Empty Body Visualization is a Whole Body Relaxation & Healing Technique, also an Alternative Therapy for insomnia and help for falling asleep
The following is a alternative therapy and self-healing tool which can be used for: sleep disorders, insomnia, difficulty falling alseep, any kind of sleep problems, stress relief, stress mangagement, restlessness, racing thoughts, relaxation, trouble concentrating, restless legs syndrome (RLS), energy boosting and pain relief to name a few. It is a good general healing technique for all kinds of conditions. It is performed as a meditation before bedtime and is very effective to release body and mind stress tension which keeps one from getting a good sleep at night. Doing the technique before sleep will also inrease the healing that happens naturally in one’s body during the night. For more tools click here.
Preparation:
Turn off the lights; turn off the phones, television and any other devises. Do everything that needs to be done so that you don’t have to get up as you would when you prepare for sleep.
Lie down in bed, on your back is preferred with your arms straight along side your body with palms down (use another position if you are not comfortable on your back). It is most important that you are completely comfortable in the position you choose. Allow all parts of your body to sink deeply into the bed and become relaxed and comfortable.
Release any expectations of getting the result you want to be able to relax and to fall asleep. Instead see the session as you practicing, and learning how to do it knowing that the more you practice like this, the better you will get at it. Whether it helps you fall asleep or not at first, hang in there and keep doing it each day for at least 3 weeks in a row. Even if it doesn’t help you sleep or relax at first, know you are still getting the benefit of becoming more in tune with feeling your internal body, finding out about your state of health and becoming more aware of body tension and thoughts. You will feel pleasant while doing it, and you will be healing and it will be beneficial no matter what stage you are at. The more you practice this, the better you will get at falling asleep on demand and the more you will heal, no matter what problem you are working on.
Cleanse Yourself with Tingly White Light Energy from Toes to Head, section by section
Throughout the session, it is normal for you to lose focus and become aware that you are thinking rather than focusing on the body part. When that happens, just acknowledge that you were thinking and let the thoughts go, which can be done by withdrawing attention away from thinking by redirecting your focus back to feeling in the body part you were working on. It is also normal when first starting to have to do this repeatedly, just stick with it and do the best you can. The more you practice this technique, the easier it will be to redirect your focus back to the visualization.
To start, imagine that a beautiful white or tingly vibrating light comes into your body when you inhale, it comes in from your toes and travels up to the top of your head. As it enters you, FEEL it, and know it is healing you, opening up blocked areas and making you feel light and buoyant like you are floating on air. Then when you exhale, imagine the areas that have been opened are releasing pent up, stored, held, stress, tension, or dark energy and it is going out through your toes and causing your whole body to FEEL more relaxed on each exhale. Do this visualization for a few minutes, until you feel your whole body is permeated and vibrating with tingly light energy, through every cell of your body, and you feel quite relaxed. Note: Don’t try too hard to visualize a certain form of light or feel that you have to see a ‘white color’ distinctly. This is not necessary for it to be effective. The most important is to stay focused on FEELING and watching the tingling energy flowing up and down and observe the difference you feel in the body between the inhale and the exhale, re: buoyant on inhale and relaxed on exhale. If you work too hard to visualize a certain thing or want it to be a certain way, then it’s the same as ‘using your mind’ which is counter productive to becoming deeply relaxed and falling asleep.
Sequence:
Now you are going to open up and relax each body part in turn, starting with your toes and ending with your head. Here is the general order:
Legs: toes, feet, ankles, knees, leg/hip joint, legs as a whole
Arms: hands, wrists, elbows, arm/shoulder joint, arms as a whole.
Torso: genitals, pelvis/hips, belly muscles, diaphragm, heart area, rib cage, shoulders, lower body as a whole.
Neck/Head: voice box/throat, neck, mouth/jaw/teeth, nose area, sinuses and deep into center of skull, behind eyes, forehead / temples, top of head, head as a whole.
General Technique on single body parts / joints:
Put your attention or focus onto breathing into and out of this body part. On the inhale you imagine/feel the part is filling or expanding with light tingling energy and the part becomes buoyant, light, floating, empty or tingling. On the exhale you imagine/feel the part is releasing stored tension, a drawing out is felt, pain is disappearing, it feel like it deflates and becomes more relaxed and heavier. While doing this, you might detect a part of that body section which has pain, muscle tension or it’s like energy can’t flow through it. If you notice a ‘dark section’ like this, then with the breath, imagine that light energy is being drawn directly through this ‘blocked’ area. Do this a few times until you feel that this body section has opened more or has less pain or tension - but don’t worry about staying there until it’s perfectly clear, as most likely there is a chronic tension here and it will take more than one session to totally open it. As you progress in the session, all body parts are actually being treated and ‘whole body healing’ increasingly gets more effective, even after you fall asleep the healing you’ve set in motion will continue to happen throughout the night.
General Technique on large body sections:
After you have done the individual parts making up a larger body section, then when you are doing that larger body section, such as the ‘leg as a whole’, then note if there are any areas in the whole leg that have ‘dark sections’ like explained above. If you detect an area like that, then breathe in and out through that ‘dark area’ a little longer, until you feel the area has opened up some more. Try to feel the entire ‘section as a whole’ as one tingling entity, filled with vibration or as ‘activated’, you might sense this as ‘numbness’.
Closure – Breathing into the Body as a Whole & Allowing to Fall Asleep
Now that you’ve treated each body part from toes to head, you close by going into a meditative state, by visualizing the inhale traveling from bottom of toes to top on head, and the exhale traveling from the top of head down through toes. On the inhale feel the buoyancy, tingly and lightness like you are floating and on the exhale feel yourself relaxing each time more deeply. At this point in the session, you are not doing anything except observing your breath energy and noticing the feeling in your whole body as it goes from toes to head and back again. Finally, let go of all techniques and visualizations, even that of observing the breath going from toes to head and back again. Just allow yourself to enjoy the blissful feeling in your entire body and allow yourself to become the breath of your whole body, like your whole body is one big breathing bellows and you are lost within it, becoming the breath. Do that until you fall asleep.
A note on body numbness : Don’t worry if you start to feel numb or if it seems like you can’t feel a body part or your body at all. Realize in this exercise you have done nothing to make your body numb, you have just been relaxing, resting your mind and feeling bodily sensations. If this happens, then it’s a sign that you are being highly effective in your session. Numbness and tingling happens when your nervous system in your body is highly energized and healing is happening to the nerves themselves. Don’t be afraid, rather just welcome the deep relaxation and confirmation you are healing and trust your healer is doing what is best of you. You don’t have to do anything at all.
Sweet Dreams
~ Betsy ~
Feedback:
“I have practiced similar techniques for some years now. It is very possible for body awareness to have a significant effect on the central nervous system which is very much so connected to mental disorders, mental structures/concepts, and thoughts. As Betsy says, the breath is the key. You are moving your attention away from the mind/head and into the body which is naturally more at peace.. Just as a spinning wheel takes time to slow down though, the mind often operates in the same way.” - Brian
“I’ve been doing something similar, so this was easy for me to follow. I love the acknowledgement of the tingly and the floating sensations. Very good sleeping practice…and good for the body, mind, too.” - Debby
” Glad to hear a confirmation from another person of a technique I use myself. It does work for healing for me. I allow consciousness to take over and focus to do the healing. I have have no problem sleeping, for me the opposite is required in my sessions not to fall asleep too early in the process.” - Luke Jude
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