Why is the imagination important in hypnosis?
Albert Einstein has been credited with saying, “we cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
In this type of hypnosis, we rely quite heavily on the imagination in order to see our “problems” from a different perspective - essentially, accessing different thinking for solving our problems than the thinking we used when we created those problems.
Usually, humans tend to get stuck in a more linear approach to problem solving. I consider it to be linear because the options we tend to give ourselves are typically based upon our previous experiences with similar situations. In this way, we approach new challenges with the same lineage of thinking that has brought us to the new challenge in the first place.
When we tap into the imagination during hypnosis, the subconscious provides the client with a new way of looking at their situation that they otherwise may not have been able to experience through logic alone.
Using the imagination is also important because it activates all of our senses - including feelings and emotions. In this way, a person can know what is best for them, not only in their cognition, but on a cellular level. Simply put, they feel what is right for them so that it cannot be doubted.
It is akin to living through a past experience - you know what that experience was like because you felt yourself live through it. If you had no memory of living through a past experience but had only the facts of what you did, you wouldn’t be able to say that you truly understood what it was like to live through.
When using the imagination to change one’s perspective, all of the senses can be activated so that you can feel the perspective shift in your body, not just in your head.
It’s kind of like reading a book that really gets you to feel the character’s perspective: you cry, you laugh, you get angry, etc. You’re using your imagination to place yourself in that character’s shoes so much so that you know what it feels like to live the choices that they’ve made.
When using the imagination in hypnosis, you can feel what it is like to live through different experiences; thereby providing yourself with a new way of thinking about the “problems” you wish to solve.
Finally, when using the imagination with specific intention that whatever you see is for your highest good, you will find that everything that comes forward is for good reason; you will find that your subconscious is using your imagination to show you exactly what you’re supposed to see, feel and know.
