Having being trained both as a Heart Imagery and Mental Imagery practitioner, some of you have sent me private messages asking me to write about the differences between Heart Imagery and Mental Imagery. There seems to be a regurgitation of a certain claim that heart imagery is from the heart whereas mental imagery is from the mind. This is highly misleading. Those who have studied and experienced both traditions are aware that the ancient tradition of the west, known as mental imagery or plain imagery, as it is taught by AIMI and Catherine Shainberg’s school, has been known since ancient times as the language of the intelligence of the heart.

I have trained both as a Heart Imagery student and Teacher with Daniel Mitel from the School of the Heart and with Dr. Gerald Epstein of the American Institute for Mental Imagery (AIMI), who became my beloved mentor and a friend close to my heart. 

My learning, research and practice has shown me over the years that heart imagery and mental imagery are equally powerful when practiced. They both inform us through the language of the intelligence of the heart, in the zero-point energy field of no-time and no-space.

Daniel Mitel calls it “Heart” imagery, Dr. Gerald Epstein called it “Mental” imagery and Catherine Shainberg calls it simply “Imagery”.

One variation lies in their origin, Heart Imagery being brought from the East, mainly Tibetan Shamanism and Mental Imagery from the West, from the greater Mediterranean region.  Daniel Mitel teaches the Tibetan tradition of imagery, while Dr. Gerald Epstein and Catherine Shainberg teach the Western tradition .

Another variation lies in the way people participate in the workshops and the role of the facilitator. 

• In Heart Imagery, you begin the exercise by imaginally moving from the physical space of the head to the physical space of the heart. Feedback is shared with the other people of your group. The facilitator is not involved in the feedback sharing process. The School of the Heart offers weekend workshops and three-day teacher training programs for those who wish to learn and include these specific exercises in their curriculum.

• In Mental Imagery, you begin from wherever you are at the present moment and experience a process of alchemical transmutation as you are connecting with the intelligence of the heart. Feedback is given to the facilitator who then proceeds to assist you in reading the images you have spontaneously received during your experience. This requires years of training of the facilitator who learns to read the language of images, in order to be in the position to assist others in reading theirs. AIMI is one such institute which also teaches you mental imagery, dream reading and morphology, as well as how to create your own exercises.

In both traditions, the exercises are short in duration, lasting anywhere between 30-60 secs, with the purpose of bypassing the activity of the habitual mind and receive information from the zero-point of no-time and no-space, where there is no duality.

Images that are not received spontaneously in the realm of no-time and no-space is not the imagery we are talking about in these two traditions.
Instead, this is mental visualization aimed at achieving outcomes resulting from expectations, which lies more in the field of psychology and coaching.

Both traditions of Imagery of the East and of the West go beyond that intention. They both aim to teach people to empower themselves, remove emotional and mental blockages and limitations, so that they can securely and safely expand their consciousness outside the realm of duality and into the realm of unity.

Demetra Monocrusso

Professional Coach and Mental Imagery Clinician

Disclaimer

Demetra is not a medical professional and none of her advice should ever be taken in the place of medical advice. The information provided is purely for educational purposes. Individuals must use their own discretion, judgment and commonsense at all times and should not break any local, national or international laws. Under no circumstances will Demetra be held liable or responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, punitive, special or consequential damages arising out of the use of, or inability to use, the information he shares. If you have a medical condition or health concern, always consult your doctor.