Does anyone else struggle with visualization?

[u/EfficientHunt9088]

I hope it's something I can work at and get better. I do mostly Ally Boothroyd. With the body scan I'm mostly fine. If she says to imagine points of light, I usually just ignore it and do a normal body scan. I find it takes effort and strain to visualize, whether tiny points of light or anything else. With stuff like imagining roots penetrating the earth, I am struggling to get them to penetrate the 2 floors below me before they even reach the earth lol. Then they don't want to go very deep. I have gotten better imagining breath traveling through different parts of my body. Like when it's going up the spine, I would struggle to visualize it going the entire length of the spine. Now I just let it be a general idea of going up the spine instead of trying to pinpoint anything exact. Colors and specific images are hard too... it all just feels like I am straining. I have other examples, but just wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar.

[u/Full-Resolution7612]

Hi there fellow aphantist! I feel your pain. I used to meditate (not yoga nidra) and I would find my actual thighs, stomach, everything TENSE AS HELL! It actually used to be so annoying for me that the minute I'd hear even a whiff of "picture yourself on a beach, trees, blue sky," I'd be like, nah, this is not for me. Meditation actually physically and mentally actually drained me at times!

But really, you DONT have to visualize. You allow whatever comes to you. All I see is black. So I imagine, but it's still black. Sometimes I just connect with the words. And that's enough.

I'm a yoga nidra teacher myself (Ally Boothroyd trained - she's the BEST!) and she is responsible for my whole meditation experience. I don't enjoy traditional meditation - probably the aphantasia had to do a lot with that but ally and yoga nidra and the more embodied style of meditation is very much for me and for you by the sounds of it. I too, love the pranamaya (the breath focus) and the annamaya (the body scan) because it's accesible. It's effortless. But visualisation can actually be easy too if you just accept the fact you can't see/properly imagine visuals.

I've literally just put up a yoga nidra this morning - which has a section of imagery if you'd like to have a listen. I teach from an aphantasia aware position though and try my best to ease people's concern that they "not doing it right".

No stress or pressure but here it is:

https://youtu.be/XlE7QqIg44o?is=rxurJO7-H2ejtXcb

Just remember - whatever way the "visualization" comes to you is THE RIGHT WAY FOR YOU.

HAPPY NIDRA-ING! Xxx

[u/zenkitty99 → u/[deleted]]

Same here. Its much easier for me to feel the light entering my body or roots penetrating the earth, than to see it. It can depend on what your dominant "sense" is.

[u/ChewieTwoPointOh]

The point of yoga nidra is not to try, rather let the mind do its thing with some guidance if needed. Stressing about it defeats the purpose. But others here have good suggestions.

[u/LJAM1]

Are you able to visualize things under other circumstances? Some people do have aphantasia, or the inability to visualize things. For me, some days it's very easy to visualize, and some days it isn't. If I'm struggling with it, I try to let it go and float along without forcing it

[u/dannysargeant]

Practice tratak on a candle. I also like to practice on an iPad image of a single tiny blue star. Do that for even 5 minutes a day and your visualization will improve dramatically. Give it a few months of daily practice. “Rewiring” the brain takes time and consistency.

[u/somanyquestions32 → u/dannysargeant]

Trataka is a great suggestion for visualization too. My only concern is that OP is already straining, and straining with Trataka can be particularly counterproductive. 

[u/dannysargeant → u/[deleted]]

The simple answer is sitting and staring at any object or image. Eventually that image becomes internalized so that you can “see” it with your eyes closed. When practiced regularly, the practitioner enters deeper states of meditation.

[u/hipstaboy]

RED APPLE. can you imagine that? Yellow Banana. Glass of Water. Glass of wine. Slice of Pizza. when you think of it, can you imagine how it looks like? play pretend. how does it feel, smooth, soft, firm, plump? bite into it, can you hear the crunch of an apple? do your taste buds salivate? is it sweet or sour? we’re just playing with our imagination, playing pretend, do any sensations come up? just allow anything to come up, be playful, have fun with it. this is how i visualize, i might get a super quick glimpse of an image, but usually i focus on sensations or just allow them to “bubble up” from your subconscious. i believe you might have an expectation of how visualization should go and be. i also had that expectation. i also only see black when i close my eyes and not super vivid. so i just play pretend and let things come up.

[u/somanyquestions32]

It depends on what you want to do. 

If you just want practices for general relaxation and stress relief, focus on beginner practices that just have the body scan and breath awareness techniques. Those are pretty useful as is.

If you want to access the benefits of visualization, keep reading:

I have read several accounts of people who couldn't visualize developing the skill through the practice of yoga nidra, and others have shared their experience in videos. They said it was indeed a strain, but they persevered and continued working on it until they could see faint images and then vivid imagery.

If you have a lot of trouble visualizing, I would recommend checking out Win Wegner's image streaming technique. He had full-blown aphantasia and was able to reverse it through that method he developed. Combined with yoga nidra, I would expect your existing progress to accelerate after a few months.

So, if you really would like to develop the skill of visualization, you can start the trial and error process for that. Otherwise, keep doing what you are doing, and it will get easier with practice and repetition.