Guided Imagery in Education
Guided Imagery in Education
Guided Imagery in Education
SUMMARY
TRANSPERSONAL EDUCATION
develop the expertise for applying the processes to their own lives. Many
of those who took part in these early sessions were educators who saw
the value of teaching students to use these activities for their own per-
sonal growth.
At present there is a paucity of literature available on Transpersonal
. Education because the field is relatively new, and educators are just
To begin, we ask the students to help each other trace an outline of their body
onto full-sized art utility sheets. We then ask them to close their eyes and to
The author of this article has spent the last four years observing teachers in the Los
1
Angeles area who are implementing transpersonal practices in classrooms. These observa-
tions and a scan of education-related workshops presented at humanistic/holistic/transper-
sonal conferences over the past four years reveal that educators seem to be implementing
transpersonal approaches in the manner indicated in this article.
imagine the quality or qualities the gift represents in their life. Such qualities
as joy, love, silence, harmony, energy, beauty, and peace usually emerge. We
then talk about qualities in general and then qualities in specific and what
they mean to their own life experience. Next, we list the qualities on the chalk
board. There are usually duplicates and similarities.
The first group of students we worked with commented that we all needed
the qualities of each other and asked if we could explore all of the group’s
qualities. Acknowledging the importance of group purpose and cooperation
in new age thought, we have continued to work with the results of the whole
group. The students then decide the parts of the body that each quality seems
to correlate with most. Usually there are about eight to ten qualities. Over the
next eight to ten sessions we take a different part of the body and work with
music, movement, and imagery to explore the quality they have decided
&dquo;lives&dquo; there. After each experience the students write in their journals, draw
on their radiant bodies, and share their discoveries with the class. If individ-
uals do not feel that they wish to draw in the part of the body reflecting the
group decision, they are free to choose a more appropriate place.
Other imagery activities (Canfield & Klinek, 1979, pp. 8-9) that have
worked well are as follows:
1. Courage: Go to a time and place past or present, where you can meet a
person whom you feel had great courage. Spend time with the person and ask
what courage is, and how you can be more courageous in your life.
2. Serenity: Imagine a beautiful summer day, being in your favorite place,
being filled with warmth and an intense feeling of serenity. Play &dquo;Summer
Breeze&dquo; by Seals and Crofts.
3. Harmony: Find yourself entering a magical land where everything is
harmonious. Look around, experience, and be in harmony.
This next example is one I use in teacher education seminars to help
teachers communicate with their own inner source of wisdom and intelli-
gence, and also, to illustrate ways in which the same activity may be used in
the classroom.22
Imagine you are standing in the warmth and brilliance of the sun. The place
where you are is incredibly beautiful, quiet, peaceful. You sense yourself
loved and cared for more intensely than ever before. You look at the sun for a
few moments, experiencing its warmth and friendliness, thinking about how
good you feel. (Pause) Now ask the sun to descend slowly upon you, stopping
a moment above your head. (Pause) Just as the sun is about to enter you
The author of this article is directing three federally funded projects in Confluent Edu-
2
cation for Los Angeles City Schools. She uses variations of the activity in teacher in-service
seminars and in private therapeutic practice as well.
through the top of your head, you ask the sun to enlighten you, to show you
the perfect person you are. Ask the sun to trail through you, removing all
tiredness, tension, and negativity, replacing these energies with pure light.
(Pause) As the sun enters your head, you begin to sense this light filling every
cell in your head. Gradually, as the sun descends through you, you sense
yourself becoming lighter and lighter and more and more brilliant. You see
the perfect You. You sense a harmony, a peace, a calm, a certainty that all is
well. You sense yourself loved with an intensity that is profound. (Pause)
Once the sun has descended completely through you, exiting through the
bottom of your feet, you see yourself as absolutely perfect. You see the True
You. (Pause) Notice the intense light around and within you. (Pause) Take
this light now, and send it into the room where you are now. Call into your
memory someone whom you love dearly and see them bathed in this light.
(Pause) Now see your students, the other faculty members, and ask the light
to bathe them as it has bathed you. (Pause) Now if there is anyone in your life
with whom you are in conflict, see them filled with this light. (Pause) Note
how your feelings change as you stand in the presence of another who is &dquo;in
the light&dquo; as you are. (Pause) Now send this light to remain in your classroom,
or in your home, wherever you prefer. (Pause) When you are ready, take three
slow deep breaths and begin to feel air in your lungs. As you do this, call the
sun to ascend through your body until you are satisfied it has returned to the
sky. (Pause) When this has been done, open your eyes.
Teachers clarify their experiences by drawing their imagery, examining
it, and then sharing personal insights with the others.
A second way in which imagery activities are used is for relaxing,
centering, and focusing. It is assumed that the possibility of learning is
greater when the mind is slowed, freed from &dquo;mind chatter&dquo; and distrac-
tion, and consequently more receptive to outside stimuli such as those
provided within the standard curriculum. Besides accelerating the possi-
bility of learning, these activities also serve to calm individuals, and thus
lessen the possibility of disruptive behavior. In a pilot study completed in
one Los Angeles City School, students who practiced meditation three or
more times per week in their regular classes showed 25% fewer instances of
meet the rest of the body and turn the palms up so energy can flow through
our hands.
Now close your eyes and listen ... very carefully to your breathing, in and
out, listen to it slow down, now put your attention on your heart and listen to
it beating inside you. Now breathe in slowly through your nose, keeping your
mouth closed as I count to 5. Now hold to 5 (count 1-5). Repeat 5 times. Now,
while keeping your eyes closed, look inside your forehead to the spot right
between your two eyebrows and stare at that spot. That spot is one of the
doors into the Center of your being, the Source from where your awareness
comes to you. Now concentrate on the Source at that
spot by putting every-
thing you feel or think right there and see if you feel a deep peace, deeper than
when you sleep at night ... stay there with it, be still.... Now come out of
the Source, slowly, come out of your inner eye, back into your heart and
open your eyes. (p. 34)
A third way in which these imagery activities are used is to teach
individuals traditional subjects more effectively. Students are asked to
participate in &dquo;guided imagery&dquo; activities to help them achieve a deeper
understanding of (or proficiency in) certain academic disciplines or skills.
It is expected that students will not only become more proficient in the
material being studied (and learned), but will also develop the skills of
introspection, reflection, and understanding of personal symbology. The
following example taken from a foreign language project in Los Angeles
shows how teachers use specific imagery activities to teach the foreign
language and, at the same time, to help students acquire the three skills
just mentioned. Researchers in this project found that those students who
used the foreign language to describe their experiences motivated by the
imagery activity, tended to score significantly higher (~<.01) on tests of
oral and written communicative competence than did students taught via
less personal methods. (Year End Report, 1977-1980).
The following activity was used by foreign language students in their
French and Spanish classes while working with the structure &dquo;I used
to ...&dquo;
Teacher: Close your eyes and use your breathing to help you relax. Go back in
time to when you were a youg child. Relive some happy moments. Notice
where you are, who is with you, what you are doing, and how you are feeling.
Do you ever do these same activities now? When you are ready, open your
eyes, take some colors and draw your experience. Somewhere on the drawing
use French (or Spanish) to describe the experience.
Student: Once, when I was very young, I used to go to the elementary school.
It was beautiful there. There huge trees and a large house in the
were some
J. Krishnamurti
Education and the Significance of Life
REFERENCES