Aileen Nealie - Visualize Yourself: Designing the Outcome of Your Life, One Issue at a Time

VISUALIZE
YOURSELF

DESIGNING THE OUTCOME
OF YOUR LIFE,
ONE ISSUE AT A TIME

Aileen Nealie, LMFT, DCEP
Cover illustration by Kelly Barrow

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2013 by Aileen Nealie, LMFT, DCEP. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/08/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0346-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0345-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913759

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CONTENTS

To my son, Sebastian Sunny, whose existence I visualized for over five years, and who granted me the manifestation of a masterpiece by joining me in this lifetime.

Ever since I can remember, I have been utilizing the beauty of daydreamingthat is visualization to design the outcome of my life. As I see it, visualization is just like daydreaming. When you give purpose to your daydreaming experiences, you are that much closer to fulfilling your dreams. Therefore, visualization is a natural process. This process can also be fun and extremely powerful. How many times have we heard others say, It all starts with a dream? All it takes is focus, intention, and creativity, which everyone possesses. Yet not everyone taps into these natural skills as often or as thoroughly as they could in order to benefit from them.

Now, before you begin doubting yourself, I want to give you a formula that you can cater to your personal style. Let us go back to the word creativity . Even before we begin daydreaming, we engage in imaginary play. Little girls begin with dolls and play out elaborate stories that they come up with. Some of this comes from what they watch and hear from others, but some comes from their imaginations. We may also refer to this as their fantasy world. Boys do the same with action heroes.

Go back to your early childhood, and think of a theme that you liked to incorporate in play. This was my experience: my dolls were two sisters, who were always going into the woods to find animals. Along their path they would give a voice to everything alive. The trees talked, the rocks talked, the birds were fairies, and the owls were wizards that gave the dolls magical powers to change everything they touched into candy.

It is your turn now. Visually transport yourself to an age when your imagination was completely free from limitations and doubts. Try to remember a recurring theme for daydreaming or playing. Allow your imagination to go with it. Immerse yourself into whatever it is you fantasized about. Notice how your body feels. Relax. If doubts or fears are coming up, work through some of the visualizations in this book, which are purposed to help you to release them. If you feel the easiness, then pick an area of your life or something about yourself that you would like to change. Start creating a storya new story that is limitless and that makes it all just right. Stick to your story and elaborate on it every day. Give it color; give it flavor; give it love. Live this story every day until you become the storyuntil your reality is this new story. Yes, you can!

If you have doubts, think about our childhood imaginary friends. These friends seem to be erased from our memory once we reach adulthood. How terribly sad! Can it be possible that we disallow ourselves to imagine? Is there a switch within us that gets turned off once we join the real world? Wait! Which is the real world?

Visualization, creativity, imagination, daydreaming, magicI will use these terms interchangeably when referring to the ability to visualize yourself. I visualize most easily with my eyes closed. And yes, as a matter of fact, I wrote this book with my eyes closed. I recorded myself and then transcribed it. I guess I can say I created this book by daydreaming.

As a psychotherapist, I use visualization quite often with my patients, individually or in groups. I get to see the magic taking place within them as they travel with their eyes closed. I hear and watch their emotions, their processing, their healing, their aha moments, their belief in themselves, their belief in what they want, and their need to become whole. Its all happening at once. Yes, it is real. Then, as time goes on and we have further visits, I get to witness the magic become a reality. These individuals begin to integrate their spirits, their bodies, and their minds to be in harmony with the new reality they have created for themselves. In turn, my daydreaming also becomes a reality, as I am able to enjoy the rewards of helping others and watching them get what they wished for.

Who says life has to be difficult? Well, adults do. Who has proven that life flows and is easy? Well, children have. How do you want to lead your life? Well, you decide. With this book I am attempting to help you remember the easy way. I hope you choose this route. Dare to come out of your shell and play in the magical kingdom to create YOUR real world.

Pa rt I
Focusing the Lens of Your Visualization

It is very common to confuse visualization with meditation. Visualization is the art of designing an outcome visually, in order to manifest it. Visualization can be accomplished anytime, anywhere. For instance, you can be daydreaming while you ride the subway to work, giving shape and color to a project. You can do the same while putting together a vision board, as you collect pictures and imagine how your life will turn out. However, the practice of centering and creating a soothing place can help you maximize your visualization experience. In this respect, it is similar to meditation; as is the goal to silence the thoughts and allow the higher self to provide you with insight, clarity, answers, and peace. Since our thoughts create doubts, they get in the way of the purity of our visions. Therefore, achieving a meditative state is highly recommended until you master your ability to focus.

For example, the heaven and earth balancing visual, which you will find in Part II, Section 8, is the one visual that I follow as one patient enters and the other exits my office. It is completed within a blink of an eye. I can do this because I practice it so very often. However, when I teach it to others, I ask them to close their eyes and use their breath to center, so they are able to understand their internal responses and see through their third eye (the point right between the eyebrows where wisdom and intellect energetically reside). Therefore, I highly recommend that you follow the steps outlined in Part I, Section 1 and use the breathing visual found in Part I, Section 2 to help you center even more prior to each visualization piece in this book.

At times you may go very deep into your subconscious. When this happens, your physical body may not be fully present. This is the reason why some people may feel cold, hot, or tingly during their visualization work. One person may experience a different sensation each time he or she goes through a visualization script.

Visualization is not hypnosis. However, when you allow your thoughts to fully silence, your brainwaves become much slower. The three most common brainwave frequencies reached while in meditation are alpha, delta, and theta. Finerminds.com describes entering each of the three stages. Reaching alpha is described as follows: Alpha brainwaves are present in deep relaxation and usually when the eyes are closed, when youre slipping into a lovely daydream or during light meditation. It is an optimal time to program the mind for success, and it also heightens your imagination, visualization, memory, learning, and concentration. The site also describes going into delta: This frequency is the slowest of the frequencies and is experienced in deep, dreamless sleep and in very deep, transcendental meditation where awareness is fully detached. It is the realm of your unconscious mind and the gateway to the universal mind and the collective unconscious, where information received is otherwise unavailable at the conscious level. And finally, theta is addressed: It is said that a sense of deep spiritual connection and unity with the universe can be experienced at theta. Your minds most deep-seated programs are at theta, and it is where you experience vivid visualizations, great inspiration, profound creativity, and exceptional insight. Unlike your other brainwaves, the elusive voice of theta is a silent voice.