Guided imagination – Julia Klinge

Main goal of the guided person:

after 8 months maternal leave to combine motherhood and job

Main obstacles and connected metaphors:
– not enough time: grimace of herself that is melting like ice in the sun

– Lack of organisation: her dog that is looking sadly and desperately at her

– Physical and mental exhaustion: her bed

Main resources to overcome the obstacles and the connected metaphors:

– good organisational skills/ discipline: big clock, time is running by slow

– Support by her partner and family members (e.g. grandmother): delegation of people

– Energy/ inner strength: figure of Pippi Longstocking, lifting her horse

Achieved goal and connected metaphor:
enough time for her baby girl/ partner; enough leisure time for reading, meeting friends and family; part time job that brings an additional income for the little family
—-> a little, coloured house (pink, lilac, orange), painted on a piece of paper

You are invited to make yourself comfortably in your seat…to find your own position that your whole body can relax and all muscle tension slowly…slowly…declines.

You can close your eyes…and let all tension and hassles of this busy day vanish with it…

You can feel your back… how it’s leaning against your chair…feel your feet how they are steady on the ground… and you may feel your arms resting comfortable on your side…

You can perceive the movement of your shoulders…how they are moving simultaneously with your inhaling… and exhaling…you can just concentrate on your breathing now… feel how the air fills your lungs… and is released again…you may realize that with every breath you get into a even deeper state of relaxation…you are just inhaling… and exhaling…

There may appear sounds in the room…of the outer world…with every sound that you hear you are just reminded how you dwell… relaxed and calm in your own body… that you can enter now your inner world…your imagination…

You are invited to imagine yourself standing in front of a large gate…this is the entrance to your inner world, only you have the matching key for it… you can see yourself entering the key into the lock, it fits exactly and you can turn it easily…slowly, slowly you open the gate…

You can see yourself standing on the top of a long staircase…in the end of the staircase you can see a bright light to which you feel strongly attracted…you find yourself slowly, slowly going down this long staircase… in your mind you start to count the steps…5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10… further and further your feet are taking you…and you keep on counting… your gaze is lingering on the bright light…and without any effort your mind is still counting every step you are taking…going down this staircase is taking you deeper and deeper into your inner world…step after step you are getting nearer to the bright light…you are almost there…you feel how your body and your mind are entering a state of deep relaxation…still counting, you are taking the last stairs… and finally you step into the bright light…

You find yourself in your house, in your bedroom…in your familiar environment…you are sitting on the edge of your bed… you are getting up with a feeling of enthusiasm and liveliness that you can feel in every inch of your body… you are walking by a mirror…you may expect to see yourself exhausted or even worn out… instead a beaming and energetic face is smiling back at you…and you can feel an extra boost of energy overwhelming your body… you are wandering through your hose, heading to the front door…on your way you see your dog, he is waiting for you…when he recognizes you, he is running towards you, tail wagging and barking cheerfully…you are patting him and together you are walking out of the door into a sunshiny day…

Neumann by your side, you are starting to walk a little path that is leading from your house into an open plain… you can see a blue clear sky, no cloud blocks your sight…and you can see till the far, far horizon…your thoughts might drift to any direction…all kind of events that happened to you or are still awaiting you in the near or far future…suddenly your attention is caught by the flowers, standing by your way…you find yourself surrounded by a sea of flowers, blooming in all kind of different colours…you might stop during the way, just to bend down and to touch one of them…to smell the intense fragrance of them…and to see how the bright sunlight is reflected in their fine leafs…

While Neumann and you are continuing on your way, suddenly an interesting coloured house in the distance catches your eye…from the near distance you can differentiate a mixture of different colours…there are elements of pink…and orange… and lilac…Neumann also attracted by this  sight is running curiously towards it…in your own rhythm you are following him…getting nearer and nearer you can see a person in front of the coloured house…at a second look you can recognize her…it is Pippi Longstocking…you are amazed to see her… and you are even more amazed when you see her suddenly lifting up her horse…standing there, demonstrating her extreme strength and smiling at you with this incredible bright smile, you feel that you can lift any burden and overcome any obstacle that you might encounter on your way…taking in this sight for a few moments…you are smiling back at Pippi and thanking her silently for the gift and insight her appearance gave you…

Now you are curious to enter this wonderfully coloured house…you are heading through the front door…on first sight you can see a huge clock…it appears to be a very special clock…the sweep hand doesn’t seem to move at all…you are coming closer…still now movement of the sweep hand…now you are standing right in front of it…after a few moments it finally moves, but very…very…slow…watching this clock, makes you realize how relative time is…you are overwhelmed by the insight that you can make your own time plan and schedule…you realize that you will not only have the strength, but also the time to concentrate on your profession…that you can organize any time you need to succeed in whatever is important for you…in your work and also in your free time…you have the power and will to arrange time for any kind of activity  and person that you want to…

Suddenly you hear laughter…you turn around and you see your little baby girl…Alon is holding her in his arms…he is rocking her softly and she is smiling back at him with her splendid smile…they are surrounded by Alon´s family… his parents… sisters… brother and granny…you can even hear your parents and sister in the background talking…maybe they came for are visit or are one the phone…everybody seems to be totally enchanted by your little girl… they just want to be there…to help you and Alon whenever there is the need…seeing them standing there, smiling at back at you… you can feel this overwhelming joy, having this family by your side…and you just know there is no need to worry…you can cope with anything… cause you have all the strength, time and support that you need…