Guided Imagery Exercises for Teenagers

Guided imagery involves directing particular thoughts and suggestions toward someone to guide him to a more relaxed state. It's a way to teach teenagers stress management techniques they can use throughout their lives. The facilitator can be a parent, an instructor, an audio recording or a predetermined script.

Breathing Techniques

• Controlled breathing exercises can have a very positive effect on teenagers, particularly those who are struggling with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and issues of stress. Being a teenager is stressful enough, but some teens have even more issues to deal with than everyday problems that everyone goes through.

  Taking deep breaths is the first step in controlled breathing exercises, which can teach teenagers to stop and think for a moment. Children and teenagers often run ahead of the game and don't slow down to think. By learning to take deep, controlled breaths and consider what's going on around them, they can better use guided imagery techniques.

  Have the teen close his eyes and take a deep breath through his nose for a count of five. The breath should be held in the lungs for two seconds and then released through an open mouth for a slow count of five. Doing this exercise three or four times is usually enough to relax the teen and make him feel better. Once a parent or teacher has helped a teen master deep-breathing techniques, the adult can begin teaching guided imagery techniques.

Color Visualization

• Colors are important to humans. We tend to surround ourselves with colors that are important to us, even if we don't always pay much attention to them. Different colors make people feel different things. Blue can make people feel sleepy and relaxed, whereas red tends to make them feel stressed and tense. The colors we wear give people a particular image of us.

  For color visualization, instruct the teen to think of a color that makes him feel relaxed. This will usually be the teen's favorite color. It's important to let the teen choose and not to push your own ideals. Have the teen imagine that the relaxing color is encompassing his body. Give images to guide him. For example, tell him to visualize the relaxing color seeping through his veins or surrounding his body in a glow.

A Walk Through the Park

• For this exercise, the teen should lie or sit comfortably in a darkened room with his eyes closed. The guide should speak in a quiet and relaxing voice. The idea is not to be too pushy, yet to have a strong enough presence that the teen will listen and be able to visualize what you're saying. As he practices this technique, the teenager may decide on a particular scene that he likes and finds relaxing. Eventually he can participate further in the exercise by describing where he'd like to go and what he'd like to do there.

  You should just guide the teenager through the first few sessions without asking questions. Be very descriptive. For example, start by telling the teen that he is walking along a path. Describe everything in detail so that he can picture himself there. Say something like, "You're walking along a gravel path and come upon a green forest." In another session, have him enter a garden or get into a rowboat and float down a river.

  Once you're both comfortable with the exercise, you can begin to ask the teen questions. This is a method of working through problems. For example, if the teenager is having a problem with schoolwork, tell him that a desk full of schoolwork is sitting in the middle of a courtyard garden. Ask him what he feels about the work and why he's delayed in completing it. This may not work, but in many cases he will be able to work through the problems. He may tell you that he's sitting down to complete his schoolwork, but thoughts of the girl in front of him in math class are distracting him. Sometimes this exercise will pull explanations out of the subconscious.

  Always bring the teen back to where he started the exercise. For example, if he started in front of his house, he should return there, going backward through the process. Let him know that it is safe and OK to wake up and remember everything. You can suggest other things. For example: "When you wake up, you will no longer be distracted by the girl who sits in front of you and you will be able to get all of your math work done without any problems."