Free The Serenity Solution: How to Use Quiet Contemplation to Solve Life's Problems by Keith Park Page A

with chronic negative thinking. Over time, as we think bad thoughts, we tend to reinforce these thoughts in our minds and bodies. But, if we can produce ill-effects from chronic negative thinking, the reverse should also be true. We should be able to produce healthy effects from chronic positive thinking (i.e. mentally rehearsing desired outcomes).
    Use a Trigger to Evoke the Outcome
    To assist in evoking the desired performance outcome, we can use a trigger.
    A trigger is a snapshot of a particular action taken from the performance sequence that most represents the outcome or it can be a symbol that represents the performance. For example, if the outcome is to be assertive, a representative image of this outcome may be the image of standing tall.
    By mentally associating this image with the desired performance repeatedly (i.e. mentally picturing standing tall over and over again as we recapture the feel of confidence), we in effect turn the image into a trigger that can be used anytime we need it to elicit the desired performance (i.e.
    acting assertive). With practice, the outcome or solution state should be automatically activated as soon as the trigger is cued.
    Test and Refine the Outcome
    Finally, the last important factor to consider when evoking a solution state is action. Without action, we have no feedback. We can’t really tell if our Concentrating Awareness (Up-Close Immersed Mode) 69
    mental practice has been successful in producing the desired outcome.
    Therefore, we must test our actions in the actual problem situation.
    For example, by acting as if we are confident in the setting we feel un-confident we can evaluate how close our actual performance matches our desired performance and determine what actions still need to be practiced or added to bring the actual performance closer to the desired performance.
    In summary, the key factors to constructing and evoking effective outcomes are to picture the end result, make it believable and specific, focus on the feeling and the picture repeatedly, and then test and refine the practiced performance. We will learn more about how to do this in the concentration exercises that follow this chapter and in Part Three: Solution Targeting.
    Physiological Effects of Immersion
    As we have seen, detailed immersion has a significant effect on the body due to the body’s reaction to life-like mental pictures. Because of this mind-body link we have much more influence over our bodies than we realize. We not only can mentally practice desired performance, but we can produce other physiological effects such as healing. By concentrating on detailed images of healing we can communicate healing states to our bodies.
    Not surprisingly, most of the experimental evidence for the physiological effects of immersion comes from studies on healing and visualization.
    These studies investigate visualization and healing with a range of debili-tating disorders, including cancer, heart disease, bone and tissue injuries, infections, and chronic pain. Subjects are taught initially how to immerse themselves in mental imagery and then are monitored before and after treatment. Training typically involves making detailed mental pictures of the illness and then imagining the illness transform to a healed outcome.
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    The majority of these studies show that detailed imagery creates statistically significant effects in mood, physical effects, and pain perception, including accelerated healing and increased strength and comfort levels.
    Some of these studies have even shown that mental practice is close to or as good as actual physical practice in the improvement of physiotherapy subjects.
    The most publicized research on healing and imagery has been con-
    ducted by the radiation oncologist, Carl Simonton M.D, who is currently the founder and director of the Simonton Cancer Center in Pacific Pali-sades, California. In his book, Getting Well Again , Dr. Simonton presents several cases of patients