Imaginal Mindfulness

The 7 Dimensions of Imaginal Mindfulness

How to steadily attend to, tune into, and open to an image.

1. Sense Modality – Identify how you sense the image (visual, aural, kinaesthetic, or intuitive). Be flexible; don’t force a visual if the “flavor” is auditory or felt.

2. Filling the Territory – Allow the surroundings to emerge. Where is the figure? What is the landscape?

3. Character & Specificity – Tune into the “flavor” or “presence” of the image. Note specific details that carry weight, while allowing other parts to remain vague.

4. Energetic & Emotional Resonance – Track the “ripples” in the heart and energy body. (See the 7 Signals below).

5. Observing Thoughts & Views – Watch for the ego’s desire to “reduce” the image (e.g., “this is just a symbol for X”). Avoid literalizing or boxing it in.

6. “What Do You Want?” – Move from a consumer stance to a relational one. Honor the image’s autonomy and its specific intentionality or demand.

7. The 3 Stances –

   • Beholding: Gazing at the figure.

   • Entering: Feeling the experience from inside the figure’s body.

   • Being Seen: Feeling the specific way the figure gazes back at you.

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The 7 Signals of “Rightness” (Energy Body)

How the energy body validates that an image is “soulful” and on the right track.

Key Concept: Liquidity

Do not proceed until “everything has become liquid”—perceive the body and world as insubstantial and non-literal.

1. Vertical Alignment – A felt sense of a strong, upright axis or “spine” of energy.

2. Expansion – The energy body feels wider, larger, or more pervasive than the physical body.

3. Softening – A subtle “thawing” or softening of the internal texture (without losing uprightness).

4. Energization – Vitality, power, or force. May manifest as sudden shudders or an impulse to roar.

5. Well-being / Bliss – An increase in pleasantness, ranging from subtle warmth to intense bliss.

6. Harmonization – Awareness and energy become “homogenized,” feeling less fragmented or “head-based.”

7. Contoured Energy Body – Feeling a distinct “body of light” that can dance, fly, or move independently of the physical posture.