Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards

Yep, Michael's tape sounds good - its starting to bring in imagery as a symbol for healing and relaxation.

The loon magic is also perfect - basically, you need to learn to harness the power of your imagination and the best way to do this is whatever works for you. If you can easily imagine yourself on the water that's perfect - that's your centre, a place you can go to in your mind for peace, tranquility, rest, etc. You will find that just by practicing this simple imaginary process it will start to develop from there in its own time.

So say you had an issue in your life that had been bothering you, you could if you so wished, imagine that you've put that heavy, horrible stuff in a box, weighed down and thrown it into the water where you imagine it sinking deep down to the bottom ... where it then gets washed out to sea, just dissolves, or gets eaten by the fish. You feel so much lighter and it's gone. Of course, when you open your eyes, the problem may still be there - but this works on your subconscious, like hypnosis, so it can have subtle but powerful effects.

The best way to start, though is with some music you like - go to your safe place in your mind and relax and enjoy it. Try to focus on really 'being there' in all ways - what does it feel like, sound like, smell like and look like to you.

You may also find you're already good at meditation if you exercise regularly - any form of exercise that requires controlled movement and particularly anything repetitive or rhythmic. You'll notice that the sense of well-being you get from these is not just physical - while you're doing these activities your state of consciousness shifts slightly, and you may realise that those feelings and thoughts that have been bugging you all day have just disappeared. This gets you 'out' of your everyday rambling chattering mind in a similar way to meditation.

Hobbies like knitting, sewing, painting etc have a similar effect too.

But meditation is special because it allows your body to be still whilst focusing on your own thoughts and feelings in a very positive and uplifting way....

(big sigh)

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