Working with Inner Guides

Over twenty years ago, I learned something useful in psychotherapy: visualisations with »inner guides«. Here is how that works.

image: Antonin Duallia, Unsplash

Disclaimer: Of course, this method is not meant to replace psychotherapy. It cannot substitute the help and guidance of a professional.
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The idea is quite simple: You invent some kind of helpful person or animal, another entity or even a fictional character or from folkore (for instance, a good fairy) whom you can trust. Visualise having conversations with them in a place where you feel safe and comfortable. This can be anything: a cave, a garden, a lovely meadow, a forest, a room, a lighthouse, a spaceship or another place.
Your inner guide may have a different perspective on your problems and help you solve them - or at least find a state of mind with which you can better deal with them.
If you cannot visualize, because of aphantasia or something else, you could also try to hear the conversation you have with your inner guide instead of visualizing them.

You could say, that you tap into your inner wisdom while talking with such a guide, or into the Collective Unconscious. And this can be easier with a visualisation or a similar method, than in your every-day state of mind.

These days, I differenciate between spirit guides and inner guides: The inner guides are made-up, a product of my imagination. Spirit guides on the other hand are real entities (at least in my personal experience or my unverified personal gnosis).

The therapist who told me about this mentioned that some religious folks use angels as inner guides, so the line between imaginary guides and spirit(ual) guides gets blurry there.

Let’s get some pop culture into the mix: In 2019, I chose a fictional character whom I really like, as an inner guide and I am glad I did, because this has helped me a lot.

This year, I chose two other fictional characters and I’ve had had some interesting conversations with them which helped me with some problems.

So here is my conclusion: If you want to work with inner guides, be creative. The sky is the limit. I wish you good experiences with this.

Stay safe out there.