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We have now come to the point of visualizing the big things we want to create in our lives. I thought it might be fun and interesting to create a diorama to really give some added depth and dimension to our visualizations.
What is a diorama? A diorama is a little world that can be viewed as a story. Dioramas are used to show things in relationship to each other, which makes them a creative tool. This can be a powerful way to create a desired outcome. Putting the images into a diorama makes it easy and fun to be reminded of what you are working to create in your life.
Things You’ll Need:
Step 1: Use a small box so the diorama does not become overwhelming. It might work better to find a few small, powerful images than to fill a large diorama box with too many symbols. A small shoe box is just about right. The diorama is like a stage. The box is on its side, like a room with one wall removed, or like a dollhouse, where it is easy to look inside.
Step 2: Spend some time going through magazines to find all the right images to use in the diorama. Some of the most effective scenes include people and items from daily life, like chairs and tables. Making a scene that is somewhat like a familiar room can help bring the visualization into focus. For example, if you are wanting to make new friends, then look through the magazines for images of people. Think about mixing and matching the faces, clothing, and other parts to come up with fantastic friends.
Step 3: Use things around the house for armatures to put the magazine pieces on. A table can be made from a box that a deck of cards came in, with cardboard legs, for example. To make it a feast for the eyes, cut a square of paper with a gorgeous pattern on it, and place it on the table with the corners hanging off the sides of the table like a tablecloth. The magazine people can be fortified with cardboard, using a square of cardboard taped to the bottom so they will stand if wanted.
Step 4: Add lots of detail such as wall coverings and windows if the scene is indoors. Or, if the visualization is outside, find the appropriate outdoor scene in the magazines and piece it together on the inside of the box. Include animals, magic items, musical instruments, anything that can contribute to the visualization.
Step 5: A light can be used to make the diorama come alive. A string of holiday lights can be used simply by placing the string along the front of the diorama. Or, a window can be created in the back of the scene so a small flashlight can shine into the diorama. Creative lighting can make a big difference in the overall enjoyment of the finished piece. Make sure all the pieces are secured, unless you want to be able to move them around.
Invite family members to make dioramas as well, this can be a really fun project for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Need some inspiration? Here's an example:
Our life is shaped by our mind;
we become what we think.
Suffering follows an evil thought
as the wheels of a cart
follow the oxen that draw it.
Our life is shaped by our mind;
we become what we think.
Joy follows a pure thouught
like a shadow that never leaves.
~Dhammapada
One: Do awareness meditation outside, with the intent to discover something new about Nature that you never knew before. Be aware of visual details in plants, trees, soil, water, clouds, birds, animals, etc, but pick a restricted area to focus on, like a single plant or group of plants, or the clouds in one part of the sky, or one animal. The new thing you learn doesn't have to be dramatic, just new. This not only enlarges your appreciation of Nature, it also provides rich associations between Nature and your life, and increases your awareness of patterns, natural and unnatural, in the environment. I used this nalu once to find a pair of wire rim glasses someone had lost in a Tahitian jungle.
Two: Meditate on the world around you in the framework of its being a dream. That is, look at it as if it really were a dream, a projection of your own consciousness and not a separate thing with solid object. This is one of the most disturbing exercises for many people because it begins to change the pattern of your habitual relationship to the world, some very strange effects may occur. Just remember that if you don't like it you can simply stop doing it. Some will find that it opens up unparalleled adventure, however. I have used it to discover other dimensions or dreams in the midst of this one, which has given me a greater range of action in my undertakings.
Three: Focus on an imagined thought form. This jumps us into a different range of awareness. In ordinary terms I'm suggesting that your purposely create a hallucination, but in esoteric terms I'm suggesting that you exteriorize a thought. Imagine something in your immediate environment as vividly and realistically as you can and observe it as if it were as real as anything else around you. Your imagined subject could be something that is beautiful, that is useful, that represents a goal, or that represents a problem. You'll get the same effects as with the previous meditations, and in addition it will be great training for your imagination. An added benefit is convenience. You can carry a thought form with you anywhere.
