Creative Imagination Excercise

(it may help to have someone read this aloud to you.)

Close your eyes and imagine your car. If you don’t have a car, imagine any car and say it is yours. Put that car somewhere in front of you, maybe a few feet away so you can see the whole thing. Look around the car. Take in the air, the surrounding street. Get a good look at your car. Remember to use all your senses. Please close your eyes and imagine.

Now approach your car, and place your hand on it. Is it hot outside? Is your car warm, or cool? Is the window rolled down? Did you set the alarm? Is there rain on your car? Does it smell like metal? Open the door and get in. Once you’ve settled into the driver’s seat and closed the door, look around the inside. Imagine this now, please, paying attention to sights, sounds, smells, and the feel of it.

Start your car and begin to drive. You’re going to drive along your favorite road. Or, you can imagine a new road, just let it take you somewhere outside of the city—you’re heading into someplace wild and free. Pay attention to your driving. Put yourself behind the wheel, and really drive. Reach over and turn on the stereo. Your favorite song is playing. Let the words of your favorite song play across the front of your mind as you drive. If there are no words, make some up. So you should be driving down a gorgeous road that leads into some beautiful place in the wilds of the Earth, listening to music, and actually seeing words run across your mind like subtitles. Imagine this now.

No matter how fast or slow you drive, there is no discomfort. You are looking out the windows, taking in the scenery, listening to music. You can get rid of the subtitles as soon as you’d like.
How does your car smell? Is there air blowing in? Is there an air freshener? Is your seat comfortable? If it isn’t, you should make it so. Up ahead, on the road there is a sign that tells you there’s a scenic overlook ahead, a wide spot to pull off and take in the view. Please imagine this scene now.

When you get to the overlook, pull over, turn off your car, and get out. Place yourself in a beautiful scene. You can be anywhere you’d like, an imaginary place, somewhere you’ve recently been, or your favorite place in the world. Don’t be surprised if the scenery changes a bit from time to time. Don’t let anything alarm you. How does it feel, is there sun, rain, or snow? Is there a wind? What are the scents on the air? Take in all that your senses will allow. Please do this now.

Walk away from your car if you already haven’t. You notice some movement in front of you, and your favorite animal comes into view. That animal approaches you. No matter what, this is a friendly animal. In fact, this animal is your friend. Go to it and touch it. Hug it if you want. Pay attention to the sounds this animal makes, to the feel of its touch, to where it is among your scenery, to how it smells. Spend some time with this animal. Imagine this now.

This animal is now going to take a ride with you. If it seems the car would never hold such an animal, make the car bigger, or better equipped. (Or make the animal small!) Start your car up and continue down the road. Your animal shares the front seat with you, perhaps looking out the side window at the passing scenery. You can turn on your music again if you like. You’re nearing your final destination, but you have one more stop. Imagine this, please.

Your next stop is at a body of water. Any body of water will do. This can be the ocean, a pond, a lake, a river, just make sure it’s somewhere beautiful. Get out, with your animal, and tell it that you’re going somewhere alone. Your animal may wait by the car, or go off on its own, just don’t worry about it anymore. Say goodbye if you’d like, kiss and hug, whatever. Face the body of water and begin walking toward it. Take in the scene again, using all your senses. Stand at the edge of the water and look out across it. Do this now.

Since you’re imagining, anything is possible. You are going to walk on water. Start walking forward. You have control of tensile strengths; you can make the skin of the water solid enough to hold your weight. If you have a fear of water, don’t worry about it, you’re just imagining. You still know your body is somewhere safe.

How does the water feel beneath your feet? What is ahead of you? How’s the sky? Is it sunny outside? Do you smell salt, or fresh water? What sounds do feet walking on water make? Keep walking out across the water. After you’ve gone for a while across it, stop and look down. Do this now, please.

Below you, the water is clear. You can see nearly to the bottom, and it’s a long way down there. You notice there is some sort of structure down there, almost out of sight. Sometimes there’s a winking of lights. In front of you, the water’s skin parts, and you’re able to dive down into the water. Do so.

If you can’t swim, this is perfect, because you discover that you can breathe underwater. You’re floating in water, breathing just fine and swimming (or drifting) down. Swim deeply, feel the water around you. Is it warm? Cool? What’s it like on your skin? Since you can breathe, how does it smell? Do you hear anything? Keep swimming down, down toward the structure below. Imagine this, please.

Once you’ve reached the bottom of your body of water, the structure comes into clear view. It is a city, or a town, or a group of buildings. This place is yours to create. Fill it with underwater sights and sounds. Fill it with people. From now on, you may visit this underwater place and find the people you’ve placed there.

You may ask any questions you like of them, you may stay for tea, or play games, or do whatever you like. See some sights right now, talk to some people. Ask what you’d like. Spend some time underwater, in this town of your creation and pay attention to your senses. Listen to the answers of your questions. Stay as long as you’d like, and when you’ve had enough, return to the surface of the water. Do this now.

Once you’ve found the surface of the water again, and you’re standing on it, take stock of your surroundings, and remember your experiences in the down-under town. Think of your car parked at the edge of the body of water. Without walking back to it, place yourself in front of it. Just think about it, and be there. Is your animal around? If so, you can both get back in your car. If not, don’t worry about it. Get in, start the engine, and start driving someplace new. Please imagine this scene now.

Driving along, you find a straight section of the road. You can drive very fast along this stretch. Watch your speedometer rise as your foot presses the pedal to the floor. What does the scenery around you look like? Does the engine make a different sound? Is your music on? Wind roaring? Go fast. As you’re speeding along, you notice a button on your steering wheel. This button will turn your car into a spaceship. Push it. Your car transforms into a spaceship around you, and you blast off, toward the sky. See this now, please.

Paying attention to how you feel as you race toward space, watch the Earth shrink away behind you. Are you excited? Frightened? What does it feel like, becoming weightless? What does the extreme force sound like? Is your animal beside you? What does it think of all this? You are now going to direct your car toward the sun.

Begin flying quickly toward it. It won’t get too bright, and in fact won’t damage you, or your spaceship car in the least. Fly toward it, and into it. Spear through the center of the sun. What you see beyond the center of the sun I’ll leave up to you. This is the end of your imaginary journey. When you’ve seen through the sun, all you want to see, open your eyes and relax. Think about all you’ve just done. Remember to try and feel where it is in your physical body that you’re seeing and experiencing things.