Music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all,
but you are the music
While the music lasts
--T S Elliot
Music can lead you on an inner journey into your own consciousness. In the powerful process of Guided Imagery and Music, appropriately-selected musical compositions take you wherever you need to go for personal growth and fullfillment. Under Amy's guidance, you can relax and vividly experience the wonder and power of music through your imagination, feelings, and imagery. At the end of the musical journey, you'll have the chance to share your experiences with the group. Afterwards, you'll create a visual image to help you better enjoy and remember the insights you received during your voyage.
Guided Imagery and Music is a music-oriented exploration of consciousness. Inspired by a mystical experience while playing the violin, Helen L. Bonny, Ph.D., wanted to share the healing power of music with others. So she brought her unique understanding of music to her work at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in the early 1970s. There, she combined relaxation techniques and classical music selections to trigger adventures in consciousness for her clients. The Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music has been built from her experiences there, and from the ongoing research and practice of Guided Imagery and Music throughout the United States and around the globe.
The colorful, often emotion laden world of music and imagery provides a window to view our inner selves. Through turning our senses inward, the imagination, stirred by fine music, enables us to view our feelings, memories, and intuitions.
--Carol Bush, Healing Imagery and Music
Amy Blair is an individual and group facilitator using the Bonny Method of Guided Imagery and Music (GIM). A Fellow of the Association of Music and Imagery, Amy received her training at the Mid-Atlantic Institute in Virginia Beach, VA., and the Southern California Center for Music and Imagery in San Diego, CA. In addition to her private practice with individuals and groups at The Human Potential Center, she facilitates group GIM sessions at the Summer Workshop of the Austin Chamber Music Center. Previously she was a presenter at the ECKANKAR 2002 Regional Seminar, at Austin's Healthy Living and Holistic Health Conference, and at the Advanced Topics Seminar sponsored by the Southern California Center for Music and Imagery. A former member of the Austin Symphony Orchestra, she also maintained a private clarinet studio and served as a coach with the Austin Chamber Music Center (ACMC). She was one of the founding members of ACMC. Amy holds both Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees from The University of Texas at Austin.
How is it that music can, without words, evoke our laughter, our tears, our highest aspirations?
--Jane Swan
Music's sounds may almost miraculously melt down highly defended ego boundaries and caress frozen feelings back to life. Eventually our listening to music's sounds opens doors of compassion towards ourselves and towards other beings, towards all of us who are enmeshed in the dance of human life. The experiences happen perhaps only for the briefest of moments -- I call it a crack in time. They shift our consciousness into an expanded awareness where we unite with a cosmic rhythm pulsating in us. When this shift in consciousness takes place, we feel as being moved by a power or "something" beyond ourselves. Mediated via music, which locks us into imagery, music's sounds become the transformative power for old ego-wounds to blossom forth into unexpected flowers.
--Gabrielle Hoffmann
Call the Center at (512) 441-8988 to make an appointment, or email us at GIM@HumanPotentialCenter.org. The fee for individual sessions of Guided Imagery and Music is $75 per session, and sessions usually last between an hour and an hour and a half. If you'd like to get a taste of Guided Imagery and Music, Amy offers two-hour introductory workshops at The Human Potential Center, usually on the third Thursday of each month. To determine the date of the next introductory workshop, check our monthly calendars.
journeymusic floating
awake or dreaming?
spinning -- sinking deeper as music evokes images
HER images
Of castles - flower filled meadows
She is beautiful as she plays and laughs
tensebodyblackcloudsveiledfigurespersuingrelentlessly
She turns - CONFRONTS - pulls the veil
HUGE DARK OVERWHELMING - IT APPEARS
COURAGE and STRENGTH
music's gifts begin to flow
THE BATTLE IS INTENSE SHE WINS!!!!
ahhÉÉ.reliefÉÉ.releaseÉÉ.peace
special friends appear
on the breath of music she rises
freeÉÉ..awareÉÉ..alive
--Amy Blair