~Serge Kahili King
Here is an exercise that focuses on your peripheral sight. What you do is pick something in your immediate environment to center your attention on, and then shift your attention to your peripheral vision, that which is visible around the edges of your vision, without moving your eyes. Let your attention wander all around the outer edge of vision, just don't move your eyes if you can help it. I suggest not more than five minutes at a time to begin with, and remember to blink. In addition to the meditative benefits, the purpose of this exercise is to relax your eyeballs, change some mental habits, and expand your vision.
In Western culture many people grow up trying too hard to see things clearly, trying too hard to see what others have told them is out there, trying too hard to focus with their eyes instead of their attention, or trying too hard not to see what they shouldn't and what they fear. The result is often a rigid seeing pattern that verges on tunnel vision and puts great strain on the eye muscles. Since memory is stored in patterns of muscle movement and position, limited seeing patterns may also be linked to memory suppression or memory obsession (when you can't get a memory out of your mine). Because most people have not been trained to use their mind efficiently, they tend to use their body for things the mind is designed to do (like when you try to push a ball in a hole or a basket with your body even after it's on its way). So often they unconsciously use their eyes to push and pull or hold in place.
In addition to helping to relieve the tension produced by such factors, this exercise opens up your vision in two curious ways. First, you may begin to see farther around you than seems physically possible. It is not uncommon for people to see things that are behind them while doing this exercise. Second, you may begin to see things that people looking with ordinary sight will say aren't or can't be there, like movement, waves of energy, objects, or figures. If you experience it, it's real. you don't have to figure out what it means or why it's there, or whether something is wrong with you because no one else can see it, any more than you would if you happened to catch a glimpse of a wild animal in the woods that no one else around you saw. Simply enjoy the fact that you saw it.
The chanting of a word or phrase is a very old method for achieving focus, and if you imbue a word or phrase with magic, if you empower it with belief and expectation, then it will do magic for you.
Here are some suggestions for using this very effective process to change your responses to emotionally negative memories. Note that some memories may have to be worked on more than once.
Note: Silly stuff generally doesn't work well on very traumatic memories because many people have strong rules about treating pain seriously. For traumatic memories I suggest starting with opposites or the viewpoint change.
All of your assumptions, attitudes, beliefs, expectations, habits, skills, behavior, moods, emotions, experience, language, and creative thought are based on memory. Memories themselves are patterns of energy that symbolize events which are stored in such a way that an inner or outer stimulus (even another memory pattern) can activate them. Memories, of course, are vital to our functioning a human beings, but if the activation of the memory also activates a negative emotional response, the effect can be detrimental to our health, well being, and effectiveness.
Let's take a breather and make some time to talk about the last two weeks, OK?
How have we done so far? Have we been successful in the smaller things we've visualized for ourselves and others? Do we feel like we "know" what we are doing? Are there questions still unanswered? Visualizations still unmanifested?
This next week, we'll be visualizing "big" things for our friends and family. Do you have some ideas already? Is it easier, or harder to feel confident in visualizing the "larger" things we'd like to see unfolding?
Do you feel more comfortable visualizing for others? or does it feel better to visualize for yourself? Why do you suppose that is?
I still have quite a lot of ideas, activities, and information upcoming for this project. I'm hoping I haven't inundated everyone with too much of a good thing! My idea was to put up something informational as well as an easy exercise every day, with occasional meditations thrown into the mix.
One other thing I'm currently working on is making audio recordings of the guided meditations and making them available for download. When I get that accomplished, I'll let you know. Is there anything else that you'd like to see, or learn about in the next 2 weeks?
This is a very simple visualization technique, and one which is good to do at the beginning of any meditation. The purpose of it is to get your energy flowing, dissolve any blocks, and keep you firmly connected to the physical.
The universe is made of pure energy, the nature of which is to move and flow. The nature of life is constant change, constant flux. When we understand this, we tune into its rhythm and we are able to give and receive freely, knowing that we never really lose anything, but constantly gain.
Once we begin to learn to accept the goodness of the universe, we naturally want to share it as well, realizing that as we give out of our energy, we make space for more to flow into us.
When, through insecurity (fear) and a feeling that there "isn't enough," we try to hold onto or cling to what we have, we begin to cut off this wonderflow of energy. In the process of hanging onto what we have, we fail to keep the energy moving and we don't make space for new energy to come to us.
