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Visualization has many potential benefits and has become widely known and widely taught. It has become so common that it is even lampooned in the media, often depicted as a blissed-out experience of closing your eyes and going to your “happy place.” Yet visualization has remained out of reach for many people who struggle to “see” anything in their mind’s eye when they try. In this post, we will explore why “not seeing anything” does not have to be a barrier to reaping the full rewards of the practice.
At its heart, visualization is the act of creating an immersive inner experience using the power of your imagination. It is like our own personal virtual reality, where we can enter our imaginations and create any kind of experience we want for ourselves. The term visualization does a great disservice to the practice, because the “visual” component does not have to be central at all. Here are three tips to reorient your focus and get the most out the experience.
Tip 1: Instead of trying to “see” something in your mind, try to create an immersive experience with all of your senses. If you are imagining yourself floating in a boat on a pond, imagine you can feel the sun on your skin. Imagine you can smell the fresh greenery in the environment. Listen for the gentle sound of flowing water around you. Take in the kinesthetic feeling of floating on water. Notice how none of these cues involve sight.
If you have ever had a craving for a food, you have likely had a successful “visualization.” You have imagined the food in some way, whether you could see it in your mind or not. You could imagine tasting it in your mouth, feeling its texture, smelling it. This is the same kind of full sensory experience to create in your mind during visualization. Mentally review each of the senses for what you can imagine using each one. You will soon be taking in so much sensory information that you will forget how much you can actually “see” or not!
Tip 2: Commit to your own learning process and making visualization work for you. If you tend to say “I can’t visualize,” try to swap it with an attitude that “I am learning.” Too often, people think they either have this skill or not. In reality, just like most things, it is a skill that you can develop over time. It takes practice getting used to imagining things in our minds and letting them come to life through our senses. It often takes a little creativity, playfulness, and surrender, which go against the common tendency to aggressively push ourselves and then criticize ourselves relentlessly if we don’t get it “right” (whatever that is).
This is your practice, which you are doing for your own reasons. Stay with that inspiration instead of trying to meet some external standard. It’s hard to ever know whether what we “see” in our mind is like what others see, so it’s best not to compare anyway.
You may find that many guided visualization practices don’t suit your temperament or preferences. You might find they have you visualize scenes you don’t like, such as a person who is afraid of the water being asked to visualize the calm of the sea. No thanks. Make sure you choose visualization practices that fit what you like and what you find relaxing.
In fact, don’t be afraid to skip the guided practices entirely and just spend five or ten minutes imagining an experience that you know is calming for you. You might even have a memory from a recent peaceful moment that you could revisit in your mind. It could be from a fancy vacation, or a simple moment from daily life like sitting in the sun on your porch.
Peaceful memories can be great to use for your imagined relaxation practice. They are supported by the fact that you have a real, lived sensory experience to draw upon in the practice. They are often more vivid, and come to life more easily than something you are trying to construct in your imagination from scratch.
Tip 3: Instead of focusing on what you can see, notice whether you are getting any benefit from the practice. Stay focused on whether you are getting what you want from the practice, or moving towards it, instead of whether you are “doing it right.” If you are practicing visualization for stress relief and relaxation, it is most important to create an imagined experience that feels easy and which actually induces a feeling of relaxation in your body. Are you feeling it? If so, rest assured it is working, regardless of what you may or may not see in your mind.
Our imaginations are powerful tools that we can learn to use for personal benefit. Don’t be fooled by the word “visualization”—what we can “see” is only the start of the experience, and not even the most important. With some commitment, curiosity, and a broader awareness of all of our senses, the practice can work for nearly anyone.
