I am an avid reader with a big, enthusiastic passion for PNI, neuroscience and neurotheology. And what I learn, I incorporate into my practise, as a healer who specialises in colour therapy, creative imagery and therapeutic story-telling.
Metaphor, in particular, is a very powerful form of subtle suggestion I use over and over again in my work, especially colour-based metaphors.
The average science-based thinker might scoff at this, wondering how on earth a metaphor in a story tailored for a specific client could make any kind of tangible difference, and yet….
Here are some little facts I would like to share with you: proven, science based facts that sound implausible, but they have been tested repeatedly with the same results:
*Warm temperatures make us (and others) seem temporarily friendlier. When we are holding a warm cup of tea or coffee, we become emotionally warmer and feel closer to (and more open to) others.
*Being exposed to the colour red causes us to perform more poorly on tests, because it evokes fear of failure and anxiety. Why? Perhaps because red is associated with danger, stops signs and perhaps even childhood memories of big red F-for-fail grades on school tests.
*Men wearing red appear more attractive and sexually desirable to women, because they subconsciously associate red with higher status and a higher potential for status and success.
*Being exposed to the image of an apple (the company) symbol, can enhance your creativity, helping you come up with more creative ideas, and ideas that are considerably more unique than those people not exposed to the apple symbol.
This is the science of ’embodied cognition theory’, which proposes that the mind is not separate from the physical world. Our senses function as a bridge between our unconscious and our conscious thought processes.
In my practise, I cross-reference embodied cognition with the power of imagination. If you aren’t sure what I mean by this, think for a moment about the studies done proving how effective it is when we practise something in our mind before actually doing it with our body. Athletes visualising their ideal performance, are mentally practising even when not physically practising and this gives them a much better end outcome. Every muscle and nerve in their body is listening to, and learning from, their imagined performance. Our mind and body are not separate!
In other words, I apply the power of metaphor and embodied cognition via creative imagination. Imagining warmth using sunshine imagery, the imagined feeling of sunlight on the skin and warmth/sunlight-metaphors in story-telling, is going to have the same effect as holding a warm cup of coffee when it comes to stimulating social warmth towards others. In my ‘Aura Colour Therapy’ system, I use a colour called “Warmth Yellow” for this purpose.
I’ll be writing more on these topics over the coming months.
Reference book: “Sensation: the new science of physical intelligence”, written by Thalma Lobel PhD.