Michael Berman
All learning is affected by our own personal history; we have a lifetime of experiences, beliefs, values and attitudes about each subject and our ability to learn it. Lozanov, the Bulgarian psychotherapist who developed the Suggestopedic Approach to teaching, calls these biases. He believes that all learning is heavily influenced by all of the biases and the presenters who influence the biases are much more likely to be successful.
Lozanov refers to three types of barriers to learning. The critical-logical barrier gives reasons (usually false) for not doing something, the emotional-intuitive barrier produces constrained reactions like fear in response to new situations, and the ethical-moral barrier restricts learning to those following strongly-held principles like learning is hard work. It is clear that unless we deal with these learning blocks, we can never reach our potential.
I can still clearly remember my Maths teacher in secondary school, for example, more than thirty years ago. Whenever I made a mistake, he would make me stand on one leg facing the wall, holding my tongue between my fingers so the saliva would dribble down my chin. Not surprisingly, this left me with a learning block which has remained with me ever since. It is likely that most of us have similar anecdotes to relate. Experiences like this help to make us into the people we are and perhaps even motivate us into turning to one of the caring professions as a career - not wanting others to suffer the same way that we have.
It is interesting to note that in tribal societies the person chosen to be the shaman or Medicine Man was often a wounded healer - someone who had been through a near-death experience and who was consequently well suited to helping others through difficult times in their lives.
How to deal with the barriers to learning that result from such wounding? The story and accompanying visualisation presented below were designed with this aim in mind.
Stories have always been a powerful tool for communicating information from one generation to the next and for educating the young. And if they were not highly successful for this purpose, the art of storytelling would not have survived. Storytelling is also an effective vehicle to deliver messages to the subconscious where the "aha's" of metaphor take place. It is our ability to make metaphorical connections that allow us to learn anything at all. When something new is like something we've done before, we take what we know from the first situation and transfer our knowledge to the new situation. Metaphor instills the learning of content or process on a very subtle, often subconscious level. When the subconscious is activated or accessed, the material enters the mind with no resistance. As a result, metaphors can affect dramatic change in an individual.
Each time you ask someone to stretch their awareness of time and space you are inducing a light state of trance and each story that starts with "once upon a time" provides an example of this. A story can be called a metaphor if the listeners can relate to it and draw a parallel between the action in it and their own lives. It has been suggested that if a picture is worth a thousand words, then perhaps we can regard a metaphor as being worth 1000 pictures.
According to psychologists, our memories seem to work best when we can see things as part of a recognised pattern, when our imaginations are aroused, when we can make natural associations between one idea and another, and when the information appeals strongly to our senses. An imaginative story rich in vocabulary that appeals to the senses which works as a metaphor and is cumulative in nature clearly fulfils all these criteria. Cumulative tales have definite stages and in each stage characters and activities are added on. The result is a rhythm and a repetition which is hypnotic in quality. This helps to induce alpha brainwaves and the optimal state for learning and remembering. The process can also bring about a form of regression to childhood days and recreate in us that emotional state of curiosity which as adults we tend to lose.
It is emotions, not logic, that drive our attention, meaning-making and memory. This suggests the importance of eliciting curiosity, suspense, humour, excitement, joy and laughter. Story telling can provide an ideal means of achieving this.
GIANT STEPS
Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived an enormous giant. He was at least ten feet tall, with a mop of red hair and a beard, and in his hand he carried a mighty axe.
Every year, on the same day, at the same time, the giant would walk down from the mountains which were his home, to stand outside the castle walls, terrorizing the inhabitants.
'Come, send me your bravest man, and I will fight him,' the giant would shout, towering over the wall and waving his axe menacingly. 'Send me someone to fight, or I will knock down your castle walls and kill everyone.'
And every year, the gate in the castle wall would open slowly and fear fully, and one poor, valiant soul would walk out to face certain death.
'Is this the best you can do?' the giant would laugh mockingly.
