Your mind is powerful. Thoughts that initiate in your mind not only impact your emotional well-being, but actually send signals that influence your body's physical reality.

In this episode we learn about a gentle and inexpensive mind-body technique called guided imagery that is being used in healthcare to improve patient outcomes.

Guided imagery is an easy to use multi-sensory relaxation-based practice that utilizes guided affirmations and soothing music to evoke images in the mind that are experienced by the body.

Our guest on this episode is guided imagery pioneer, Belleruth Naparstek. She is a social worker and the author of Invisible Heroes: Survivors of Trauma and How They Heal. An early advocate for mind-body treatments in clinical care, she draws from years of helping individuals manage trauma, mental illness, and physical pain. Dr. Andrew Weil and Dr. Victoria Maizes discuss the benefits of guided imagery and how this inexpensive treatment also empowers patients to take an active role in their own healing process.

Research shows that practicing guided imagery has both physiological and psychological responses, including reducing healing time after injuries and surgery, boosting short-term immunity, and increasing mental well-being. Some of the largest and most prominent healthcare insurers in the U.S have even added guided imagery to their plans because it has proven to reduce treatment costs and to increase positive health outcomes for patients.

The episode ends with a 4-minute practice for those listeners who are interested in experiencing guided imagery.