Visualization is a valuable technique for many different things. You may have heard of this term before if you’re into spiritual topics or manifestation, and I’ll explain exactly what it is here shortly, but first I’d like to show you what one may look like. I will guide you on a visualization and then we will talk about the benefits, and some tips and techniques to master this skill. We would all love a nice relaxing vacation, right? So buckle up your seatbelt and get ready for this journey.
Before we begin, I recommend finding a space where you can sit quietly and undisturbed for the next few minutes. Once you’re ready, come back to this exercise.
Visualize this...
You’re driving on a winding road, windows down and a cool breeze in your hair. To the right you can see the ocean and hear its beautiful sound. You can feel your heart beating a little faster with excitement and anticipation. You’ve been waiting for this vacation for a while now, and you’re finally here. You turn down the music to absorb the sounds of nature more fully, and take a moment to thank your lucky stars for this opportunity. You think to yourself “it’s actually happening” as you continue driving down the coast line. Soon you see a sign indicating that you’ve arrived at your destination, and you feel a huge smile on your face as the excitement builds.
You park the car and take out your bags and step into the sand. You walk further onto the beach and see the colorful umbrellas lining the beach, and you pick a spot that feels just right. You lay down your towel and start putting on sunscreen. You can smell the sunscreen on your skin and the salty air start to mingle. The waves are going back and forth on the shoreline as you take in all the sounds and sights. You wiggle your toes and feel the sand gently sliding in between them. You walk to the shore, inviting the cool ocean water to run right through your feet and cool you down from the warm sun. It’s a beautiful, warm and sunny day and there’s hardly anyone at the beach. You can enjoy the hypnotic sounds of the sea and a breeze kissing your face. At this moment you cannot contain your gratitude, for this is a moment you’ve only been dreaming of, and visualizing until now. You take a moment to sit in gratitude and feel proud of your accomplishment. You feel that excitement bubbling just underneath your skin and you promise yourself to hold on to this memory forever, and always remember the power of your thoughts. You sit in contemplation for a while, and then decide to pull out that book you’ve been meaning to finish. You read quietly for a good while, until you start feeling your eyelids become a bit heavy. The ocean waves are like a lullaby, gently lulling you to a nice, relaxing sleep.
That was nice, wasn’t it? You can make it real.
So...what is Visualization exactly?
Perhaps you already know by the name (it is pretty straightforward) what visualization is all about, but let’s go over it quickly from a spiritual perspective.
Visualization is used as a tool to aide in manifestation. It’s not just imagining some sort of outcome you want to manifest in your life. If done right, it is a bit more involved. Visualization uses emotion and your senses to mentally transport you to that place you want to be. Instead of just picturing a generic beach in your mind, you also imagine the warm air blowing through your hair, you smell the scent of the ocean and the sand, you hear the waves calmly crashing down on the shore, you feel the sand on your feet, you hear the birds flying along the sea. Then, to take it a step further, you feel the emotions that you want to feel when you’re at the beach. Do you feel that excitement of being on vacation? Do you feel the relaxation and peace of being on that private island with your loved one? Do you feel that gratitude for the opportunity to take your vacation and letting go of your worries?
The more detailed you get about your end goal, the better. You can even go as far as to download a picture of the beach you wish to visit (or any other imagery to help you visualize) and study it closely. Then, as you’re doing your visualization exercise, use that image of the exact beach you want to go to and see it in your head in as much detail as you can muster.
It is important to note that although it is helpful to use details and be specific with your imagery, the most important ingredient to a successful visualization is your emotions. The more emotion you can put behind it, the more you can make yourself truly feel the feelings you want to experience, the more powerful it will be.
So to summarize. Visualization is the use of all your senses and your emotions to envision a certain outcome.
Want a raise at work? Visualize the conversation with your boss and feel the excitement and gratitude. See the paycheck in detail…what does it say?
Want to start your own business? See the logo printed on business cards and you handing them out to people with smiles on their faces. You get the gist.
