Guided imagery meditation and guided visualization meditation can help you relax, energize, or manifest your future. There are many ways to use these types of meditation to create the life that you want to live. This article will give you all the necessary information to bring these techniques into your life! Find out the difference between visualization and guided imagery to know which meets your needs. There is also a guide to help you develop your meditation scripts to create the kind of meditation that best suits you. With imagery, you can work with familiar and unknown places as long as you can connect with a clear vision. Once you start working with these meditations, you will notice that everything is possible, and if you can dream it up in your mind, you can also bring it into reality.
Introduction
Visualization and guided imagery are about creating a picture in your mind and feeling it in your body. It could be an image of something that may happen or simply an image of a relaxing place you have just invented. As you connect with these pictures in your mind, you can create a full-feeling sensation in your body that will give you a specific bodily reaction. There are slight differences between visualization as a practice and using guided imagery, so let’s take a look at which one you should try.
Guided Visualization Meditation
Creating a picture in your mind is much more powerful than you may think. Many successful people use visualization to manifest their future, help them achieve their goals, and create a fulfilling life. The main idea behind this technique is to create an optimal image of your life in your mind. Connect this image with places, people, and emotions, and you create an energetic imprint for your future.
Visualization is great for achieving goals because when you imagine that you have already reached your goals, you allow your body to become familiar with the sensations of success. When your body is familiar with how it feels to be successful, it is energetically closer to this state of being and can allow the situation to manifest in your life quicker than normal. Working with this technique is a way to race ahead with your mind to prepare your body for your future.
If you are seeking to try guided visualization meditation, here are a few scripts that you can try:
- Guided Visualisation for Beginners – a great place to start if this is your first time trying a visualization meditation.
- 5-Minute Visualisation – this one is short and sweet, a great place to start if you have limited time but still want to connect with your future self.
- Manifestation Meditation – to connect with your goals and to bring that energy into your present life. This one is great for aligning your current self with your future self.
Guided Imagery Meditation
Guided imagery meditation is similar to visualization meditation in that you still use your mind’s power to create images in your head. The difference is that when working with guided imagery, you guide yourself into imaginary situations and locations that you create. You do not specifically have to visualize a certain aspect of your present or future life, so you can freely use imagery to take you to a magical forest or a mystical waterfall to connect with the feelings that are waiting there for you.
You can use guided imagery to go to the beach, or you might like to take a nourishing forest walk. Whatever you are seeking, you can create a guided imagery meditation to take you there. You can visit the mountains or just as easily find the energy to help you to focus and rejuvenate.
Depending on what you would like to feel, you can choose a location to visit that will make you feel relaxed and comfortable. Or perhaps create a place that energizes you and makes you feel alive. If you can’t find such areas in a guided script, create your own and take your meditation practice to the next level!
Developing your Script
There are many guided imagery meditations, but you can also develop scripts to move through at your own pace and creatively. Although you can build a script from any thought or image, there are some helpful guidelines if you have never created your meditation script.
Guidelines for Developing a Script:
- First, know what you wish to get out of the meditation by asking yourself: ‘How do I want to feel after this meditation?’ The answer could be relaxed, energized, awakened or sleepy etc.
- Once you have your answer, think of a place or situation to bring you that feeling. This may be a place that you have visited before or a place that is lodged in your imagination. Take a few deep breaths here as you contemplate what that place is for you.
- Close your eyes and dive headlong into the experience of that place. Allow yourself to be immersed in the full experience. To gain further clarity about the image you are creating, ask yourself these questions:
‘Where am I and what am I doing?’
‘How does it feel to be here?’
‘Who else is around me and what are they doing?’
‘How do I feel here in this moment?’
- Take as much time as you like to bask in the pleasure of this space. It could be two minutes, or it could be 20. Set aside a time frame; if you are doing relaxation imagery, you might like to set a timer or bell to signify the end.
- The more often you connect with the place, the clearer the image will become for you and the stronger the connection you will feel with this place in your mind and body.
The Bottomline
Any meditation connected with images can be great for the mind and body, both for the present and the future. Try a range of guided scripts and see which ones work for you. There are many ways to connect with the feelings you want to experience, and guided visualization or imagery is one of the fastest and most effective!
If you want to learn about other meditations and commit to regular practice, look at our Online 30-Day Meditation Challenge followed by our 200 Hrs Online TTC Course.
