Energy Express by Marilynn Preston

Last week, I promised a little guidance on how to create a visualization to connect your body and mind. It's called imaging, just the kind of thing you're called on to do in yoga classes, in relaxation seminars, in healing and sports performance classes clear across America, and I do mean clear. Before you can image in the best possible way — ask Tiger Woods, ask Rafael Nadal — you need to clear the mind of its constant chatter.

When you learn to follow your breath, meaningful words or whatever Letting Go technique you prefer, it helps you relax your brain and still your mind, and from that place of calm and creativity, a healthier happier lifestyle can begin to happen. It might take a few lifetimes, so be patient.

I can picture you leaning in: How do you use the power of your mind to relax, energize or even heal your body? That's the subject of Eric Franklin's book, "Dynamic Alignment Through Imagery," which I shamelessly exploited in last week's column and plan to dip back into this week, as I lay out some guidelines for using imagery in your own frazzled, busy, hectic life.

— START BY LYING DOWN. This is also called the supine position. Learn to love it, but don't allow sleep to overcome you. Snoring is especially naughty, but it happens. To stay awake, stay engaged in letting go. In yoga, the final posture is called "shavasana," the corpse pose. You allow your body to effortlessly sink into the earth. Aim for 20 minutes of this a day. If you can only grab five minutes a day — and only by locking the door and leaving your mobile phone in the car — that's good, too.

— BE IN THE MOMENT. "The image must be in the present moment," says Franklin, completely in line with the current thinking about current thinking. " [the image must] be visualized as vividly as possible, involving as many senses as possible. If you are imagining water bubbles moving up your central axis, hear them crackle and pop, let them tickle the front of your spine, taste the bubbles, smell their freshness."

— BE PRECISE. The image you come up with — one of my favs, cancer cells being engulfed and eradicated by an army of PacMan-like chompers — must have precise location and direction inside the body. Vagueness will get you nowhere. And don't let the image become static.

Keep it active with your imagination. If you imagine your back spreading out like butter — something Franklin recommends for people with tight, painful backs — "visualize the process of melting the butter, not the result, the molten butter."

— USE EFFORTLESS EFFORT. This is the secret of success in all disciplines: Strength through relaxation. If you don't know what I'm talking about, good. That means there is useful information you can discover for yourself — from a yoga teacher, a physical therapist, a Pilates teacher, sadly, few doctors — that will improve your health and performance in meaningful and measurable ways. Learning to relax and visualize isn't about trying to do something. Just the opposite. It's about surrendering effort, about going from "trying" to "doing."

"Do not worry about feeling anything specific or be concerned about the correct way to feel while imaging," writes Franklin, who wants you to quiet the inner voice that is telling you that imaging can't work, won't work, isn't something you can do. " Trying too hard will prevent a new process from emerging. Open yourself to the image, and let it do its work."

EN/X Q & A: WHICH FOODS FIGHT INFLAMMATION?

Dear Marilynn: I have arthritis. I'm in my '60s, and it's pretty bad. A friend told me that certain foods actually "fight inflammation" and I would feel a lot better if I ate some of those foods. Is she right? — from Y.O.L.

Ding-ding, your friend is correct. Thank her, and get out the sardines. Research has shown that certain foods increase serotonin, a powerful anti-inflammatory. Here's a list: celery, peppers (any kind), turmeric, ginger, Omega-3 foods (sardines, herring, mackeral, salmon, flaxseed, canola oil, soybeans, walnuts), Omega-6 foods (cereals, whole grains, eggs, poultry), Omega-9 foods (olive oil, mustard seed, avocado). Foods that are pro-inflammatory are red meat, nuts, seeds and oils from these. Sunshine, sleep, getting exercise and thinking positive thoughts increase serotonin, too. All free!

ENERGY EXPRESS-O! OVER HERD

"If we weren't supposed to eat animals, then why are they made of meat?" — Jo Brand

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She has a website, http://marilynnpreston.com and welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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