The Use Of Visualization To Enhance Quality Of Life.

What is visualization?

Most people live their lives incurious about how they can change their ways to better themselves. They fail to achieve fulfillment in their lives owing to their own hectic management. This has a negative effect on their overall well-being. To avoid this you need to explore different ideas and find new ways to get the best out of your life. One such way is visualization. I have compiled a lot of data including creative and interactive visualization information as well as techniques, to make you more aware of what it is and how you can use it to your benefit. So what is visualization?

Visualization is the process of highlighting one’s goals or plans in the mind, it is about thinking of the future as the present. By doing so, you create a clear path for you on how you will achieve those plans and goals.

We are constantly surrounded by technologies and we rarely get to spend time exercising our bodies and brains. Apart from that, our daily lives and the endless cycle of duties and chores prevents us from thinking clearly and we often end up unable to achieve our goals. Visualization is a mental rehearsal with the help of our brain and body working in conjunction to visualize the future in the present moment and imagining possible outcomes and how to deal with them.

Visualization is based on the principle that idea comes before action. It is a method that expands on that concept. Your brain’s neural imagery stores the future condition as if it were real today when you imagine it in full sensory detail.

Click to view each illustrator’s full portfolio

Visual vs non-visual imagery

Other than visual images, the brain is able to mimic or recreate perceptual experiences throughout all sensory systems, such as auditory-visual of noises, gustation-visual of flavors, olfaction-visual of odor, motor-visual of motion, as well as haptic-visual of touch, which includes surface, temp, and pressure.

Regardless of a person’s ability to produce mental pictures across sensory modalities, the phrase “creative visualization” refers to the act of generating and processing visual mental imagery.

Meanwhile, guided imagery is strongly connected to creative visualization, and it is frequently regarded as one aspect of it. A professional practitioner or instructor assists a participant or patient in evoking and generating mental pictures that replicate or recreate the sensory experience of sight, sound, taste, scent, motion, and touch, as well as creative or mental material that defies traditional sensory classifications.

Visual and auditory cognitive pictures are believed to be the most common in everyday life, controlled studies, and guided imagery, with visual images being the most thoroughly explored and recorded in the scientific research literature.

All mental imagery, including the visual images created via creative visualization, can trigger or be linked to powerful emotions or feelings.

The techniques of visualization

There are many visualization techniques for you to carry out as a daily practice. Through research from various resources, I have gathered as many details on visualization techniques as possible, so that you learn visualization techniques and utilize them to your benefit as well as increase your understanding of visualization techniques.

Mental imagery

Among all visualization techniques, mental imagery is a visualization technique that benefits you the most. Through this technique, you train your mind’s eye to create images of you succeeding in your goals. In the beginning, it may feel hard to focus, all beginners face this issue, but as you build your skills in creating the picture you want to create in your mind, it will become a lot easier. Here are the three easy steps: Create an environment similar to that of meditation. Sit down and get comfortable. Try to visualize a world where you have succeeded in your deeply desired goal. Try to think about how you can change things in your life to make that happen, and work towards that goal. All of these steps, if followed correctly, will help you to change the things in your life that hold you back from achieving your goals.

Guided imagery

This technique is fairly simple, what you have to do is train your subconscious mind to respond to any form of sensory input, such as sounds, smells, etc. For instance, if you are to give a speech in front of a large audience and you have to prepare yourself for everything to go smoothly, you can practice visualization while a specific song plays in the background, and before stepping onto the stage listening to the song will trigger images that you have visualized before.

Create a Collage

One thing that motivates people reminiscing on the past and thinking of how far they have come in their life. You can use this technique to remind yourself of where you once were, what you had planned for the future, and where did you want yourself to be. This can help motivate you to achieve all that you had planned and live your best life. To do this technique you need to create a vision board to present data of the past, and gather all images that you deem will help you remind yourself of your goals.

Create a Safe Space

If you wish to use visualization to combat anxiety and stress, this visualization practice will help you relieve stress and anxiety through creative visualization. This technique is about getting creative and making a safe space in your mind to wander off to at times when you feel the most stressed or anxious. A safe place for some individuals is in a beautiful garden filled with nature and green. For others, it is a bustling environment filled with people. It really doesn’t make a difference what your safe place is if it helps in calming yourself and relieving your stress and anxiety.

Index cards

Index cards can serve as a visual representation of your goals in the form of written notes. You can write notes to yourself in the future so that when you encounter those notes you are reminded of what you had in time at that point in time. Many high achievers have used this technique to help motivate themselves to achieve their goals. They now support others by spreading awareness about how they have managed to accomplish all that they have accomplished.

The importance of visualization

If your desire is to always get the best out of every possible situation, visualization can help you get there one step at a time. When we train our minds to react to situations in the best possible way, we get the best possible outcomes. For example, you’ve applied for a job and your interview is coming up, visualization can aid in creating a sort of virtual reality in your own mind and you get to live out the future, say the right things, and make the right moves. This can help you build your confidence and stand out in your interview.

