Guided Imagery

You may have experienced the type of visualization called guided imagery. There is usually a leader guiding you through, but you can do it yourself.

A common approach is to imagine you are in a beautiful meadow, high in the mountains. There is a light, refreshing breeze. The air is crystal clear. You may want to add a stream with little ripples, so clean you can see to the bottom. Give it some fish if you want to. Do you want to glimpse a deer in the bordering forest? Put it there. It's your day dream. It's your visualization, which here isn't too different from a day dream.

How did you get to the meadow? Did you just find yourself on a path through the forest leading to it? Or did you open a door or step through a hedge in a city park and find yourself there?

Maybe you would rather go to the beach than to the mountains. Do you want big breakers or small ones? You probably do want to listen to the sound of the ocean and feel the warm sun. Feel the warm sand on your feet. Isn't it amazing that such a beautiful beach is so clean and uncrowded?

Pick one favorite imaginary place to go to, or more than one. Fill in the details. Go there when you need to relax, or just when you feel like it.

Practice visualization.