Guided Imagery

Guided imagery practices can help patients relax, improve sleep, prepare for surgery, experience greater clarity, compassion and gratitude and feel more calm, confident and comfortable. Ohio State Integrative Health offers the following free guided imagery recordings, recorded by an advanced practitioner and behavioral health specialist.

Accessing Inner Intuition and Wisdom

Developing Intuition and Inner Wisdom for Health and Healing

This “mountain meditation” exercise can help you access your inner intuition and wisdom to guide you on the road to health and healing.

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Inner Teacher

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Life Purpose

Welcome home to your wise, inner self. This recording will guide you through symbolic inner rooms to take you deeper and deeper into your own true nature and lead you to the gift to yourself of remembering and affirming your life purpose to help you align your daily activities and become more effective and engaged.

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Self-Awareness

This practice is adapted from The Power of Kindness: Unexpected Benefits of Leading a Compassionate Life by Piero Ferrucci. This practice can also be considered a mindfulness practice–mindfulness of sensations, thoughts, and emotions–helping us know ourselves as awareness and peace.

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Autogenic Training

Autogenic training is a simple practice of sitting or lying quietly while repeating a series of 6 phrases that elicit relaxation and ease. This guided practice is adapted from Autogenic Training by Dr. Kai Kermani. A 2002 meta-analysis of over 60 studies published on autogenic training concluded that this practice can offer significant benefits for people with headaches, including migraine headaches; mild-moderate hypertension; asthma; anxiety; depression; and insomnia.

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Breathing Deeply for Relaxation and Stress Relief
Comfort in the Face of Grief and Loss
Easing Pain

This meditation is adapted from Guided Meditations, Explorations, and Healings by Dr. Stephen Levine. It helps us notice our pain without judgment, breathing into it with curiosity, compassion, softness, and space. It can also be used as a mindfulness practice to change our relationship to pain and promote relaxation and ease.

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Pain Management
Prepare for Procedure

You have the power to improve the outcome of a medical procedure through physical and mental preparation. This guided imagery recording will help you get into the best mental state to improve the outcome of your next procedure–whether it’s as simple as a blood draw or injection or as complex as a biopsy.

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Prepare for Surgery

Face surgery with greater confidence and ease by listening to these affirmations in advance. This guided imagery practice is based on Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster by Peggy Huddleston. Research suggests that patients who use this kind of preparation prior to surgery require 23-60% less pain medication, return home more quickly, and heal faster than those who don’t.

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Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Relaxation
Relaxation for Children
Relaxation Imagery with a Pool of Light
Safe Place

Deeply imagining oneself in a safe, secure place helps create the same physiologic state as actually being in that space. Repeated practice can help promote restful sleep and balanced autonomic and immune function as well as mental clarity and calm, confidence.

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Skill Master

Would you like to master a special skill? Many athletes use guided imagery like this to help improve their skill and performance. Practicing this imagery can help you learn and practice a selected skill to help you gain confidence and mastery.

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Sleeping Deeply, Easily, Restfully

Guided imagery practices

Accessing Inner Intuition and Wisdom

Autogenic Training

Breathing Deeply for Relaxation and Stress Relief

Comfort in the Face of Grief and Loss

Easing Pain

Pain Management

Prepare for Procedure

Prepare for Surgery

Progressive Muscle Relaxation

Relaxation

Relaxation for Children

Relaxation Imagery with a Pool of Light

Safe Place

Skill Master

Sleeping Deeply, Easily, Restfully

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