Visualisation is Using Your Imagination
Download the PDF (opens in a new tab or may download automatically. On the app – use the direct link within the app)
People often have misconceptions about what imagination is, so If you feel as though you do not have much of an imagination, don’t worry. This kit will help.
Visualisation/imagination/fantasy doesn’t have to be visual.
- It may be your inner creativity is biased toward audio, so you tell yourself how things look. I have a friend who sees the WORD for a colour (e.g., “red”) rather than visualising the colour itself.
- It could be your imagination is biased toward feelings or sensations (kinaesthetic), so you get a feel of what things look like, or what’s happening.
- It could be your imagination is biased toward having a sense (knowing) of what’s happening.
Many people believe a visualisation (using your imagination) should be a full-colour, Hi-Definition, movie as soon as they close their eyes. This is incorrect. Ask any meditation master, and they will tell you; your visualisation (whether visual, audio, feeling, or knowing) will be:
- Vague — ephemeral or ghost-like.
- Fleeting — quickly disappears, sometimes so fast you don’t notice it.
- Representational — so it may not look like the thing you wanted to imagine.
- It is YOUR mind — therefore your way of imagining, so do not compare.
Enhancement
It is not that people are incapable of having any visual representations so much as not noticing them. These exercises help you to catch the fleeting, vague, dimly-lit pictures flashing past your minds’ eye. Many people have a bias toward a representation other than visual. This is simply a bias; therefore, you can enhance the visual side as well.
This is just about the visuals/images you see with your imagination. It is not a measure of how well you can visualise since you may be either:
- Dismissing or not noticing vague images that flash past too quickly.
- Biased toward a different kind of imagination other than just visual.
Do these exercises as often as you wish, until you feel your visualisations have more visual elements. The first time is your baseline, so keep a record of how much you notice, with the 0-5 measure.
0-5 Measure
Give yourself a score related to the amount of visual elements you can imagine. For instance, in exercise ONE, you are asked to imagine an animal. Let’s say you choose an elephant. If you get zero visual, you give yourself a 0. This score is not about how good or bad you are at visualising — merely a score of how much you can notice right now.
| 0 | Zero visuals |
| 1 | Just caught a flash but couldn’t make out what it was |
| 2 | Noticed something but not sure if relevant |
| 3 | Noticed a recognisable, partial image — very quick & vague |
| 4 | Noticed a recognisable image — very quick & vague |
| 5 | Able to distinguish recognisable images even though quick & vague |
Exercises for Enhancement
For each of the six exercises that follow, do A and B.
A. Look out for any fleeting, vague, ephemeral, image — even if you are unsure of what it is!
B. When something/anything appears, say “YES!” And get excited about seeing more.
ONE
Remember an object you held in your hand today/yesterday (e.g., a cup/tumbler, phone/tablet, knife/folk, clothes/shoe, keys/steering wheel, pen/paper).
- How does it feel?
- What colour is it?
- Does it make a noise?
- What is a similar shape or colour?
TWO
If your score is ZERO, do exercise one again but this time pretend you can imagine what this object you can remember looks like, and answer the questions.
THREE
Hold a ball/apple/object in your hand(s). Look at it carefully, then close your eyes.
- How does it feel?
- What colour is it?
- Does it make a noise?
- What is a similar shape or colour?
FOUR
If your score is ZERO, do exercise three again but this time pretend you can imagine what this object you can remember looks like, and answer the questions.
FIVE
Think of an animal/plant/person.
- How does it feel to think of it/them?
- What colour is he/she/it?
- What sound does it/they make?
- What similar animal/plant/person can you think of now?
SIX
If your score is ZERO, do exercise five again but this time pretend you can imagine what this animal/plant/person looks like, and answer the questions.
Meditation of a Sunny Beach to De-stress
You can find this meditation on the FREE Meditation & Wellbeing mobile app, as well as lots of other meditations and resources to support your practice and personal evolution. If you cannot access the app, here is the meditation.
If you get the notion you are suppressing your imagination, Schedule a call with Colin Ellis to find out if he may be able to help.
Download a PDF of the Visualisation Kit (opens in a new tab and possibly download automatically – use the direct link within the app)