Tell me in a comment what you are visualizing and I’ll give you an idea of something to use for your exercise.
Tips + Techniques
Use your senses
I know visualization sounds like it only has to be visual, but there’s so much more to it. You can use all your senses to exercise visualization. Think about it this way, if you’re trying to visualize yourself laying on a hammock on a beautiful beach, you don’t just want to see the ocean in front of you or the trees holding up your hammock. You want to smell the fresh breeze mixed with the salty ocean, you want to feel the texture of the hammock holding up your body, feel the sand between your fingers or toes, feel the sunshine warming your face and hear the waves gently crashing on the shore.
Another cool tip I have for you that I use all the time is using things you already have in your home to help you in your efforts. For example, if you have a candle or a scent that makes you feel happy and calm or reminds you of the place you’re visualizing, use it! The smell will act as reinforcement.
Same thing with sounds relating to your goal manifestation. Try to think of the sounds you will hear once manifested and find audio that helps reinforce it.
Visualization is much more about going somewhere else mentally and even spiritually than just an exercise in imagination. It’s a powerful tool that can get you far.
use your memory
A lot of what we do when visualizing (or dreaming) is to piece together a lot of little information we’ve gathered over time to come up with what we want to visualize. We are weaving together small bits of past memories to form something entirely new.
If we use our previous example by the beach, it’s easy to see why memory helps us visualize; it’s easiest to visualize something you’ve already experienced or seen, so your vacation to the beach years ago can come in handy when trying to visualize a beach.
use your emotions
Emotions are the *major* key to manifestation, which you probably know if you’ve researched manifestation techniques and are into the law of attraction.
Put yourself in the shoes of your future self, when you’ve accomplished that which you are visualizing. Or perhaps it may be easier to think of someone you admire who has achieved what you want to achieve, and imagine what they felt when it became a reality for them.
Think of every detail you possibly can of the moment you’ve made your visualization a reality; imagine the confidence you’ll feel, the joy, the gratitude, the happiness in friends’ and family’s faces when you share the news. Imagine the feeling of excitement in your body, that energy coursing through you that makes you want to do a happy dance!
Feel into the emotions of the place that you’re in, perhaps you’re seeing a more calm and serene scenario, then you’ll want to slow down and feel that calmness within you, feel the stillness of your mind and the gratitude in your heart for the relaxing and recharging moment you’re experiencing.
Again, if you’d like, you can also use ‘props’ or objects you already have that spark that feeling you want to focus on in your visualization. Perhaps there’s a certain scent that makes you feel zen or something that reminds you of past achievements you’ve already had. Perhaps even put on some music and actually do a happy dance.
The more you practice getting into this state of ‘feeling into your future’ as I call it, the faster you will get there because you’re actively putting yourself in vibrational alignment with it.
Think about it, if you can make yourself feel what it’s like to accomplish your dreams, you can do that every day and eventually you’ll just feel like that naturally! Then you’re not just a magnet for your dreams but you also don’t need to wait for it all to come into your physical reality to feel and be in that emotional state of happiness and accomplishment.
meditate
Ugh, I know I sound like a broken record but now that I meditate more regularly than I ever have before, I feel the difference it makes in my life, in my psyche and in my spiritual journey. Meditation allows you to stop going over your daily list of to-do’s and responsibilities and the constant thinking of the past and the future and it grounds you, brings you back to the here and now, this moment which is debatably all that exists. Meditation helps you quiet your stray thoughts to connect with what is real now.
I have such better control over my thoughts and emotions and my anxiety has cut down in half! I didn’t believe it either until I started taking it more seriously and now I can never go back.