The poor wretch would stand, mesmerized by the enormity of the giant and the task in hand. Not one person had even managed to draw his sword, before the giant would crush them with his mighty fist, and chop them into tiny pieces with his axe.
But then one day, a young prince arrived in the town. 'Why does everyone here look so frightened and sad? ' he asked a fellow traveller.
'You haven't seen the giant yet,' replied the traveller. 'What giant? ' asked the young prince, intrigued. The traveller told him the tale.
'Every year, on this very day, the giant arrives and challenges our bravest to a duel. And every year. he slays them exactly where they stand. They don't even move or attempt to fight. It's as though the giant hypnotizes them.'
'We 'II see about that, 'said the young prince. When the giant arrived later that day, he was waiting for him.
'Send me your bravest man. and 1 will fight him,' the giant shouted.
'I am here,' said the young prince, throwing open the gate, and striding out towards him.
For a moment, they stood and faced each other. Although he was still a long way away from him, the young prince was instantly struck by the incredible size and shocking appearance of his opponent. But, summoning up all his courage, he started to walk towards the giant, brandishing his sword, and never taking his eyes off that dreadful face with the red hair and the red beard.
Suddenly, he realized that as he was walking, the giant - rather than appearing larger - actually began to shrink before his very eyes. He stopped and stared. The giant was only five feet tall.
He walked closer to him still then stopped and stared. Now the giant was only two feet tall. He continued walking until he was face to face with the giant, and each step he took, he saw the giant shrink. By now the giant was so small, that he looked up at the young prince. He was only 12 inches tall.
The young prince took his sword, and plunged it into the giant's heart. As the giant lay dying on the ground, the young prince bent down and whispered to him, 'Who are you? '
With his dying breath, the giant replied, 'My name is Fear '.
So what are guided journeys? Basically, they involve creating pictures in your mind while following a script. Although the form of the "journey" is controlled by the script, the content remains unpredictable. The process is a means of moving what Carlos Castaneda called "the assemblage point" and of entering a state of non-ordinary reality. What we call 'reason' is merely a by-product of the habitual position of the assemblage point. Dreaming (and/or visualisation) gives us the fluidity to enter into other worlds and perceive the inconceivable by making the assemblage point shift outside the human domain. It can be argued that the fixation of the assemblage point is so overpowering that it has resulted in us forgetting where we came from and what our purpose was for coming here. Guided visualisation can be seen as a way of reconnecting with what we have forgotten and can be traced back to shamanic practices in pagan times.
Guided visualisation provides a means of accessing the right side of the brain, where creativity, intuition, spontaneity, and even healing capacities are said to reside. DNA, the macro-molecule that defines life, has within it a natural tendency to trigger spontaneous healing. A vital means for mobilising this tendency is imagery, which is most beneficial when it evokes emotion to energise the image into healing action. Whether the emotion felt is positive or negative seems not to matter; rather it is the intensity of the feeling that gives it power to affect body function. It can be used to help learners recognise their own power to shape both their inner and outer experiences. Moreover, because imagery created during the visualisation process originates from within, the participants can usually grasp their implications without any need for intervention by the facilitator.
People are most receptive to right-brain insights when the body is relaxed and the mind free from internal chatter. Moreover, brain research confirms that as stress increases, the ability to learn decreases so establishing the right kind of atmosphere is clearly crucial. It is suggested that the scripts are read with a musical accompaniment to help produce conducive conditions. You can make use of the Baroque music that Dr Lozanov recommends for the Passive Concert in the Suggestopedic cycle. The beat per second paces the brain into a slower frequency alpha range of 7 to 11 cycles per second. When words and music are closely associated, both are lodged in the right hemisphere of the brain - where metaphors are understood and emotions realised. A funeral procession would seem incomplete without Chopin's Funeral March or the slow movement of the Eroica. Such ' emotional reinforcement is required because in our day-to-day lives, our deepest feelings become somewhat inaccessible to us -our highly successful adaptation as a species depending upon our being able to suppress or repress immediate emotional responses. Music can also bring groups of people together. Anyone who has played in an orchestra or sung in a choir knows that the process helps to facilitate group feelings of together-ness.
