Canadian pharmacy: Mind medicine
A FAMILY AFFAIR
Your image transforms your belief from an invisible saboteur into something concrete — a visual form (instead of a thought form) that can be dealt with, changed, or even eliminated. For instance, your belief that you cannot control your anger might look like the molten lava of a volcano or a rampaging tiger. By seeing your belief as an image and then by changing this image, you are also changing the belief. We call this process “Seeing Is Belief-Conventional psychology adheres to the theory that it’s our past experiences — our upbringing, our parents — that define who we are, what we believe, and what is or is not possible for us. But this work, which is informed by a psychospiritual rather than a psycho logical perspective, teaches that it is our beliefs that generate our experiences in life and that once we become aware of these beliefs, they cease being invisible and we have the option of changing them and setting ourselves free.
When Cheryl practiced the imagery exercise, which took her only a minute, it gave her renewed energy and strength to go forward in life after being stuck for several years. Though she could not change the actual experiences of her past, she could change her attitudes, beliefs, and feelings toward them. Imagining Grandma as strong instead of weak gave Cheryl an imagery mantra she could then use to generate new actions in what had previously been difficult situations. Now, when Mom becomes abusive and tries to steamroll her, instead of having an outburst or suppressing her anger, Cheryl can employ the image of Grandma picking Mom up by her neck and carrying her off. This adds a touch of lightness and humor; it reminds Cheryl that her grandmother still watches over her and that her mom is not as powerful or unmanageable as she had previously believed.
In addition, the imagery supports Cheryl in breaking her habit (and Grandma’s habit before her) of allowing her mother to get away with being a mean-spirited presence pressing her down, restricting her breath, and limiting her life. In doing this, she corrects this family error for herself and sets an example for the rest of the family as well.
ANGELS AND IMAGERY
Cheryl’s imagery experience in which an angelic presence appears is not uncommon. In the Western spiritual tradition, angels play an important part as messengers of God. Over the past few years more and more books have appeared describing experiences that people have had with angels in their everyday lives. Whether or not you believe in angels or in God, images of these spiritual beings may unexpectedly appear in your imagery and dreams. If this occurs, you then have the opportunity to explore or ignore them. Should you find yourself making negative judgments about the value of such an experience, remember that this is a judgment and is not necessarily the “truth.”