One of the first things you should do when you start using creative visualization is to create a sanctuary within yourself where you can go anytime you want to. Your sanctuary is your ideal place of relaxation, tranquility, and safety and you can create it exactly as you want it.
Just in case any one is still having problems with "visualizing" this is what Shakti Gawain had to say about it in her book "Creative Visualization:
Many people wonder exactly what is meant by the term "visualize." Some worry because they don't actually "see" a mental picture or image when they close their eyes and try to visualize. When some people first try to visualize, they feel that "nothing is happening." Usually, they are simply blocking themselves by trying too hard. They may be feeling that there's a "right way" to do this, and that their own experience is incorrect or inadequate. If this is how you feel, you need to stop worrying, relax, and accept what happens naturally for you.
Don't get stuck on the term "visualize." It is not at all necessary to mentally see an image. Some people say they see very clear, sharp images when they close their eyes and imagine something. Others don't really "see" anything; they sense or feel it, or they just sort of "think about" it. That's perfectly fine. Some people are visually oriented, some are auditory, others are more kinesthetic. We all use our imaginations constantly, it's impossible not to, so whatever process you find yourself doing when you imagine is fine.
If you still don't feel sure what it means to visualize, read through the following exercise, then close your eyes and see what comes naturally to you.
The exercise:
Close your eyes and relax deeply. Think of some familiar room such as your bedroom or living room. Remember some familiar details of it, such as the color of the carpet, the way the furniture is arranged, how bright or dark it is. Imagine yourself walking into the room and sitting or lying down on a comfortable chair, couch, or bed.
Now recall some pleasant experience you have had in the last few days, especially one involving good physical sensations such as eating a delicious meal, receiving a massage, swimming in cool water, or making love. Remember the experience as vividly as possible, and enjoy the pleasurable sensations once again.
Now imagine that you are in some idyllic country setting, perhaps relaxing on soft green grass beside a cool river, or wandering through a beautiful, lush forest. It can be a place that you have been, or an ideal place where you would like to go. Think of the details, and create it any way you would like it to be.
Whatever process you used to bring these scenes to your mind is your way of "visualizing."
There are actually two different modes involved in creative visualization. One is receptive, the other is active. In the receptive mode we simply relax and allow images or impressions to come to us without choosing the details of them; we take what comes. In the active mode we consciously choose and create what we wish to see or imagine. Both these processes are an important part of creative visualization, and both your receptive and active abilities will be strengthened through practice.
For the best effect, do each one, with the same subject, for at least a week at a time.
As you begin to focus, you may discover just how little you know about focusing. Consciously and intentionally keeping your mind on one thing for an extended period (for some people ten seconds is an extended period) is a rare skill, in which nalu is designed to train you.
It's easy to keep your attention on something exciting, interesting, habitual, or important. It's just that for most people focusing the mind is neither exciting, interesting, habitual, nor important. Well, nalu won't be exciting unless you are using it to focus on something you consider exciting; it will be interesting if you keep the positive expectation and open awareness; it won't be habitual until you establish the habit; it will be important only as long as what you are using it for is important to you
In the nalu of sight, you maintain your focus by keeping you attention on the subject and by gently bringing your attention back each time it strays. If you get verbal chatter while you are looking at something, that's okay. Just use the words to help you keep your focus. One way is by using words to describe the appearance or the qualities of the subject to yourself. That will keep your verbal part busy and helpful at the same time. Eventually, as you relax more, the words will fade away and you will just be with the subject, learning more than you realize at the mind-body level.
It is a special form of shamanic meditation. This word means "to form waves" a metaphor for broadcasting thought patterns as well as "to meditate." Through its roots the word means "peaceful union" or "a state of unity" with connotations of a cooperative relationship... the essence of the technique is a gentle effortless resting of attention and awareness.
On nalu you don't do anything forceful. You just look, listen, and/or feel. The beneficial effects happen all by themselves because the continuous attention links your pattern to the pattern you are focusing on. What makes nalu so fascinating is the variety of effects that occur depending on your area of focus.
