One of the greatest gifts we possess is something we’ve all been using since childhood—our imagination.

Most people think of imagination as make-believe. I think of it as one of the most powerful tools we have for influencing the way the mind and body work together.

Guided imagery is simply the intentional use of the imagination to create positive mental pictures that support relaxation, emotional well-being, and the body’s natural healing process. It has been used for centuries in cultures around the world and is now frequently incorporated into medical and therapeutic settings to help people reduce stress, enhance coping, and support recovery.

Over the years, I have witnessed many remarkable examples of the mind-body connection. One experience, however, has remained one of the most meaningful of my entire career.

A former client contacted me about her five-year-old son, who had been admitted to Children’s Hospital at Stanford Medical Center with a rare illness. He had been running a high fever for days, his skin was peeling, had no appetite, and was receiving IV fluids, medication, and continuous monitoring of his temperature, pulse, and blood pressure.

She asked if I would come to the hospital and work with him.

Children have wonderful imaginations. They don’t spend time wondering whether something is possible. They simply imagine.

As I sat beside his bed, I asked him to close his eyes and picture the sick cells inside his body.

“What do they look like?” I asked.

He described dull, drab-colored cells.

Then I asked him what his healthy cells looked like.

“They’re bright,” he said, describing them with beautiful, vibrant colors.

Immediately, an image came into my mind.

I asked him to imagine a place inside his body called the Cell Wash.

“It works just like a car wash,” I explained. “Except instead of washing cars, it washes cells.”

I asked him to picture every sick cell traveling through the Cell Wash. As each one entered, it would receive all of the healing medicine flowing through his IV, along with everything his healthy cells already knew how to do. Then, as each cell came out the other side, it would become bright, healthy, colorful, and full of life.

He smiled as he described the process taking place in his imagination.

As we continued, something caught my attention.

I glanced at the bedside monitor.

His temperature, which had been over 103 degrees, was dropping.

His pulse was slowing.

His blood pressure was returning to a normal range for a child his age.

I quietly pointed to the monitor so his parents could see what I was seeing.

None of us said a word.

We simply watched.

In approximately fifteen minutes, the readings had changed dramatically.

Before I left, I taught him a simple “anchor” so he could easily reconnect with that same calming, healing imagery whenever he wanted.

Then something wonderful happened.

Feeling better than he had in days, he looked at his father and asked,

“Dad…can I have a McDonald’s hamburger, fries, and a chocolate shake?”

His father didn’t hesitate.

He beelined out of the hospital to get it.

His little boy hadn’t wanted to eat for an entire week.

To everyone else, it may have sounded like a simple request for fast food.

To his father, it was hope.

Several years later, I happened to see his mother again, and he was with her. She told me something that made my heart smile.

His illness had never returned.

By then he was about twelve years old.

She smiled and reminded him who I was, but he looked at me with a puzzled expression. He didn’t recognize me at all.

So I smiled and made the little hand gesture we had used years earlier as his Cell Wash anchor.

His face instantly lit up.

“You’re the Cell Wash Lady!”

We all laughed.

Of all the things he could have remembered from that hospital stay, it was that simple visualization and the little anchor we had created together that stayed with him.

I cannot tell you exactly why those changes occurred. I only know what all of us witnessed together that day.

What that experience reinforced for me is something I have believed throughout my career: the mind and body are constantly communicating. Guided imagery is not a replacement for appropriate medical care. Rather, it is a powerful way to engage the mind as a partner in the healing process.

That little boy reminded me of something we often forget as adults—that imagination is far more than fantasy. It is one of the most remarkable resources we possess.

More than twenty years later, it remains one of the most meaningful experiences of my career.

Whenever I think of that little boy, I still smile.

To this day, I’ll always be…

“The Cell Wash Lady.”

Change Your Life by Changing Your Mind™