Self Exploration (day 26) – Visualization

When I was in grade 7 our hockey coach took the whole team to one of my teammates house where his dad got us all to find our comfortable place and proceeded to lead us through a visualization practice.

I didn’t realize it then, but this was the start to my meditation practice.

I would often sit pre-game and close my eyes, sit with my feet softly placed on the ground and visualize my perfect game of hockey. My coach would sometimes interrupt me in the middle of this, “Wake up Ned!! We got a game to get ready for!”

I feel that no matter what we’re doing in life, visualization and meditation can help.

Visualize plants growing healthy and the help they require to get them there, visualize the conversation with a potential employer, visualize destiny!

I’ve learned that the power of this visualization is influenced by the preparing for it. Much like playing sports or writing a test, visualization is more powerful when one properly warms up for it.

There’s a process to it though, and really the practice cannot be cheated or bypassed because it is only in the practice will you find what works for you. Sure, one can get tips, but each of us is unique and so should our visualization. I have found that if I first leave all thought for a period of time my visualizations can become stronger, and I let them flow smoother.

This is why my Asana (yoga) practice has become particularly beneficial – and beautiful – to me. By building up focus on breath and body my qi (balance) is naturally neutralized (the puppy mind is quietened – the mind that acts like a puppy with a chew toy). As I continue this for a period of time, the strength and energies within my body build. Practitioners of Yoga will recognize the term peak pose, which to me signals to my body and mind that I’m ready for shavasana – or the pose that encourages deep meditation and visualization.

I can get some pretty damn intense visualizations when I give myself the space to get here.

…….

I believe this is why some medicine has the potential to be very powerful. It’s kind of a turbo booster accelerator to this place, if one lets the self go.

It’s hard to let go. It takes a lot of practice silencing that puppy mind. Even just a few seconds of this state are incredibly liberating and magical.

Understanding the glass is refillable is a paradigm shift. I visualize myself refilling the glass. I get stuck in technicalities trying to decide if the glass is half full or half empty.