More on Creative Visualization

Posted on September 4, 2012 by Patti Clark

“I do believe, and I have seen in my own life, that Creative Visualization works!”

– Oprah Winfrey

I can’t say it any better than Oprah! – I do believe and I have seen it in my own life, that Creative Visualization works!

In a previous post – “Who was your teacher” – I talked about the first time I read Shakti Gawain’s wonderful book Creative Visualization. But even before I read that book, before I did my work and moved beyond my Woundology, before all of that, I was using Creative Visualization unconsciously. Gawain explains that:

“Creative visualization is the technique of using your imagination to create what you want in your life. There is nothing new, strange or unusual about creative visualization. You are already using it every day, every minute in fact . . . whether or not you are aware of it.”

I remember the first time that I was actually aware that I had used visualization. It was at my 10 year high school reunion. As I mentioned above, this was way before I did any of the work around personal growth. The reason I became aware of it is that before the reunion, I thought to myself, it would be really cool to get ready with a group or my friends, have a few drinks around a pool somewhere and laugh and get dressed and put on make up together. I saw the picture really clearly in my mind, I could picture a group of us laughing and having fun prior to the actual reunion – all sitting in the sun around a pool. The problem was, I was picturing this from Japan where I was working at the time, and I had lost contact with most of my friends from high school. When I went home for the reunion, I called my old high school friend Carol (whom I had not seen in almost 10 years) and she offered – how about if we all get ready over at my house, and we made a plan. I had never been to the house that she now shared with her partner. Carol called a few old friends and we met at her house in the afternoon before the reunion. And when I walked through her house and get to the back yard, there in front of me was the vision I had pictured – four other friends from HS, all sitting around the pool, drinking cocktails and laughing. It was exactly as I had pictured it from Japan! It was eerie! But it was incredibly powerful, and luckily, I paid attention. Several years later when I first read Gawain’s book, I got chills and thought – yes! That’s what happened! And again luckily, I paid attention. That’s an important piece – paying attention.

It happens so frequently to me now that I have come to expect it and it doesn’t have as chilling effect on me as when I first saw the scene around the pool. But I still pay attention, I still acknowledge the process and express gratitude when it does happen. Gratitude is another important piece. I am very conscious of the advice in Gawain’s book:

“When you achieve a goal, be sure to acknowledge consciously to yourself that it has been completed. Often we achieve things which we have been desiring and visualizing and we forget to even notice that we have succeeded. So give yourself some appreciation . . . and be sure to thank the universe.”

In her book, Gawain describes the four basic steps for effective Creative Visualizaion:

Set Your Goal
Create a Clear Picture or Idea of the Goal
Focus on it Often
Give it Positive Energy

I have added a fun, light video to illustrate these four steps. Visualizing is not hard, but it does require making a concerted effort and paying attention. And the really cool thing is, the more it works in your life, the more you expect it to work, so the more it works!

Please write and let me know some of your experiences with Creative Visualization. I love hearing stories about how it has worked in people’s lives.

As always thank you for taking the time to visit, I appreciate it.

Moving past Woundology toward Authentic Self

Posted on May 28, 2012 by Patti Clark

“Your biography becomes your biology.”

– Caroline Myss

Caroline Myss is a tour de force! She is indeed a force to be reckoned with. I credit her with a big portion of my healing. She became the teacher that helped me to move through Woundology – and move toward Authentic Self.

I didn’t plan for these last few posts to be a series, but they seem to have become that – a series exploring my teachers.

Shakti Gawain opened my eyes – helped wake me up and got me started on my path.

https://patticlark.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/who-was-your-teacher/

John Bradshaw helped me dig through the depths in the middle of my work

https://patticlark.wordpress.com/2012/05/25/moving-toward-authentic-self/

And Caroline Myss helped launch me out of the depths of my woundology and onto my path toward Authentic Self.

