According to scientific estimates, 55% of the world strongly favors visual concepts and imagery, while the remaining population is more geared towards kinesthetic and auditory information processing. Guided imagery is a mind-body intervention technique that was developed to take advantage of this collective preference for interpreting external experiences through internally generated visual cues. 

According to clinicians and researchers, this alternative therapy has proven efficacy in reducing instances of nausea, fatigue, anxiety, pain, stress and depression. It can also help induce more positive emotions within patients. While guided imagery isn’t recognized by any National Health body as a form of conventional medicine, the American Cancer Society does consider it to be a beneficial adjunctive treatment when prescribed alongside standard chemotherapy and medicinal programs.

While approaches towards guided therapy differ, in general, the technique is characterized by a systematic process of creating detailed images in the brain while simultaneously relaxing the muscles of the body in a progressive order. In essence, these subtle methods work to suggest a state of detachment in the mind from bodily emotions and preoccupations. With continued practice, this state becomes easier and easier to access through certain internal visual cues or auditory triggers. Although guided therapy can work in isolation, it’s considered most effective when administered by a figure of authority such as a therapist.

In her book “Beyond the Body: An Investigation of Out-of-the-Body Experiences,” Susan Blackmore (whom we referenced in the previous analyses), had this to say about individuals who reported instances of astral projection. 

“[they] have been found to score higher on measures of hypnotizability and, in several surveys, on measures of absorption, [a] measure of a person’s ability to pay complete attention to something and to become immersed in it, even if it is not real, like a film, play, or imagined event.”

Now consider this ability in light of an intense ritual of guided imagination dictated by a revered figure of spiritual authority. It seems clear that with the right incitement, certain personality types will undergo far more intense experiences than their peers. Perhaps, they may even imagine themselves in far-off fantastical settings, or in closer more familiar locations.