These three simple words are the most and effectively changing your life. But there is a method to applying this mantra, and that is through #visualization, which can become your personal genie!
Visualization is a very powerful mental technique that uses your imagination to make your dreams come to life. It has proven to work for centuries. It has been found in some form across almost all religious practices. It has been widely applied by Buddhists, Wiccans and other ancient practices. In the 19th century the concept came into the limelight thanks to the New Thought movement. However, in recent times, one book and a movie created waves across the world. Based on the same principle, ‘The Secret’ showed millions across the world how they could control their destiny using techniques such as visualization.
What many people don’t know still is that visualization (though known by other names) is used extensively in motivational and confidence building programmes, as part of military training and by sports people to mentally envision meeting their end target or goal. It is also used for training sales staff by repeatedly making them visualize themselves closing the sale.
Interestingly for sceptics, in the past decade, quantum physics has actually lent further credence to the fact that thoughts do actually have an effect on our reality. And thousands of experiments across the world now confirm this.
What is visualization?
Visualization is the practice of picturing your goals in order to attain them. It’s about using your mind and imagination to build mental images and guide positive intention to achieve your objectives. Through visualization, we create a vivid road map for both our conscious and subconscious mind. And once we can “see” something in our head, our mind finds it easier to achieve it. After all, everything that man created was first a thought, which he visualized.
How does visualization work?
Science and spirituality both agree that everything in the universe is interconnected. And that everything, even thoughts, are made of energy and have a vibrational frequency. Every thought you have sends out a vibration that influences everything around you. This in turn triggers a chain reaction that impacts how you create your own reality. It’s like a ripple effect created by throwing a pebble in water.
On an internal level, when you have repetitive thoughts, the subconscious mind starts believing them and begins acting on them. If these thoughts are accompanied by images and emotions, the subconscious becomes even more efficient and gets into hyper-drive. This combined with the fact that thoughts have a magnetic effect and attract other similar thoughts and circumstances, is how your thoughts determine your reality. And visualization becomes the vehicle for your thoughts to travel to the destination of your choice, thereby also creating a reality of your choice.
Prepare…
The first step before you get started is to relax yourself completely, both physically and mentally. When you are relaxed it becomes easier to visualize and you also gain direct access to your subconscious, which plays a key role in creating the results you want. This is how you can get in to a relaxed state…
• Wear comfortable clothing and loosen anything tight around your body, such as a tie, belt or drawer string. Remove your shoes.
• Find a quiet place. Sit on a comfortable couch or lie down. Avoid a cover as that could make you too relaxed and put you to sleep.
• Adjust the room temperature and keep it moderate. If you like music, you can play soft, instrumental music at a low volume.
• Relax each part of your body, working upwards from your toes to your head.
• Close your eyes and deep breathe for a few minutes. Four to five minutes is ideal.
• Once you are relaxed, with your eyes closed, picture a juicy red apple (or any fruit of your choice) in great detail. Notice its colour, its texture and size. Where is it lying? What is around it? Are there any other details that you can see? This is a warm up to the actual visualization exercise.
• You may now begin…
How to visualize…
1. Decide what you want. Get Specific.
In the beginning, you mind may be filled with a hundred different thoughts. But just like you can make a genie only grant one wish at a time, each visualization exercise has to focus on one goal at a time. Filter your thoughts and narrow down the exact things you desire. For example, if your desire is to be happy, you need to break down what will bring you happiness. Is it a good partner, a great job and/or a beautiful house? Whatever your goal, be specific. Remember, only when you name it, can you claim it!
2. Take baby steps
To start with, it’s a good idea to define short term goals that may seem achievable to you. Like visualize yourself having a really good time at an office party that you are dreading. Once you have just one or two smaller successes with visualization, you will see how your mind becomes more receptive, and your confidence to achieve larger goals gets bolstered.
3. Do not counter-visualize
Give yourself some time to grow with the practice and be patient and gentle with yourself. Visualization is a not a long and hard process, but impatience can make it difficult and even work as counter-visualization. “This will not work for me” or “I just can’t do this” are examples of counter-visualization. Avoid this at all costs.
4. Visualize in the present tense, stay focused and strong
Once you decide what you want, imagine it as though it is happening in the present tense - NOW! It can be tough in the beginning, especially if your current situation is contrary to your goal; for example, thinking of prosperity in the midst bankruptcy. Or finding a wonderful partner when none is in sight. But stay focused and you will soon see things change.
5. Visualize in first person
It is very important that you picture everything from the first person’s point of view, which is YOUR point of view. All the good things that you wish to happen to you, must literally be unfolding around you, just the way they would in real life.