Neither prayers nor spells nor affirmations will do much good if they are spoken with wistful hope or as if the words themselves held the magic. Confident authority is the key to conscious creation, whether used with words, visualizations, or feelings.
Practicing concentration exercises is an excellent way to strengthen your awareness of the power of thought. When you are a quick thinker, and you easily jump from one idea to another, it is common to have little awareness of your own thoughts. But the person who can concentrate intently and deeply on the object of his desire, who can form an image with detailed clarity and hold it attentively in his mind for a long as he desires will experience the results of this thinking in physical manifestation.
Here is a meditation you can do to improve your self esteem and increase your capacity to handle the love and energy that the universe is ready and eager to send in your direction:
I'm going to ask you to do something you may never have done before. For one full minute, sit quietly, close your eyes, and compliment yourself unceasingly for any good quality, characteristic, or behavior you can think of. It's okay to repeat yourself if you can't think of a lot to say. With practice it gets easier.
If negative responses or self-criticisms arise spontaneously, don't give them any importance; just keep on complimenting (it's also okay to do this for more than a minute). When you've finished, be aware of your feelings and sensations. You will almost always feel a lot better.
Next, for one full minute, sit with your eyes open and compliment any good quality, characteristic, or behavior you can be aware of in your immediate environment. Again, don't pay attention to criticisms and go longer if you like. Isn't that a great way to feel?
~Serge Kahili King
In order to use creative visualization to create what you want in life, you must be willing and able to accept the best that life has to offer you - your "good."
It is often very helpful to use creative visualization in picturing yourself as a more relaxed, open person, flowing, living in the here and now, and always connected with your inner essence.
"Life is a river" is a metaphor that can be used as a meditation. This type of visualization can be used to show us in how we can accept our lives here and now, flowing with what is, and at the same time guiding ourselves consciously toward our goals by taking responsibility for creating our own lives.
Let us imagine life is a river. Are you clinging to the bank, afraid to let go and risk being carried along by the current of the river? At a certain point, you must be willing to simply let go, and trust the river to carry you along safely. This is how, you begin to learn how "go with the flow" and once you get the hang of it, it feels wonderful.
Now that you have become accustomed to being in the flow of the river, you can begin to look ahead and guide your own course onward, deciding where the course looks best, steering they way around boulders and snags, and choosing which of the many channels and branches of the river you prefer to follow, all the while still "going with the flow."
So, how was that?
Did you learn or see anything unexpected or interesting?
Did it look anything like this?
Imagery works best in a permissive, unforced atmosphere. It is a gentle, amorphous, right-brain activity that thrives on a soft, receptive state of mind. Commanding, scolding, or threatening yourself not only won't work but will probably defeat your purpose. There's nothing quite like a harsh, authoritative, pointing finger, even your own, for pulling you out of the sweet territory of healing dreams.
What seems to work best with imagery is an attitude of allowing, with respect for your own autonomy and need for choices. In a sense, you are asking permission of yourself to clear away space so your images can appear. If you find that you are in a fruitless power struggle with yourself, trying to "make" yourself have this experience, the best thing to do is just let it go and attend to something else for a while.
Sometimes you will want to very deliberately introduce specific images, designed to orchestrate certain events in your mind and body. At other times you will be interested to see what images spontaneously arise. At those times when you're trying to orchestrate specific images, you may find you're getting no cooperation whatsoever; that even though you keep putting forth an image that you think is appropriate, your deep self just isn't having any of it, and the image won't "take." This is when it is best to be flexible. Set aside your agenda and ask for what wants to be there instead. (The passive language is deliberate. The clearest, truest images show up when we take this receptive attitude and just allow the images to come, as if they had a life of their own. They do.) Then let yourself be surprised.
Usually, over time and with practice, your experiences with imagery become a kind of dialogue between both kinds of images, the deliberate ones and the spontaneous ones. A kind of continuing movie evolves, with surprising twists and turns, once you put yourself in this receptive mode and let the images roll.
Do keep in mind that your imagery is not going to look like a clearly defined Technicolor movie. It's more likely to be a multisensory hodgepodge, amorphous, and wavering in intensity. So please don't expect your images to come up to Hollywood production standards.
