Visual Meditation
Imagery and visual meditation has been proven to alleviate pain, speed up healing and combat stress, anxiety and other forms of tension. It is acknowledged as an extremely effective healing technique worldwide, having been long overlooked by practitioners of western medicine. Visual meditation works well for people who find it more difficult to focus on a mantra or a particular topic. By practicing imagery or visual meditation it has been proven that 90% of the ailments people go to see their doctor over can be relieved drastically. Imagery is the most fundamental language we have as everything we do is processed through the mind as an image. Sadly, many of the images that are always popping into our heads can often do damage. In fact, the most common type of imagery is worry and negative visualization. Worry though, merely exists in our imaginations and unharnessed, can alter your physiology making a person much more at risk of suffering from various ailments, ranging from acne to arthritis, headaches to heart disease, and ulcers to urinary tract infections.
You can use the visual meditation technique to harness the energy of your imagination. When first practicing this technique, you may find that 15 - 20 minutes a day initially to ensure that you're learning to do it properly is adequate. Many people find it easier to practice visual mediation first thing in the morning and again at night before falling asleep, subsequently as you become more experienced and comfortable with the technique, you'll be able to do it for just a few minutes at a time as required throughout the day. Soft and soothing music is a wonderful accompaniment to most meditation methods and is a very personal choice.
Breathing is with all forms of meditation, very important, hence the old phrase; "Take a deep breath and count to ten" is more than just a phrase. Imagery and visual meditation is at the heart of all relaxation techniques and is designed to release brain chemicals that act as natural brain tranquilizers, lowering blood pressure, heart rate, and anxiety/stress levels.
Imagery and visual meditation can be practiced in a group with one person describing a scene to imagine, followed by another person giving consideration to building on the previous scene and so forth. It may also be practiced independently, building on your own visual thoughts and imagination, to create a scene. This period of deliberation remains until either the guide/teacher brings each person back from meditation or until your individual time of rumination ends. Subsequent to this session, as with all mediation techniques, it is important that you allow some time for reflection on the experience, what you discovered and how it made you feel. Often, many people who practice visual meditation find it very useful and rewarding to keep a journal of the experiences encountered when meditating.
Another visual meditation technique worth trying is what is known as ‘the pink bubble’ technique, whereby any thought that comes into your mind, through visualization is placed inside the bubble and then released. As it is released, just watch, as it floats away. The reason for this is that during deliberation, thoughts tend to remain, attracting others (some unwanted) with it. For that reason, it is necessary to acknowledge each thought (place it in the bubble), then let go of it (release the bubble). If you do this, you'll have more chance of interrupting thoughts staying away. Another form of visual meditation is to use a particular physical object as the focus of your meditation. It can be a lit candle, a beautiful piece of artwork or any thing that is pleasant or peaceful to look at. The objective is to hold your gaze on that object for the duration of the session for while this focus is maintained, the mind has less external stimuli to contend with and can then for that period, function more efficiently.
You will also find visual meditation to be an extremely and valuable source of reflection and contemplation, ridding the mind of the constant chatter ever present. As with all various techniques used in meditation, it must be practiced on a regular basis to benefit from the immense results that can be achieved.