There is an element in Hatha Yoga where you strengthen and condition the body through imagining physical exercise. I was not good at yoga as a kid [I have to have dynamic movement] .. but I retained and used the principles of imagination in my life.
I think it was just before Christmas? I had been applying a new mind principle discipline that came to me and I was observing what effect it might have. To test something you have to apply it in your life and practice as you observe for yourself what effect it may have on your life.
What I am about to share with you really took place in 3D reality .. as strange as it may sound! I knew that I had one 20 Euro note in my wallet .. but by the evening my wallet was empty. I was really puzzled and decided to go to the bank the next day.
The next day I checked again .. not understanding how the wallet could be empty and I searched all my pockets to see if I had put the 20 Euro note somewhere else. I could not find the 20 Euro and so I went to the bank cash machine.
I was in the bank and I took out my card and because the situation was so strange I looked again at the empty wallet and then I took out 25 Euro cash and I put one five Euro note and one twenty Euro note into the empty pocket of my wallet.
The new 20 Euro note was crisp and there was only one 20 Euro note in my hand that I put into the empty wallet. I am sure you know by now what is coming next! Half an hour later in the local food store I took out my wallet to pay for the food I was buying and inside the wallet were two 20 Euro notes.
I did not even get the shivers .. I was more like: How did this old 20 Euro note appear again inside the wallet? The new 20 Euro note was in front with the new five Euro note and the lost old worn 20 Euro note was behind the money I had taken from the cash machine.
I know for a fact that my wallet was empty and I know for a fact that all I had at the bank was one twenty Euro and one five Euro. So .. how did the second twenty Euro appear in the wallet. Please do not think that I have the golden goose... I just have an ordinary wallet like everyone else.
I shared this strange story with you to encourage you to believe in yourself and to believe .. trust and respect your body and your mind. More accurate to trust your body-mind connection. What I am about to write next is related to the subtle and mysterious relationship between body and mind.
This self-study I am doing has nothing to do with the power of the mind over matter. This is not the power of the mind over body. The body and the mind are ONE. It is not the mind effecting the body or the body effecting the mind .. but that body and mind are one and the same phenomenon. They work seamlessly together in ways we do not understand.
Dark Zen: The Body Mind
We each have to find our own way according to our nature .. but there are basic rules to learning how to apply imagination to benefit our health and well-being. You could say that imagination is the Internet communication network between mind and body.
What I am saying is that during my own self-made tests both body and mind together understand the language of imagination. You may ask: Where does imagination come from? Then we are talking about the Torii [gateway] that does not move but unifies [effects] that which moves.
A few rules: When we feel bad or we feel unhappy .. that is a form of imagination. It is just that these feelings are on auto-pilot and we ride the roller-coaster of our feelings whenever they arise. Let us say this is a kind of auto-pilot imagination that we are unaware of and we just allow it to happen within us.
Next rule: Even when on auto-pilot imagination we are ultimately responsible for every feeling we allow to run our inner lives and to rule our inner lives. If we are not paying attention and allow feelings to run .. it is still our responsibility .. because we allow it.
Next rule: We can change imagination at any point in time and space!
There is no rule that you cannot change...
I cannot tell you how to go out and fish. All I can do is share with you how I fish. We all live unique lives and have to teach ourselves whatever is relevant to our own inner lives and inner connection. The rule about teaching oneself is to practice every day!
There can be days where you just feel bad about yourself no matter what the circumstances. I never let that one go without challenging the state of mind. There are different ways to turn negative feelings around. One way I have is to imagine Martial Arts moves using imagination training. You may be surprise to know that the physical body responds to mental training in the same way as physical training.
What usually happens to people in western society as they get really old and maybe sick? Their minds become the aging and the sickness. I am saying people of all ages not only get sick .. but IMAGINE they are sick. The two states go seamlessly together.
I discovered this fact when I was in my mid-forties and I got really sick with a bad Winter flu... I thought I was going to die. I woke up in the early hours of the morning and my body was a bag of bones. I could not move a muscle. This was the best challenge that could ever have happened to me!
The first thing that took place was I felt a powerful compassion for my physical body. I said to the body: No matter what happens... Thank you. Out of this awareness and gratitude I became aware of how the mind also gets sick. We feel bad and we also imagine we feel bad. The mind repeats like a mantra: My bones hurt .. my muscles hurt .. I can't breathe .. and so on.
On auto-pilot we do not realise that the physical brain and the physical body react to this as COMMANDS. There is a fine line where our thoughts are telling the body: You feel bad .. and so on. The only way to prove this is to turn it around. I immediately began to use my imagination to turn it around and I fell asleep. When I woke up my flu symptoms were greatly reduced and my body was back to normal and feeling stronger.
Rather than get that sick again .. as I was responsible for letting it happen .. I would use a magic elixir if I got sick. I would use my imagination to tell the body: You have just taken a magic elixir. There are many variations one can use. It pretty much works.
When I was under stress I would take the herb Valerian that can be used to reduce stress. It always worked for me and after some time I could reduce my own stress without Valerian. In extreme situations I had another technique. Because water has a memory I could tell the body: You have just taken two Valerian [using my imagination]. I found that also works.
I want to improve my strength and endurance and tendon elasticity. Usually when we exercise and all the tendons are stiff we immediately think: Oh! Man! This hurts! My tendons are so tight. What do you think that does? What kind of effect does it have? We feel the pain and we imagine non-elastic painful tendons.
I started to counter this by imagining swimming in the ocean and swimming under water. I also imagined I was doing different exercises. If I have to travel somewhere and movement is restricted I can use the time to imagine I am climbing a mountain or working out doing exercises.
The same thing applies to flying or driving long distances. Usually we sit and think / feel that we are trapped in a confined space getting stiff and sore. We mostly think: I will be happy when this travelling is over.
I can go into another time [using imagination] and I can practice physical endurance skills .. and the body gets it! I do not imagine that I am in a practice hall. In my mind I go out into Nature and I created my own scenes and can even do some fighting #_*
It's all in the creative spirit !!
Imagination is like any other discipline .. we have to practice apply and learn. It is like playing golf for many years or practicing the Martial Arts .. climbing mountains .. whatever you teach yourself. When you practice something then your skills increase.
In some ways the same physical material 3D rules apply to imagination in this World. Skills of imagination are seamlessly linked to physical skills. When you are learning golf you do not swing the club once and then go sit in the club bar. It is the same with imagination.
Imagination rules our lives every day .. but we are not always in control. Our thoughts and feelings are subjective and on auto-pilot and we very rarely apply ourselves to switch off the auto-pilot and activate our inner learning through application and practice .. and to challenge ourselves! The skill only comes from challenging ourselves every day. That is the hidden secret to self-mastery.