Nor do old notions of "paying attention" apply here. This is the sort of experience where it is normal to fade in and out. So don't expect the kind of rigorous, alert attentiveness that you invoked to, say, study for exams. That was using the left side of your brain. This is your right side. The right brain is dreamy, nonlogical, and laidback.
If you find yourself persisting in bossing, critiquing, and reprimanding yourself, try to do what a participant in a workshop once suggested; Create the image of putting all your self-criticisms, kicking and screaming, on a raft and floating them gently downstream.
~Belleruth Naparstek
Staying Well With Guided Imagery
Today is father's day, so let's take a little bit of time to visualize love surrounding our fathers. Even if they are no longer here in the physical, we can still send them love and appreciation, and if our relationships with them are less than ideal, what a great way to really put our visualization skills to the test. Here's a nice image to put us in the mood.
This meditation exercise is simple and wonderfully effective. I'm posting it today because we have completed our first week of visualizing for others and now it's time to release that one and begin to think of what we'd like to bring into our own lives.
Wherever you are, become aware of the colors in your environment, the whites, reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, violets, and blacks; then look at all the straight and curved lines you can see, the shapes of objects and the spaces between them.
There are a lot of people living in the world today who aren't even here. Most of their attention is focused on memories of the past, projections into the future, fantasies of alternate worlds, or on themselves. To the degree they diminish their awareness of the present moment during such ruminations, their power and effectiveness in the present also decreases.
When done occasionally or cyclically for relaxation, recreation, inspiration, planning, or self-development there can be great benefit in withdrawing from the present world, but there is a point of diminishing returns which varies with individuals if such focus is carried on for extended periods.
Reality is what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is what we believe.
What we believe is based on our perceptions.
What we look for depends on what we think.
What we think depends on what we perceive.
What we perceive determines what we believe.
What we believe determines what we take to be true.
What we take to be true is our reality.
The central focus of this process, initially at any rate, is “what we think.”
Sit comfortably and close your eyes; take a few deep breaths and be aware of your body. Now imagine something beautiful, as beautiful as you can. It may be something from your memory, something you've seen or read about, or something you make up right now. Just think about it strongly.
In a moment or so you may feel sensations of relaxation, pleasure, or energy. That is your body telling you that you are now in direct, conscious contact with Spirit. This is also a good time for conscious communication. One of the best ways for communicating directly with your Spirit is to say "thank you." Thank you for the good things that are and for the good that is coming. Take a few moment, being as specific as you like, and finish with some phrase that signifies to you a completion and positive expectation. "So be it," "amen", or the Hawaiian "amama" are examples. To the degree you believe and trust, you will get results.
Meditation itself simply means to think deeply and continuously; in other words, sustained focused attention. The word comes from a Latin root med, meaning "to measure" which is shared with a word meaning "to heal" that leads to the word medical.
You are meditating whenever you are engaged in sustained focused attention on anything, and according to this philosophy such attention channels the energy of the universe into manifesting the physical equivalent of the focus.
However, the manifestation is not just the equivalent of what you are looking at, saying, listening to, or doing. It is the equivalent of the sum total of your entire attention, including habitual expectation, during the meditation.
Since energy flows where attention goes, those aspects of your present experience which seem enduring are the effect of habitual sustained focused attention... If you like what you've got, that's great. If you don't, then you need to find some way to shift your attention into a new pattern.
As we discovered earlier, a relaxed body will not hold a stressful thought. Relaxation is also the first step in meditation, and it is often forgotten. By preparing your body to meditate, you can ease the transition from focusing on your outer reality to your inner reality. Sometimes all the body needs is permission from the mind to relax. Through relaxation, the magickal worlds open up for you and your creative visualization skills are enhanced.
Here is a fairly simple relaxation technique:
Lie in bed or on a sufa with your arms extended at your sides, or sit in a comfortable chair with your forearm and hands resting on the arms of the chair. Be sure all ten fingers touch the bed or chair. Fix your eyes on some focal point - a lamp, a picture, or even a crack in the wall - and continue to look at it as long as it is comfortable to do so. Then let your focus blur and let your eyes close and your body relax. Visualize the areas of your body as you coax successive muscle groups into letting go.