You will find that affirmations have been built into the script for visualisation. Affirmations can be described as 'brain convincers' as they can be used to counter the little voice which comes with limiting self-beliefs. They can confuse and contradict our internal belief systems and displace negative and limiting attitudes with more positive ones. A changed image can lead to a changed behaviour and this is why affirmations can be such a powerful tool. The way the process works is explained in the following quote taken from "Higher Creativity" by Harman and Rheingold:
"Since the mind also operates by the process of inference, the mere creation of a mental image, similar to the real object, will cause it to react as if faced by the actuality. The image of an imagined object has mental effects that are in some ways very similar to the image of an object that is actually perceived ... If one is able to imagine something to be true, part of the mind appears to accept that imagined outcome as reality".
It has been established that positive reinforcement and carefully chosen words can actually change the structure of the brain. An amine called serotonin plays a critical role in self-esteem. When there is immediate positive reinforcement, serotonin is released simultaneously into the brain and intestines inducing a sense of well-being and security. This feeling coincides with the chemi cal conditions for enhanced neural networking and higher order thinking.
As a result of recently acquired knowledge of how the brain works, we now know that an experience with a powerful attachment to emotions or feelings is more likely to be retained in the long-term memory. By inviting the learners to attune to their feelings during visualisation, we can ensure this has a better chance of taking place.
SCRIPT FOR THE GUIDE: (to be read in a gentle trance-inducing voice) Make yourself comfortable and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to help you relax. Feel the tension disappear stage by stage from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. Let your surroundings fade away as you gradually sink backwards through time and actuality and pass through the gateway of reality into the dreamtime. (When the participants are fully relaxed, begin the next stage.)
All your life you’ve been a coward. Just stop for a moment to consider what that means. All your life you’ve taken the easy way out, running away from danger instead effacing up to your fears. Just stop for a moment to consider all the opportunities you’ve missed by not having the courage to step into the unknown. You have a minute of clock time, equal to all the time you need, to reflect on all the chances you’ve let slip through your fingers over the years.....
The time has now come to leave the past behind you. Today's a very special day in your life, the day you choose to take a different path, the day you finally face up to and overcome your fears, the day you find your courage and become the person you were born to be, the day you take control of your life again.
You find yourself walking along a pathway. The stars and the full moon light your way through the darkness and guide you towards your goal. Your destination is the entrance to a cave that lies straight ahead of you, the cave where the dragon called Fear lies in wait. But with each step you take, your determination to succeed in your mission grows. And with each step you take your self-belief and confidence grow for you know that nothing can stand in your way. You’ve waited too long for this moment to throw it all away by letting your fear get the better of you again. You have a minute of clock time, equal to all the time you need, to see the sky-blue flame of intent grow inside you, the sky-blue flame of intent that can never be extinguished, and let it fill you with all the power you could ever need, the power that will enable you to dance your dreams awake, the power that will enable you to cross the rainbow bridge.....
And now you find yourself face to face with the dragon and the opportunity to become the master of your life again instead of a pitiable victim of circumstance. Let the sky-blue flame expand inside you until it reaches out to encompass all that is, all that has been, and all that will be and consumes the dragon, the obstacle that stands in the way of your heart's content and happiness, the obstacle that has never been anything more than just a figment of your imagination. Now enter the mouth of the cave where a-mirror awaits you. In this mirror you can see whoever you want to see and be whoever you want to be. And you have a minute of clock time, equal to all the time you 'need, to appreciate the new person now standing before you, the person you were always born to be.....
Now the time has come for you to return, not as the person you were before but as the person you were always born to be, the master of your own destiny. And as you leave the cave behind you and walk back along the path, make sure you hold on to the precious gift you’ve been given so you can put it to good use the other side of the gateway. And with each step you take you leave the dreamtime behind, as the new you returns along the pathway, back, back, the same way you came, back to the place you started from. Welcome home!
