VISUALIZATION MADE SIMPLE

VISUALIZATION MADE SIMPLE
A simple visualization practice

Here is an exercise in the basic technique or creative visualizationFirst, think of something you would like. For this exer-cise choose something simple, that you can easily imagineattaining. It might be an object you would like to have, anevent you would like to have happen, a situation in whichyou’d like to find yourself, or some circumstance in your lifeyou’d like to improve.Get in a comfortable position, either sitting or lyingdown, in a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed.Relax your body completely. Starting from your toes andmoving up to your scalp, think of relaxing each muscle inyour body in turn, letting all tension flow out of your body.Breathe deeply and slowly, from your belly. Count downslowly from ten to one, feeling yourself getting more deeplyrelaxed with each count.When you feel deeply relaxed, start to imagine the thingyou want exactly as you would like it. If it is an object, imag-ine yourself with the object, using it, admiring it, enjoying it,showing it to friends. If it is a situation or event, imagineyourself there and everything happening just as you want itto. You may imagine what people are saying, or any detailsthat make it more real to you.You may take a relatively short time or quite a few min-utes to imagine this — whatever feels best to you. Have funwith it. It should be a thoroughly enjoyable experience, likea child daydreaming about what he wants for his birthday.Now, keeping the idea or image still in your mind, men-tally make some very positive, affirmative statements to your-self (aloud or silently, as you prefer) about it, such as:Here I am spending a wonderful weekend in themountains. What a beautiful vacation.orI love the view from my spacious, new apartment.orI’m learning to love and accept myself as I am.These positive statements, called affirmations, are avery important part of creative visualization, which I discussin more detail later.If you like, you can end your visualization with the firmstatement to yourself:This, or something better,now manifests for mein totally satisfying and harmonious ways,for the highest good of all concerned.This statement leaves room for something different andeven better than you had originally envisioned happening,and serves as a reminder to you that this process only func-tions for the mutual benefit of all.If doubts or contradictory thoughts arise, don’t resistthem or try to prevent them. This will tend to give them apower they don’t otherwise have. Just let them flow throughyour consciousness, acknowledge them, and return to yourpositive statements and images.Do this process only as long as you find it enjoyable andinteresting. It could be five minutes or half an hour. Repeatevery day, or as often as you can.As you see, the basic process is relatively simple. Using itreally effectively, however, usually requires some understand-ing and refinement.