When your body is fully relaxed, tell yourself that you will now cound slowly from ten down to zero and that, on reaching zero, you will be very relaxed, very deeply and pleasantly relaxed, more relaxed than ever before.
Need a visual on this one? This is what it might look like from the outside:
LOL
Put on the music of your choice and begin by focusing on the sound alone. Then shift your attention to the center of your head and hear the music there (energy flows where attention goes). Move your attention to your chest and hear the music there. Then to your navel, and then to your pelvis. Include your hands and your feet, if you wish, and finally your whole body. Keep your attention at each location for as long as you like, and be aware of the sensations of your body. As you focus on each area the energy of the music seems to intensify at that point. This is a good meditation for locating areas of hidden tension and releasing them, and for energizing any part of yourself in any way you choose.
As an enhancement to this exercise, I found a nifty little music widget. I've got this one tagged "new age" and if you click on it, you'll end up at a website with a a a playlist from your selected album already loaded and ready to play. Alternatively, you could pop in a CD and listen to your own music.
The primary function of the mind is memory, and it's primary motivation is pleasure. To put it more accurately, the mind's motivation is toward pleasure and away from pain. All of your habitual (memory based mental, emotional, or physical) behavior has this motivation. This is why you like to do certain things and why you don't like others, why some things are easier to do than others, and why you procrastinate even when there is something important to do. The mind-body quite automatically moves toward what is pleasurable and does its best to avoid what is painful.
If you create a "future" memory - in other words, if you imagine what will happen if you do a certain thing - your behavior will be strongly influenced by whether the memory carries the expectation of pain or pleasure.
For example: If you have created the expectation and/or memory that human encounters may result in painful rejection, you will find it hard to meet or be with people, to make phone calls (especially sales calls), and possibly even to write letters. On the other hand, if the thought of such encounters evokes an expectation/memory of pleasurable contact, then such things will be easy and enjoyable for you. And if, as is very common, you hold expectations and memories of both types of encounter, then the ease or difficulty of these activities will vary according to your present level of self-confidence and self-esteem (also called your "mood").
This week we are practicing our visualization skills on those around us. So, I thought it might be beneficial to do a guided meditation designed specifically to increase empathy for others.
You might want to read the words of this meditation ... slowly ... into a tape recorder and then play it back for yourself. If the sound of your own recorded voice is a little disturbing, perhaps you could find someone else to read the script, or, alternatively, you could practice some self-love and just be with it how it is. Either way, it may take some time and practice to really go deeply into this meditation. When you see the three dots ( ... ) that's an indication to pause when reading the script. This meditation is approximately 10 minutes long.
Another very important thing to know about the mind and memory is that every experience, regardless of its source is stored as a body memory. The mind does not make fine distinctions about whether the experience came from an internal or external source, whether it came from an actual physical situation or from a gook, movie, TV program, dream, psychic intuition, or your imagination. It's all stored as body memory. All the mind cares about is the intensity of the experience; that is, how much physiological (emotional, chemical, muscular) reaction occurred during the experience. That is the mind's only basis for how "real" the experience was.
The practical side of this is that an intensely imagined experience is just as good as the real thing, at least as far as memory-based behavior is concerned. Hawaiian and other shamans have used this bit of wisdom for untold ages as a tool for healing and self-development. Recently this ancient shamanic understanding has been put to modern use by Olympic athletes, among others, with extremely effective results. By using full sensory imagination in which they perform perfectly every time, the athletes create body memories which make the physical performace easier and better. The same process can be used to train yourself in any skill, state, or condition whatsoever.
Sit or stand comfortably with all your muscles relaxed (keep tense enough only to remain sitting or standing). now, using your memory or imagination, go ahead and get as angry as you can, but don't tense a single muscle.
What you will find, if you can keep your muscles relaxed, is that it is physiologically impossible to get angry. Anger cannot exist without muscle tension, and neither can fear. Therefore, training yourself to relax your muscles at will can help you recall knowledge and skills more easily, as well as enable you to prevent or free yourself in the middle of fear or anger. Not only that, it can help you break many unpleasant and unhealthy habit patterns by giving your mind-body a new memory of how to act or react in different situations.
