This science-based guided imagery for bone health was written and narrated by groundbreaking guided imagery pioneer, Emmett Miller MD. Designed to support and maintain healthy bone growth and repair, Dr. Miller guides listeners to imagine the natural, built-in cellular activity that strengthens weakened bone tissue, as well as the work of cells that prevent overgrowth. There is also support and encouragement for good nutrition, weight-bearing exercise, relaxation, and other forms of self-care, as well as self-appreciation and gratitude for the ingenious intelligence of the body.
Introduction (1:35)
Osteoporosis Guided Imagery (18:23)
Affirmations (8:23)
Q&A by Belleruth Naparstek with Dr. Emmett Miller about this program:
Emmett Miller MD is arguably our leading pioneer of physiologically and biochemically targeted guided imagery. He was the very first practitioner to offer hypnotic guided meditations to target specific health conditions, such as cancer and hypertension, starting in the ‘80s. We’re honored and delighted that he accepted our invitation to create imagery for osteoporosis for us.
Q: What is osteoporosis?
A: Healthy bones are always doing two things: creating new bone tissue and reabsorbing old bone tissue. When old bone is being reabsorbed faster than new bone is created, bones become thinner and break easily. We call that imbalance osteoporosis. There’s also a related, more minor condition of bone loss called osteopenia, where your bones are weaker than normal but not so easily broken.
Age, genetics, gender, smoking, hormonal changes, habits of eating and exercise, and many other factors all play a role in the development of osteoporosis and osteopenia. Some of those factors are out of your control, but you have the power to affect several of the others with guided imagery.
Q: What does this meditation do?
A: First of all, it uses powerful mind-body techniques to help you release anxiety, stress, and tension and achieve a state of deep relaxation. Thousands of studies have proven that this state of mind helps resolve inflammation, slow illness, and facilitate healing.
I’ve created positive imagery and affirmations specific to bone loss which are intended to change the actual behavior of your cells - to slow down bone loss, halt it, or even reverse it by helping your body increase the formation of new bone while reducing the speed at which old bone is reabsorbed. Cells are surprisingly agreeable at shifting their behavior when we ask them to within the context of the altered, hypnotic state of mind.
Q: What will I hear?
A: The meditation will guide your creative awareness within your body to the subcellular level. You’ll chat with your osteoblasts, the cells responsible for creating healthy, strong bones, and encourage them to wake up and make new bone tissue faster. You’ll also talk to the osteoclasts, the cells that absorb old bone, and tell them to slow down and allow healthy bone tissue to remain. After that, you’ll communicate with the deeper levels of your mind, instilling motivation to pursue dietary, exercise, and other behaviors that are strongly associated with bone health.
Q: How do I make the most of this guided imagery?
A: Listen to the meditation and repeat the affirmations often! Each time you listen, it will get easier for you to relax into the special state of consciousness that reprograms your mind and rewires your system to facilitate healing.
The images you’ll be guided to enjoy in this state are meant to modify your thinking and the behavior of your cells, and the more frequently and vividly you visualize imagine them with all of your senses, the more effective they’ll be.
I encourage listeners to just relax and enjoy the experience, and let their imagination and the unconscious processes of mind and body do the healing work they were meant to do. Imagine them saying, “Relax. We got this!”