Open your eyes now and stretch your arms and legs. Take a few minutes in Silence to make some notes on the experience you had on your journeys, which you can then share with the rest of the group.
It is always helpful to receive feedback and here is one person's account of her experience on the guided journey presented above. The person's name and the details of where and when the process took place have been removed to maintain her confidentiality:
"I'd like to describe to you what happened to me during the Dragon visualisation. Is such feedback of any help to you? Or do I want to "air" my problems only? I hope not. I am a SEAL member (The Society For Effective/Affective Learning) so I know the basics of these techniques and ideas and am open to them. But still...
Aside: I got married in 1975, our daughter was born in 1980, our son in 1981. Since 1984 I have lived in an empty dry marriage, with a decision to "survive" until our son is 18. I have questioned this decision thousands of times over the 15 years, wondering for myself whether it has been just fear and cowardice that has prevented me from taking action, or whether this decision has been good for the children's sake. And honestly, I still do not know.
Your workshop was six days before my son's 18th birthday. As you were reading the first paragraph, I was easily able to relax and get rid of tension. But during the second one, - with the imminence of the events ahead of me this week, fears of my son's reaction when I tell him-(my daughter knows about my intentions and supports me), all the uncertainty of my future life - the tension was back, a kind of panic seized me, tears started rolling down and I was not able to continue and follow you any more.
Yes, you are right, stories are a powerful tool. And although this experience was not very pleasant for me, I am grateful to you for enabling me to live through it. Thanks."
I: should be pointed out that not everyone will be willing to hare their experiences in a group, especially if they are relatively new arrivals. If this turns out to be the case, there is clearly no point in forcing them to do so. As a follow-up to. the visualisation, the participants can be invited to produce a piece of creative writing based on their experiences. Those members of the group who were reluctant to share their journeys with their fellow group members will probably feel more at ease when it comes to writing about them and in this way they will have the opportunity to take part in the process. Other forms of follow-up work could include drawing, painting, dancing, or singing. Expressing and communicating are ways of imprinting the information in our memories so it is helpful to follow imagery work with a verbal and/or nonverbal mode of expressing what we've experienced.
If any of the participants seem to be a bit "spaced out" after a guided visualisation, holding the neuro-vascular points on the forehead, the emotional stress release points halfway between the eyebrows and the hairline, will stimulate the flow of blood to the front part of the brain. This will activate the area of the brain that we use when making decisions, away from the back brain which relies on old memories and past experiences, thus helping the subject to regain control. If difficulty is experienced in finding these points, placing the fingertips of both hands on the centre of the forehead and simply massaging from the centre to the sides, can also have a beneficial effect.
Our fast-paced, time-segmented daily lives make it difficult to be fully present at any one moment. We're always thinking about what's going to happen next and there is no time for quiet or reflection. The use of guided visualisation enables to step outside this web we weave ourselves into and to reconnect with our inner resources.
Another way of using visualisation is to energise something you plan to in a trance state before trying it out. By attacking any fears you have in non-ordinary reality first, they become easier to manage in this reality. Moreover, by visualising an intended undertaking with a successful outcome, you are more likely to approach it with self-assurance and in balance. This process parallels what top sports people do before competing in events.
Empirical studies indicate that imagery rehearsal has a definite influence on behaviour and that mental imaging impacts on real-life situations. Such effects have been noted in the sphere of physical performance, where research reveals that mental practice as an adjunct to physical practice can enhance athletic skills.
When you're feeling down and have no one to turn to, there remains one place you can always go - to your teachers in non-ordinary reality or, if you prefer the terminology, to the resources to be found within - your inner voice. Whether you believe in the power of intuition, or Helpers in other realities is not really important. What matters is that it works! It was Jung who said that the more stubbornly we believe that all increase has-to come from without, the greater becomes our inner poverty." This can be taken one stage further. For if we believe that all increase has to come from without, the greater becomes our inability to tap into our own source of power for healing purposes.
Michael has been teaching EFLfor twenty-five years in the UK and overseas.
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