Caroline Myss coined the term “woundology” to describe how some people define themselves by their physical, emotional, or social wounds. In Why People Don’t Heal and How They Can, Myss writes that many people hoping to heal “are striving to confront their wounds, valiantly working to bring meaning to terrible past experiences and traumas, and exercising compassionate understanding of others who share their wounds. But they are not healing. They have redefined their lives around their wounds and the process of accepting them. They are not working to get beyond their wounds. In fact, they are stuck in their wounds.” ( http://bolstablog.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/woundology/ )

I never planned to stay stuck in my woundolgy, I don’t think anyone does this consciously. I had to really pay attention to my inner dialogue, my conversations and my day to day focus to realize I was stuck. I had to focus on changing my inner loop of thoughts. As Mike Dooley points out daily in Notes From the Universe ( http://www.tut.com/ )

“Thoughts Are Things. Choose Good Ones!”

So I invite all of you, pay attention to where your focus lies. Is it on your wounds or the life in front of you?

I’ll close this post with one of my favorite videos of Caroline Myss. It is a longer video, in 8 parts, but if you can make the time, it is well worth watching.

Please let me know your thoughts on the Caroline Myss video. And I’d love to hear about your own journey toward Authentic Self.

As always thank you for taking the time to visit, I appreciate it.

Moving toward Authentic Self

Posted on May 25, 2012 by Patti Clark

“Our sadness is an energy we discharge in order to heal . . . Sadness is painful. We try to avoid it. Actually discharging sadness releases the energy involved in our emotional pain. To hold it in is to freeze the pain within us.”

– John Bradshaw

I’m incredibly fortunate in that I get to work with my best friend. We run workshops together through a charitable trust called Figjam Workshops. I love my work!

http://www.figjamworkshops.co.nz/home

Part of what I really enjoy, aside from the facilitation which is wonderful, are the long drives to and from the workshops, where Deb and I drink coffee and have long, deep conversations. On Friday, on the way home from a workshop, Deb and I were talking about Authentic Self; about healing old wounds, about dealing with old, deep trauma and abuse – about doing the deep work – the work to move from being stuck to finding one’s Authentic Self. We both agree that doing one’s personal growth work is essential to one’s well-being.

And because Deb is a good friend and we trust each other, she felt safe enough to challenge me a bit, and I felt safe enough to listen. She asked me about some of my posts on this blog. She said that I make it sound like “being happy” is the answer, that all one has to do is decide to be happy and everything will be better. She said in her opinion it sounded like I was saying just act happy, maybe journal a bit and everything will be OK. And after looking over some of my past posts, I see she is right and I don’t feel like I am honoring Authentic Self. I want to state here and now that I believe that any of us with past emotional scaring, trauma, or abuse need to acknowledge it and do the work. Staying stuck, staying in denial and pretending that everything is just wonderful is not helpful. Pasting on a smile and saying I will just be positive when the pain inside is unbearable does not work.

In my previous post, Who Was Your Teacher:

https://patticlark.wordpress.com/2012/05/23/who-was-your-teacher/

I talked about finally getting to the point where partying and alcohol were no longer enough to numb the pain. I was lucky enough to have a sister who cared enough to talk to me about her path and pass on a transformational book called Creative Visualization. Yes I did read that book, and yes it did help me begin my journey. But it is important to say that then I spent many years doing my own work. I went to one on one counselling, I did psychodrama groups, I did group counselling and I went to more personal growth workshops than I can count. I did deep, deep work. Most of it was not fun and a lot of the work was very painful, but all of it helped move me forward on my path. I was and still am committed to growing and not staying stuck.

In order to make changes in the present and not stay stuck, we have to look at the past and understand what led us to our current situation. We need to work through and move through our feelings of pain and loss in order to move on. Please understand I am absolutely and positively a believer in Positive Psychology and finding happiness. But it must be Authentic Happiness. And in my opinion Authentic Happiness can only be obtained when we have done our work and touched our Authentic Self.

A great teacher and author who helped me move through a lot of my own past feelings of pain and loss is John Bradshaw. I have included a video here of John Bradshaw on the Oprah Show.