that AAWS has reviewed or approved the contents of this publication, or that AAWS necessarily agrees with the views expressed herein. AA is a program of recovery from alcoholism onlyuse of these excerpts in connection with programs and activities that are patterned after AA, but which address other problems, or in any other nonAA context, does not imply otherwise.

The excerpted lines on from Stray Birds by Rabindranath Tagore, 1916, are reprinted with permission of Forgotten Press, Mumbai, 2007.

There Are Two Kinds if Intelligence by Jalal ad-Din Rumi from A Year with Rumi by Coleman Barks. Copyright 2006 by Coleman Barks. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers.

Come, Come, Whoever You Are! by Jalal ad-Din Rumi from The Illuminated Rumi translated by Coleman Barks with illustrations by Michael Green. Copyright 1997 by Coleman Barks and Michael Green. Used by permission of Broadway Books, a division of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Davenport, Leslie.
Healing and transformation through self-guided imagery / Leslie Davenport.
p. cm.
1. Imagery

(PsychologyTherapeutic use. I. Title.
RC489.F35D38 2009
616.8914dc22

2008005637

eISBN: 978-0-307-77874-1

v3.1

For my sons, Andrew and Ben,
who, forever and always,
keep my heart beaming.

FOREWORD
by William B. Stewart, MD

PREFACE
How Will This Book Be Useful to You?

CHAPTER ONE
Seeing with the Eyes of the Heart

CHAPTER TWO
The Threshold of Imagery

CHAPTER THREE
A Source of Wisdom through the Ages

CHAPTER FOUR
Journey to the Wisdom of Your Heart

CHAPTER FIVE
Getting to the Heart of the Matter

CHAPTER SIX
Ways to Travel Inward

CHAPTER SEVEN
Discovering Your Inner Sanctuary

CHAPTER EIGHT
Receiving Your Hearts Guidance

CHAPTER NINE
Integrating Wisdom into Action and Presence

CHAPTER TEN
Three Imagery Scripts: Deep Relaxation, Your Radiant Self, Renewed Vitality

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Weaving Together Imagery with Other Growth Work

CHAPTER TWELVE
Eyes Open Imagery

I AM FORTUNATE to have a stellar team of professionals with me on this book. Special thanks go to my editor, Veronica Randall, to designer Katy Brown, and to former vice president Jo Ann Deck and former acquisitions manager Julie Bennett, four amazing women at Ten Speed Press whose creativity make my jaw drop. Thanks also to Jack Scovil, my literary agent, who is a wonderful advocate and champion.

I want to express my gratitude for the community that formed around me in the creation of this book. First, to my familyMom, Jean, Dad, Tom (he cheers from the heavens along with sweet and sassy niece, Courtney), Andrew, Ben and Kendall, Kerry and John, Nancy and Jayplus many friends and colleagues, whose gifts are woven into these pages. Some brought insight to the manuscript. Others bolstered my spirits and joined their enthusiasm with mine. To all of you who have offered your time, talents, and loving support, I give you my deep thanks.

I cannot count the many mentors and colleagues who have influenced me and so influenced this book. Although my first imagery teaching came through the lineage of Chishti Sufis and years of embodying living images in a dance career, I have also been influenced by Jeanne Achterberg; Academy of Guided Imagery founders Martin Rossman, MD, and David Bressler; Belleruth Naparstek; and spiritual teachers, including Thich Nhat Hanh, Byron Katie, and Eckhart Tolle.

And then there are my heart teachers, the many clients who have so openly shared the pain, beauty, confusion, and clarity of their lives. Some who share their stories are deeply disguised. Others have generously given permission to tell their stories without alterations or only thinly veiled. Special thanks go to the beautiful women in the wellness group, whose stories deserve a book of their own.

And infinite gratitude to the One glorious and mysterious Heart that so generously embraces us all.

WE ALL HAVE DREAMnight dreams, daydreams, and visions-yet-to-be-revealed. In our dreams and our own moments of worry and fantasy, each of us has extensive experience with the natural and powerful modes of imagery and visualization. Leslie Davenport has braided her experience and expertise in psychology, spiritual practices, and expressive arts with guided imagery. She has fashioned a practical approach to the healing aspects of imagery in ways that are understandable to all readers and useful in our daily lives.

Healing and Transformation through Self-Guided Imagery is an accessible guide to harnessing the power of our intuition and imagination. Leslie first brought this ancient practice to the halls of contemporary medicine eighteen years ago. Guided imagery is not limited to health crises, but while working with Leslie, I have seen the ways this powerful practice has benefited people in the hospital environment. Leslie is a true pioneer in bringing guided imagery into the mainstream of the practice of medicine.