Creative Visualization
Review of the Day Exercise

1. Once you’re relaxed and heart-centered, take a minute or two to briefly review the events of the past day. Do this with compassion and objectivity, as if you were watching a movie in which you felt kindly toward the main character – yourself. 
   
   As you watch the movie of your day unfold, simply take note of those moments when you were relatively relaxed, and those moments when you were especially tense. If any self-judgment arises, or if you find yourself getting caught up in the drama of an event, simply shift your attention back to breathing into your heart and recall the positive emotion you evoked earlier. 
   
   
2. Once you’ve gone through the day, let it go, and take a few more breaths into and out from your heart, intensifying the positive feeling you evoked.
   
   
3. Staying anchored in the positive feeling, briefly return to the tense moments of the day and imagine them surrounded and penetrated by an atmosphere of calm and by the heart-feeling you’re now experiencing.
   
   
4. Finally, picture yourself at the end of the day and imagine yourself, as vividly as you can, having gone through the entire day in a calm, heart-centered state.  Notice how that feels in your body. Notice your state of mind.  Notice any changes in your sense of the people or events you had encountered.
   

When to Use the Technique

          You can do this exercise after your day is over – perhaps sitting in your car for a moment before driving home, or on the bus or train ride home.  It will help to shed any negativity you accumulated over the course of the day, freeing you to enter into your evening in a more open, positive, and relaxed state.

          Or you could do a review before going to sleep.  Instead of entering into sleep with your mind rehashing the day’s events, your mind will be calmer and clearer, allowing your sleep to be more restful, restorative, and creative.

          But you don’t have to wait until the day is over to reset your mental and emotional thermostat.  You can even do a mini review in the midst of your day – perhaps after a stressful experience – to immediately neutralize any negative impressions in your brain and body, thus preventing the stress from spilling over into the rest of your day. 

          Doing this exercise on a regular basis is a powerful way to rewire your brain for greater well-being, happiness, and harmonious connection to others.  When you also do the Preview of the Day exercise, the effect becomes even more powerful.

          For an understanding of how these exercises work, see the pages on Creative Visualization - An Introduction and Imagery Exercises.