I know this sounds like a PSA on why to meditate but hang in there, we’re not done and I’m not sorry; this stuff can actually change your life if you dedicate the time to do it properly. Meditation can help you concentrate better, and that helps when you’re trying to visualize things. The more you can shut out any external influences, the better you’ll be able to truly feel immersed in this place that you’re visualizing. Without your ego trying to chime in all the time, you’ll be able to be on that beach undisturbed and truly feel like you’re there.
surrender
This is probably the hardest step of all because we’ve been conditioned to be skeptical of any of these spiritually driven practices. It’s so ingrained in us to not believe in the magic of the universe that we just shrug it off and chock it up to be crazy talk. Nooooooo. Stop! I think deep down we all know that we are more connected to one another and to this world than our conscious minds want to admit.
The truth lies within us, but it is up to us to stop resisting to it and surrender instead. By this I mean, stop thinking that we’re just aimlessly wandering upon this universe with no purpose other than to wake up, go to work and eat and poop and pay bills. Like, come on. You were not born to be in your unfulfilling 9-5 and to pay the bills and things you don’t get to enjoy because you’re stuck in your 9-5.
We were meant to have this human experience, to have fun and to meet ourselves/ our purpose. We are stuck on a hamster wheel that was merely meant to distract us from our true calling. TV, video games, alcohol…it’s all meant to keep you vibrating at a low frequency because that means that you’re more easily controlled and more easily manipulated which means you’re more likely to blindly believe narratives that mass media and corporations want you to believe.
We are so much more in control of our own reality, and so much more in control of the course our lives take. When we surrender, we learn to go with the flow and allow the universe’s gentle waves to lead us in the right direction.
Surrender also means that you detach from the outcome. This is quite hard to do at first because we want this outcome to come true so badly, and that’s why we do all these things like visualization and journaling and scripting, etc, but the truth is that the more we stay in the feeling and vibration of “want” the farther we are from the feeling and vibration of “have” and “be”.
So once you do your visualization, surrender it to the universe and let it go. Then go and enjoy your life and do more things that make you feel the emotions that you visualize yourself having.
All of these tips and secrets will teach you and show you that you can choose to be in the driver’s seat of your life. You just have to surrender and believe.
final thoughts
It may take some time to master the skill of visualization, especially if you’re new to it but it’s a powerful tool to start putting yourself in the shoes of the person you’re trying to become and feeling the feelings that you will feel once your visualization becomes your physical reality.
Stay present when you’re not doing this exercise, and focus on the things in your life that are good and pure and make you happy and hold onto those feelings. Savor the moment every time you are enjoying yourself and feel genuinely happy and you’ll attract more of that into your life.
It’s important to strike a balance between trying to better ourselves and being present and focusing on today, and remembering that no matter what, you are worthy and enough just as you are.
Hi Tiffany,
I really enjoyed reading this. You’ve made the art of visualisation seem so much more accessible and achievable. Thank you.
I intend to work on visualising a successful outcome to each of the psychic fairs I attend as a tarot reader and astrologer. The fairs can be a little hit and miss, so I’d be grateful for any tips that will help me bring more success to my endeavours.
With grateful thanks
Chrissie x
Hi Chrissie! Thank you so much for your sweet comment! I’m glad you got something out of it.
I love that you’re putting yourself out there and sharing your light and your gifts with others. What I would recommend for your visualization is to see yourself in front of one or more of your ideal clients and feeling yourself being guided by your spirit guides to channel the messages that your client needs to hear the most. What would you like your client to feel during and after your reading? See those emotions emanating from them, see the gratitude and satisfaction in their faces. Feel that gratitude yourself for being able to help others in their path.
If you’d like for your booth to attract lots of visitors, visualize your booth being made of a giant magnet, attracting positive people and those who need your guidance, and seeing many people gravitating towards it with curiosity and wonder. See a list of many names waiting for their readings. Visualize your clients speaking to others, recommending your booth to them.
What emotions do you feel when you’re giving someone an amazing reading? Channel those emotions in your visualization.
See yourself leaving the fair in awe and excitement from a very successful day. Visualize yourself thanking your guides for helping you guide others on the right path and then doing a little celebratory happy dance!
Hope these help you at your next psychic fairs! I wish you only the best in your endeavors!
Kindly,
Tiff