We have all used visualization at some time. We are visualizing when we daydream, recall memories, dream, think, or use our inner dialogue to “talk” to ourselves about things. Visualization for relaxation means utilizing the magic of one’s imagination to allow the brain to calm, and the body to relax. Visualization can also help you create a safe and relaxing place in your mind when you need a break from a stressful situation.
Visualization is effective for many stress-related and physical illnesses including headaches, muscle spasms, anxiety, chronic pain, and insomnia (by clearing away stressful thoughts and allowing the mind to calm sufficiently to enter a deeper, restorative state of sleep). To make visualization more successful you should remember to utilize all of your senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound. The more detail you add, the more real your mental image becomes, and thus the deeper and quicker you will relax.
The best time to practice visualization is when you can focus without interruptions. Decide on what kind of visualization you are going to practice, such as re-creating a memory of a time and place when you remember feeling stress-free and very relaxed. It could be a memory of a vacation at the ocean, camping, hiking, fishing, a cabin in the mountains, a day at the lake, a special Thanksgiving dinner with family and friends, a wonderful Christmas morning with family seated around the tree opening gifts, even a memory of lying back on the grass of your childhood home and watching the clouds floating by. The more vivid you make your visualization (by using your 5 senses), the more you increase the likelihood of once again feeling the good emotions associated with that memory – which will deepen your relaxation and sense of well-being.
