Mental Moment-An Exercise in Visualization

Some people are better than others at visualizing. Some people believe that they cannot visualize, but what they are actually experiencing is the inability to visualize on demand. Everyone has experience of dreaming, and dreams are just visualizations, so the ability is there. You just need to develop it. If you cannot visualize colors or you only get words or feelings don’t feel you have failed or that you have to try extra hard. Just use a visualization technique that allows your mind to drift and see whatever your mind lets you see.

Everyone can learn to visualize. For example, look straight ahead and then close your eyes. How much can you recall of what you have just been looking at? Most people can picture very little, but everyone gets better with practice. Repeatedly opening and shutting the eyes and trying to visualize more of the scene will prove to you that practice does increase the ability to recall the image and that you can train yourself to visualize.

Eating a Lemon Visualization Exercise. This exercise has been around for years and is a good one for developing your visualization skills. Imagine you are in a kitchen somewhere.On a bench is a basket of lemons. You reach out and select a ripe yellow lemon. You feel the weight of the lemon in your hand…, you slide your fingers over the smooth waxy skin… feel the dimpled Eating a lemon exercisetexture… You lift the lemon to your face and breathe in that lemony smell… and then you slice the lemon open. As the bright yellow flesh is exposed you see the juice run out… a lovely lemony citrus aroma fills the room. You cut a slice and put it in your mouth. You bite down on it …. the juice runs over your tongue… your mouth fills with the taste of lemon juice…

Most people will find their mouth watering after reading the Eating a Lemon visualization exercise. This is because in order to make sense of what you hear or read your brain has to retrieve the memories – the images, smells, textures – that the Lemon Visualization brings to mind. The experience of eating a lemon is something that generates powerful physical reactions. Recalling eating the lemon recalls the distinctive reaction, and your body responds with a conditioned reflex. The Eating a Lemon visualization exercise demonstrates that words undoubtedly do have a physical effect on the body.

Visualization is an excellent tool for the following reason’s:

1. Stress relief: visualization is a form of relaxation. The simple act of quieting your mind and visualizing something reduces the amount of stress you are constantly bombarded with on a daily basis.
2. Joy: visualizing something that you want to have or want to experience can bring great joy into your life. We may not be in the position right now to do or have what we want, but we can visualize it. This is the next best thing to actually having it or doing it. Our minds don’t know the difference in visualization and actually having or doing a thing, so it will respond in the same way it would if you where actually experiencing that which you are visualizing.
3. No limitations: with visualization there are no limitations. You can be and do anything. When we visualize, we have the power to visualize whatever we want without limitations.
4. Improved focus: when you quiet your mind to visualize, you are actually improving your ability to focus. You no longer are bound by the restrictions of your day. The more you visualize, and the better you get at it the better your overall focus becomes.
5. Inspiration: you can gain inspiration and you can become inspired to take action toward your dreams by taking the time to visualize them. We are more likely to believe in and to move forward toward or dreams, if we can actually see them as possible and visualization can do that for us.
6. Self confidence: as we visualize and see ourselves having and doing the things we want, we begin to become more confident in ourselves. The more confident we become in ourselves, the more we start to do and be, which in turn, builds even more self confidence.
7. Goal achievement: as we have seen above, visualization can help us to have greater focus, it can inspire us, and it can help build self confidence. With all of this it becomes easier for you to achieve your goals, not to mention you are seeing yourself accomplish these goals in your mind’s eye so your mind starts to believe you can accomplish these goals and starts the process towards those goals.
8. Mood booster: naturally, if we are becoming more confident, relieving stress and experiencing more joy then our mood is going to increase as well. Any time I finish visualizing, I feel calm, relaxed and extremely happy. I feel like I can do anything. These are the true benefits of visualization.
9. Practice and rehearse: even on a rainy day you can practice pitching, or running, or swimming all in your mind. It has been proven that visualizing yourself doing something is just as effective as actually doing it and in some cases even more so. Combining creative visualization with actual physical practice can catapult your results.
10. Health benefits: you can actually visualize yourself getting better. You can visualize your body rebuilding itself, and in turn, your body will begin to respond. The other benefit is that the act of visualizing, no matter what it is your visualizing, reduces stress, relaxes the mind, and increases our overall mood which in turn lowers our blood pressure and allows our body to function at full capacity.

I hope you had a great Memorial Day!

Dr. Michelle

Photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org