6. Make your own Mind Movie
You are the director and the hero of your life’s movie. Visualize your goal in great detail, see it unfold like a movie and play it out repeatedly on your mind’s screen. Then start to “feel” all the emotions attached to it. Feelings turbo charge your thoughts, so go ahead and feel the happiness, pride and bliss of seeing your dream come to life. Play your movie as often as you can through each day. It's a very useful visualization tool.
7. Create a Vision Board
Take a board on which you can stick all the things you want to attract into your life. Put your picture in the centre and start collecting images that represent your goals… things, emotions, kind of people or situations that you wish to attract into your life. Have fun with your board and place it where you can see it several times a day.
8. Let gadgets help…
Use your computer to make a slide show that has pictures of things related to your goal. These can be similar to the stuff you can use on the vision board. Add powerful affirmations or inspirational quotes. Put a music track that uplifts and inspires you and once it is done, put it on your desktop or someplace where you will be able to access it easily. Load on to your cell phone if your model supports it. And play it at least thrice a day – during a coffee break, on the way to work or instead spending time surfing aimlessly! This will continuously deliver messages to your subconscious mind, thereby creating a subtle shift in your belief systems and aligning them with your goals.
Overcome initial hiccups…
When practicing visualization for the first few times, you may find that you are not being able to make up pictures in your mind - at least not right away. Don’t let that bother you as it is a commonly experienced hiccup. Some of us are stronger visually, while others are stronger kinaesthetically (with feelings). If you are the latter type, you may first experience a feeling and that can lead to visualizing the scene.
In addition, if you believe you can't visualize, then maybe you are setting the wrong expectations for yourself. Don’t expect your "visualizing" or “picturing” ability to straight away be as clear as something you see with your eyes open. Or on the TV screen or even during a vivid dream. The images you see during visualization will become clearer with practice, but the most important thing to bear in mind is that it’s not the image quality that holds the power of visualization - it's the feelings!
If you can feel that you're involved with something you imagine, then you're doing creative visualization. Feelings and emotions are our most primitive and also our most reliable inner guidance system. They change our biochemistry and the vibration of our energy, both of which are the activating forces behind the law of attraction! As long as you can recreate using any of your senses, it shows that you have the ability to visualize.
Just be open and begin with the sense that you're able to work with most easily. If you want to open a bakery in the mountains, and can’t “see it too well” right at the beginning, then start by smelling the mountain air, or the aroma of freshly baked bread. Or feeling the morning nip in the air or the warmth from the ovens. See what instinctively feels right for you. And while you are overcoming the hiccups, constantly remind yourself that you can do this, because you can…unless you're in a coma!
Making Visualization work for you…
1. Practice. Practice. Practice.
The key to effective visualization is regular practice. Only once you do that will the subconscious and the universe get mobilized to help you achieve your goal. So no matter what happens, keep aside at least 20 minutes everyday to visualize. Excuses for not being regular will only hamper and delay your own happiness.
2. Supplements, Not Shortcuts
Making vision boards or visualization boards, and slide shows are supplements for your visualization. Do not think that once you make these you can simply keep watching them and not spend any time visualizing in your mind. That’s like trying to get muscular without exercising.
3. Junk the passive experience
If at any point your mind movie, vision board or slide show becomes a passive experience – one that you just go through without any feelings attached – then it’s time to junk it and start afresh. Maybe the images don’t resonate with you any more. They don’t trigger a reaction. Where there are no feelings, there will be no results.
4. Keep your friends close, but your dreams closer
Your dreams are yours alone. Keep them close to yourself and pursue your visualization practice privately without sharing details with others as their reactions may affect the outcome. Some people are cynical, others may mock you and even if it is harmless, you do not need that to affect your subconscious and come in the way of fulfilling your dreams. And you can also do without the negative vibrations of cynics and jealous individuals.
5. Express Gratitude
Would you rather spend hours in the sweltering heat cooking for some one who comes, eats and shows no appreciation for your time and effort? Or cook for someone who wholehearted enjoys and appreciates all that you have done? Who will you enthusiastically cook for again? Most people would pick the latter, because gratitude is a great motivator. Even for your subconscious and the universe at large. So when you see even little goals being achieved through visualization, take the time to express your gratitude.
6. Stop being cynical and approach it with an open heart and mind
If you don't have true belief in your heart you will sabotage any attempts at visualization. So keep your self-talk positive, reassuring and always expect the best out of every situation in life. Your mind is the most powerful tool you have and the more you learn to use it to your positive advantage, the better your life will be.
All Rights Reserved