Here's a quickie visualization for today:
See yourself walking up to someone, it can be someone you know, or it can be a stranger. In your hands you are holding a wrapped gift, something special just for them. Imagine that feeling of anticipation as they unwrap the gift. Really engage all of your senses and your emotions.
What colors are the wrapping paper and the ribbon? Is it a sunny day? Are you indoors or outside? What sounds do you hear in the background? Are there smells? Textures? Really fill the image up with details.... Allow yourself to feel the anticipation and the surge of pleasure that gift giving always brings.
Now, wasn't that fun?
What was in the gift? Who did you give it to? How did they respond? Did anything about this visualization surprise you?
Recall a scene from a book you've read or from a favorite daydream. Then recall a vacation or trip you have taken. For about thirty seconds recall first one and then the other. Now, excluding differences in content (degree of vividness or type of activity, or conscious decision about which is real), attempt to determine any difference between the two as memories. You will find that, as memories, there is no difference. You can recall one as easily as the other and, in fact, the scene from the book or the daydream might have a stronger present effect on you than the "real" memory.
The point: Your mind does not make distinctions between memories, regardless of the source. For the mind, the ones that are most real are the ones with the greatest sensory impact.
Skill at using imagery increases with practice. Don't worry if your first attempts don't seem effective. Just as with exercising any muscle, your capacity grows over time with use. The more you use imagery, the more your response to it deepens, intensifies, and becomes more controllable. So don't make limiting assumptions about your capacity. It will grow exponentially.
If the world is what you think it is, then you ought to be able to change your world by changing your thought.
Sit up comfortably with your eyes open and turn your head as far as you can to the left and look straight ahead. Find something in your line of sight that you can remember as a marker and bring your head forward again. Now close your eyes, keep your head still, and imagine that you are slowly turning your head to the left very easily and loosely, without any strain, way past the marker until you are looking directly behind you without any problem at all.
Imagine the sensation and the feeling as well as the sight. Then imagine bringing your head slowly back to the front. now open your eyes and turn your head physically to the left. To the degree you were able to imagine the feeling in your mind you will now find that your head moves easily farther than it did before and your line of sight is well past the marker.
What you just did was change your body by changing your mind. You imagined being able to do something different, and your body responded to your thought by changing what was possible only moments before. It's a simple demonstration full of powerful implications.
Take a look at your computer screen, your keyboard, your desk. Notice what your chair feels like, are there any smells in the room? Tap your fingers lightly on your key board... how does that sound?
Now close your eyes. Think about your desk, your keyboard, your computer screen. Can you remember what they look like? Do you remember what it sounded like when you tapped your fingers on the key board?
Not sure? Open your eyes and look again. Try to engage all your senses. What color is your desk, is the top of it smooth? or textured? What color is the floor? Is it carpeted? tiled? hardwood? When someone walks across it, does it squeak? or not? Is there a window in the room? does it have curtains? blinds? What's on the wall? Pictures? of what? Is the seat of your chair hard or soft? What does the room smell like?
Ok, now, close your eyes again. Mentally remind yourself of what the room looks like. Think about the colors, the sounds, the textures, Do you find that you are describing it to yourself in words? or images? Do the words you use bring up images in your mind? If so, are those images vivid and clear? Fuzzy and vague? Do you see the room in color? or is it shades of gray?
If you find that you can bring up a vivid full color image of the room and the desk, wonderful. If you find that the images that come are vague and blurry, or that there are no images at all... just words... wonderful. If you find that words come first and then images... that's wonderful too. EVERY way is fine and good. There is no "right" answer. This exercise is just a way to explore how it is that you see things in your mind's eye. As this project progresses, I'm expecting that we will all feel much more comfortable and confident of our abilities in this area.
OK now, let's take this exercise one step further. Again, take a good look around you, look at your desk, the computer, everything. Engage your senses. Now close your eyes. Imagine that you are writing an email to a friend of yours about this particular project. You are telling them about the things that you visualized and how they came true. Try to incorporate the sounds, the textures, the feel of your fingers on the keyboard, all the little details.
If you want to, after you've opened your eyes, you can write that email and save it as a draft to send when our 30 days is up.
Welcome to our newest project! For the next 30 days we will be exploring, learning about and practicing a wide variety of Creative Visualization techniques.
