Those of you who are regular followers of the Ponders may recall a previous blog post that spoke about Visualisation and what it can do for you. Well today’s ponder digs a little deeper into the ideas of what visualisation is and equip you with three exercises to try out for yourself.
Here’s the disclaimer. Visualisation is a practice. Key word there is practice. That means you’re not all that likely to be brilliant at it first time round. I wasn’t either. It’s something that gets better the more you do it. As the famous saying goes, practice makes… NO! Not perfect. Perfect is an unrealistic expectation. Progress. Practice makes progress. So, with that out the way, let’s get stuck in.
What is visualisation?
Visualisation is about imagining what is possible. It’s about using all the senses, despite what the name may indicate, to tap into your confidence and self-belief relative to what you can achieve.
There is a lot of discussion around visualisation and the categories that come with it. Some people like to visualise relative to each sense, others feel the point is about seeing the end goal. Me? I’ve broken them down into the first three categories I use.
- Visualisation as meditation.
- Visualisation for energy.
- Visualisation as rehearsal.
In today’s ponder, I’m going to take you through these, highlighting what they mean to me, and an exercise for you to try.
Visualisation as meditation
Visualisation as meditation is exactly as you’d think. You meditate but meditate with the purpose of engaging in practice. You set some time aside, however, long feels right, and create a space where distractions aren’t there for the duration of the practice. Within the meditation you are working towards seeing something come to fruition. A visualisation meditation exercise that I like to do is to is Affirming.
Exercise 1: Visualisation as meditation – Affirmations
This exercise is a visualisation exercise to support you in achieving the goals you’re working on. Whether that’s getting fit, losing weight, becoming debt free, or falling in love with yourself, the possibilities are endless. In order for this exercise to work, there should be a goal you’re working on to base the affirmations on.
- Create a space that you can be alone in. Remove distractions and find a comfortable position. It doesn’t have to be sitting on the floor, it could be lying down. It’s about what works for you.
- Once comfortable, close your eyes and focus in on your breathing. The aim being to breathe deeply, and slowly. I find breathing in for four, and out for four is a basic starting point. But again, find what works for you.
- Feeling that your breath has slowed, you’re going to start to think of phrases that will help you to facilitate the improvement you’re working on.
For example, if you’re working towards becoming physically stronger, saying to yourself “I am dedicated to becoming stronger”, or “I am working on building my strength, and will succeed” can be incredibly powerful reminders.
Another example, if you’re working to improve your finance, you could say things like “I am focussed on getting out of debt,” or “through the choices I make, I will get out of debt”.
What goal are you, or would you like to work towards?
If your friend was working towards that goal, what is something positive and supportive that you would say to them?
You’ve got your first affirmation!
As always feel free to share!
Visualisation as energy
Visualisation as we’re getting to know, is an incredibly powerful tool. Using visualisation as a way to increase your energy is really useful to know. Especially if the energy you need is connected to confidence and belief. Ultimately in this approach to visualisation you’re using your physicality to connect to energy, to let the power build and to make you feel unstoppable! (I mean there are even scientific studies on this that proof you can manifest the power!)
Visualisation as energy – The Superhero Pose
This exercise is designed to create confidence that you can achieve whatever it is you’re setting out to do. There has even been a study on its success! You can read more about that here.
- Find a space to stand in. I’d say if you’re someone who is easily embarrassed, you may want to do this exercise alone until you get used to it.
- Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip width.
- Keep you back straight and your head held high.
- Place your hands on your hips.
- You should look like you’re striking a superhero pose.
- Use the physical power of the pose to give you the energy you need to kick ass!
Visualisation as rehearsal
This is another form of visualisation and it’s one that is used by many an athlete. It’s the idea that you don’t just practice your specialism, or the thing you’re learning and honing, through physical repetition alone. But actually, it’s about training the mind as well.
In a study by Dr. Biasiotto, professor at the University of Chicago, basketball free throws were used as a way to test how effective visualisation can be on progress. He split the participants into three groups. Group 1 were asked to physically practice free throws every day for thirty days. Group 2 were asked to mentally practice for 30 days. In this they would imagine and visualise the process of throwing the ball. Group 3 were asked to not practice at all. The findings are mind-blowing.
Group 1 improved their free throws by 24%. Group 3 made no improvements. Group 2, who never touched a ball across those thirty days, made an improvement of 23%. If that doesn’t provide some indication of how powerful visualisation can be, I don’t know what will.
Visualisation as rehearsal – Repetition of the Outcome
This exercise is about practicing mentally as a form of preparation.
Using the visualisation in a way that you are imagining the process of whatever it is you want to succeed in and playing it out in your head with the optimum outcome. Whether it’s a test you’re sitting, an interview, a competition. It doesn’t matter. As part of the preparation, you imagine it all playing out in your head, again and again and again.
For example, with my motorbike manoeuvring test, I would visualise twice a day (following my first failed attempt) the test, what I needed to do for each manoeuvre, and visualising myself at the end with the certificate. It worked.
Try it. See how you get on.
Final thoughts
I hope this ponder has been useful. I’d love it if you could give the exercises a try and let me know how you get on.
Just remember, the process of visualisation can be a challenge because you have to have the focus to pull your mind back when it starts to wander. However, as with all things you practice, it takes time to master it.
This has been a SmartPonders.
Thanks for reading!
Steph x
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