Visualisation

Introduction

Visual meditations are considered to be, by psychics and mediums, to be a great way for people to develop their "psychic abilties". Visualising oneself somewhere, whilst in meditation, is supposed to help with the development of the psychic ability known as "clairvoyance". However, if clairvoyance is a term that refers to visually seeing someone or something (or even just seeing oneself) in their mind, without the aid of the physical eyes, then could be termed as being "psychic"? Not paranormal, but psychic. Yet, if someone imagined themselves as laying on a beauitful beach, with the heat of the sun on their back (imagining its heat, of course), this would clearly involve one's own memory, too. In order to be able to see trees, seagulls, the sea, etc. in one's meditation, the meditator must be able to know what these look like. If they don't, their mind cannot browse their hippocampus looking for the visual memories to use in order to conjure up a visual image of that same or similar thing.

Is seeing really believing?

Figure 1: Using a visual memory of an actual experience

Imagine if Person A (see Figure 1, left) went on a holiday to Hawaii for a fortnight. One Saturday during that holiday, Person A decided to spend the mid-afternoon at a beach. Say it was Saturday, 11th April 2000. It was a very hot afternoon, so Person A decided to spend as much time as they could lounging on the beach. Anyway, the key things that Person A was really taken with were:

• The immense heat of the sun on their body
• The idyllic beauty of the beach

These impressions were remembered by Person A. They can still remember these key details.
     A decade later, Person A learns how to meditate. They have a good imagination and memory, so decide to be creative with visualisations. Hm. I wonder if I can visualise being back on that beach in Hawaii? Person A wonders. So they give it a go. They close their eyes, relax, clear their mind. Then they think about that beach. Not quite intentionally, but Person A is trying to imagine the experience, so in order to do this they automatically think about the actual experience they'd had ten years ago.

Figure 2: Person A's visualisation uses a holiday memory

   After a moment, Person A is getting somewhere. They may be sitting on a seat in the road (Oops. My mistake!), just outside their house, but in their mind they can see...(Figure 2).
  Since Person A knows what the beach looks like, they can visualise it in their mind, during their meditation. They felt the heat of the sun on their back physically during that holiday, so in the meditation they are going to "feel" that heat too. This is technically "psychic" because they are not actually feeling that sensation with their 5 senses, but rather, they are using their mind in order to feel it. However, at the same time, it is perfectly explainable, because in order to stimulate the visual features, physical sensations etc. of being on that beach in meditation, Person A needed to access the memories of their experience of those features of the beach, to replicate those for their meditation.
     

Meanwhile, Person B is having difficulty imagining being on a Hawaiian beach. They haven't been to Hawaii, after all. So what they do is try to summon up an image of a beach - this will be based on their visual memory of a beach they had gone to. Person B had only been to Studworth Beach, when it wasn't a really very sunny day. They are likely to find it difficult to visualise their meditation beach scene as being sunny. Since this memory is of being on a beach when it was cold, windy and cloudy, they will also have difficulty imagining the feel of the sun's heat on their back. They may struggle also with changing some of the details of this memory, such as the sand being yellow, not light brown in colour. If they are lucky, they might be able to change the meditation beach scenary by using key details of other times they were on the beach - or other beaches. However, when this happens, it is because the person is being a little analytical and judgemental of their own artistic visual imagery. If Figure 3 came up as the original image to use for their beach visualisation, they should use it even if it isn't as beautiful as the image Person A had been using. Over time, Person B can, through perseverence, change details of the image gradually, but if they try to change too much at one time, their left brain hemisphere gets in their way, consequently their logical, analytical, judegemental self is judging the imagery used in the meditation, leading to the meditation being messed up, as instead of being relaxed, with a clear mind, they are the complete opposite, with their mind filled with thoughts of all the ways the image should be changed.
    The advice for Person B is to:

• Not judge their imagery or other imagined sensations in the meditation
• Practice and persevere with visualisation
• Have a holiday in Hawaii and lounge on one of its beaches or go and visit a nice sunny beach

If clairvoyance is visualisation (also known as mental imagery or imagination), is it possible that:

• Clairvoyants have fantastic visual memories - perhaps their memory consists primarily of images?
• Clairvoyants have incredible imaginations?
• Clairvoyants have extraordinary visual capacity for visualisation?

 And finally...

This post will be added to over time, but until then and before this discussion finishes, the implications of what has already been said must be raised. One of these implications is that if visual imagery is clairvoyance, then it would mean that reliving a past visual memory, perhaps in the guise of a visual meditation like in the case of Person A, is clairvoyance. But because Person A is not really 'at' that place that they are visualise in the meditation or memory, could be a variance of 'distance clairvoyance' or 'remote viewing'? That is, of course, provided that Person A is actually seeing the real place, not just drawing on a visual memory of it.

     Before closing, try this meditation:

1. Close your eyes and take some nice, deep breaths. Relax. Breath slowly and deeply for about four times, untensing any tension in your muscles.

2. Now think back to the last time you went to the beach, when it was sunny and warm. Try to see the beach in your mind - all the details, including the sea, sky, animals (don't forget the seagulls!) sand, people, plants and trees.

3. Try to hear in your mind the sound of the sea, the gentle wind blowing, the seagulls calling. To do this just think about what they sounded like at the time. With practice, thinking about these auditory aspects should conjure up 'inner sounds' you hear in your head. If you have trouble hearing these, don't worry.

4. In the same way as for Step 3, try to feel the sun's heat on your body, the feel of the sand below you, the feel of the cool breeze on your face. With practice, thinking about these physical aspects should conjure up 'imaginary' feelings in your mind. If you have trouble, just try to replicate the beach experience as best you can. Remember to practise this meditation if you find any steps difficult - over time, you should be able to do all the steps.

5. When you are ready, visualise yourself back in the room, wiggle your toes, stretch, then open your eyes. This meditation can be practised for 5 minutes up to 1 hour or more and can be done whenever. The more it practised, the better and more proficient your mental imagery, auditory and physical simulation will be.