It's my intention that by the time we have completed this 30 days of study and practice, we'll be effectively visualizing AND manifesting prosperity, success, health, and happiness in our own lives as well as in the lives of our family and friends.
What I'm planning to do is post a different visualization technique every day, along with informative articles about the ins and outs of creative imagery, as well as a number of guided meditations.
In order to give the project a "focus", I thought it would be a good idea to plan to visualize something specific. And it occurred to me that it might become tedious if we spend the entire 30 days visualizing the same thing day in and day out. So... what I'd like to suggest is that we divide the project up into 4 sections... for the first week, let's visualize something simple and easy. And because it's often easier to visualize for other people than it is to visualize for ourselves, I thought we might, if we wanted to, take this first week to "practice" our skills on those around us.
The second week, we'll focus on something for ourselves. Again, let's start with something simple and not too grand. This way we can maybe start to see some success, build our confidence, etc...
On the third week, I'm suggesting that we go for the gold - for someone else. Really thinking big here, let's conjure up fantastic miracles for the people we love. Remember, if we can see it for them, it can happen for us.
Then, on week four, we'll have our grand finale, focusing and visualizing our own highest goals, our biggest dreams, our most "impossible" aspirations.
Of course, we won't stop there, the idea being that by then we'll have accumulated so much skill and practice that the universe will be compelled to respond with "yes" after "yes." And we can then go on to Create Work We Love and enjoy whatever it is we have called forth in our lives.
Sound good?
I'm going to go ahead and post our first exercise right now so we can go ahead and get started.
While we are waiting for our next project to begin, I thought I'd share something fun.
One of the very cool things about computers is the ease with which you can create visualizations of data: false-color images showing weather, for instance. Visualizing how your website is structured can help improve its design — and there’s a cool free online tool to do just that. Here is the visualization for The Prosperity Project:
What do the colors mean?
If you have a website or blog that you'd like to see "visualized", here's the link for the Websites As Graphs website.
Last month we took a poll to determine what our next project would be. Creative Visualization and Creating Work You Love came up as a tie for first place. I talked it over with Daniel, and we decided that it made sense to do Creative Visualization techniques first followed by Creating Work You Love.
So, beginning Sunday June 8, we will be learning and practicing techniques to enhance our visualization skills, and committing a small portion of every day visualizing for ourselves and others.
Here is an overview of our Sixty Seconds to Wealth and Riches! project. This post provides links to pertinent aspects of this project, so that you won't have to sift through the archives.To find out more about this project, you can take a look at why we thought these 60 second exercises would be a good idea.
If you would like to try this project for yourself, you could start on Day One - What Can I Do Today? and then continue on through Day Thirty - Would You Rather Be Rich … Or Right?. Or, you could browse through the posts and work the project in no particular order.
This is an active blog, and if you post, we will notice and reply.. and give you the benefit of our own experience and our support if it seems pertinent or appropriate. Feel free to post your thoughts, ideas, results, joys and disappointments as you go. Even though we love you, comment spam is deleted when discovered, and anonymous posting is discouraged.
You will find complete listing of the day by day links at the bottom of this post.The basic summary of our results can be found here: 60 Seconds to Wealth and Riches - How did we do? and individual comments and feedback can be read Wow! Is it over all ready?. For this project we also have a slide show and gallery archive of the complete collection of Solid Gold Desktop Wallpapers. If you really love this project, and would like more of it, the eBook can be purchased at Dragon Rising.
We do have a recommended reading list if you are interested in expanding your understanding. I don't know how up to date it is, but there are a lot of really good books listed. Feel free to add titles and authors that you would recommend. There is also a collection of our favorite affirmations, prayers, poems, and etc. Or you can just go to Way Cool Quotes and find a bunch more.
As promised, here is the complete listing of all the posts for our Wealth and Riches project:
Posts
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The Singer of Courage: In our lives we are often, even constantly, confronted with a new world, a new way of being in the world, a new way of seeing and of being seen. Ordinary living takes courage, and to rise above the ordinary into the extraordinary takes even more courage. One of the keys to courage is to consider the fear and find a way to let the energy of the fear itself power the action. That is true courage.