Visualization is important in developing essential habits such as a positive attitude, as well as a healthy mind with much more clarity on what your future plans are and where your priorities lay. All in all, there are two sorts of people in the world, those that are driven by everything around them, going wherever chance takes them with little to no control over their lives, and those that dictate the realm within, controlling and shaping things according to their likes and dislikes and living the best life by getting the best of everything. The ones with more control tend to be at peace even if that control hasn’t earned them much because at least their life was not negatively affected by an outer source. Therefore, visualization is important to gain more control over your life and lead a satisfied life.

How to achieve your desired visual imagery?

To achieve your desired results from visualization, you will have to have a clear idea of who you are. How happy you are in different aspects of life and where you want to improve. Ask yourself if your current self is what you imagine yourself in the coming years. Try imagining yourself in like 10 to 20 years. What improvements or changes do you imagine? You will also need to have a clear idea of what thrills you. Imagine yourself in various adventurous scenarios and see how your body or nerves react. Ask yourself if this is what you see yourself doing somewhere in the future.

You, most definitely, have heard before that the best way to perform such self exercises is by jotting it down on paper. Write dozens of tricky questions that will derive reflective answers. Try to find answers on various aspects such as what you like and dislike in taste, in hearing, in seeing, etc. It’s doable if you believe in yourself. You are most definitely prepared to start practicing visualization once you know yourself and what matters most to you.

In addition, It is also important to note that not all people are the same and for some people, the regular techniques may not be useful. If you are unable to get the desired effect out of this practice, it is best to seek advice from professionals. Or by networking on social media, or by other means and joining a community of people that practice visualization collectively. This will help you get a better understanding of what to do and what not to do.

Is it effective?

The effectiveness of visualization is well documented. There are various celebrities who use visualization to better focus on their work. Method actors use it to relax their minds after a tiring project, singers use it to better their lyrics, while athletes use it to better focus on their goals. And these are just a few examples of professions where it has widely been tried and tested.

In addition, visualization has been scientifically proven to activate neuroplasticity, and stroke victims have utilized it for years. It is, without a doubt, effective in helping you be more attentive and relaxed. Visualization is the exercise of the mind, which is as important as going to the gym.

The perfect way to visualize.

The best way to start practicing visualization is by detailing all that you want and like. It is important that you are able to engage all your senses in this process. Imagine you are on a path to a certain outcome. Fill in as much detail as you can of that path while also visualizing the outcome. If you are able to get your emotions perfectly attached to the outcome, you are most likely going to succeed in your practice of visualization.

You will need to repeat this process day after day. Twice daily for at least 10 minutes. It is important to accept days in which it will end in disappointment as it is part of perfecting your practice. Be more focused on the end result and less on the disappointing aspects. The time of the day in which you practice visualization is important as well.

Almost all experts agree that it is more effective in the morning (just after you wake up) and at night (before you go to bed). You will reflect and visualize more constructively in these time periods. In addition to that, you should be able to write all your reflections, goals, and desired outcomes by easily engaging all your senses in these times.

In the end, the best way to visualize is always the one that benefits you the most. Because although there are many different techniques that have helped people to really achieve their best life, the technique that works well for you might not be the same that worked for them. So it is best to get out there and explore, to find the best way for yourself to achieve what you desire.

Conclusion

The information provided in this article has helped a lot of people become successful and fulfilled in their lives, from celebrities to high achieving business people, many have gained tremendously from visualization. And I hope by setting out time from your daily schedule and with the help of the information provided above, you can enhance your lifestyle and get the best out of your life.

FAQs

Q: What is the best way to focus during meditation?

A: The best way to focus during meditation is by eliminating all distractions and freeing the mind of all thoughts and worries.

Q: Is visualization a scientifically researched method?

A: Researchers, clinicians, scientists, and academics frequently measure, and analyze the influence of creative visualization and guided imagery in combination with other mind-body interventions such as meditation tunes or responsive music therapy, stress relief, relaxation techniques, or contemplative praxis, as well as self-reflective recording or journaling, among others.

Q: What is the therapeutic use of visualization?

A: The therapeutic use of creative visualization aims to teach the patient how to change their mental imagery, which leads to emotional change. The process helps the patient replace pictures that exasperate pain, aggravate psychological trauma, uphold debilitation, recall and re-create stress and trauma, or amplify feelings of stress like despair and anxiousness with visuals that emphasize as well as induce reassurance, cognitive clarity, as well as emotional composure. A practitioner or instructor can help a person or group through this process in person. Patients may also follow instructions supplied via a recorded sound, video, or audiovisual medium that includes spoken instructions music, and dancing or sound.

Q: What celebrities use visualization?

A: Lindsey Vonn, Michael Jordan, Will Smith, Idris Elba, and Jay Z, are all among the top celebrities that use visualization. Each of them employs visualization methods not just to offer them a competitive advantage, but also to nurture a feeling of belief, build confidence, and help create inspiration and momentum to fulfill their ambitions and live the life they genuinely desire.

Q: What is the best time to visualize?

A: Since night-time leads to sleep, visualizing before bed is really effective. This is due to the fact that you were focused on it enough that it has become ingrained in your vibration. When we sleep, it provides our vision time to develop because if you have doubts you may be unable to visualize. If you try visualizing before going to bed, you’ll give yourself a head-start as well as a good 6 to 8 hours for it to start working on its own. So, bedtime visualization is beneficial.