Beginners Guide to Visualization

When we visualize, we are manifesting our desired realities by communicating with our subconscious minds and energy bodies.

Visualization is a way to communicate with our subconscious minds to bring about change. The mind is very powerful, and it is often said that the subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between our thoughts and our reality. When we visualize, we are manifesting our desired realities by communicating with our subconscious minds and shifting our energetic frequency.

I find that the best time to use visualizations is during meditation, either at the beginning of a session to help calm and focus the mind, during a session to cleanse and energize the energy body or at the end of a session, when the mind calm, to work on manifestation. Working on visualization just before going to bed or upon waking up is also beneficial as our subconsious minds are more receptive at these times.   

In the following section outlines the three main types of visualizations, and what they are used for.

Types of Visualizations

Grounding, Centering and Protection

Visualizations for grounding centering and protection are maintenance exercises for keeping ourselves anchored in our own energy, our truth. As we go about our busy lives, we sometimes lose the connection we have with our inner beings, grounding and centering ourselves helps us come back to our truth. Protection visualizations are added to this category as they help ensure we do not pick emotional and energetic baggage from the people, places and situations we come into contact with each day.

*An example grounding visualization is included later in this post.*

Energy Body Cleansing, Healing and Balancing

These types of visualizations are used to facilitate movement of energy into, through and/or out of the energy body to create balance and flow. Often when we are noticing patterns of repeating situations in our lives or areas of imbalance, especially when they are related to our health or relationships, they can be linked to blocks or imbalances in our energy bodies.

Manifestation

Manifestation visualization is when we create a picture of a desired outcome and couple it with the emotions we would feel if that desired outcome came into our reality. For example, to manifest getting a new job you may visualize yourself holding an offer letter and pair that with the feelings of joy, relief and excitement you would feel in that moment.

Manifestation visualizations are most powerful when they are paired with the emotions you would feel if the desired outcome had happened. As we said before, the mind doesn’t know the difference between reality and what we show it. If you visualize and feel a desired situation the mind will believe it is happening and the frequency of your energetic body will adjust to accommodate the situation being real. When this shift in the energy body happens, the universe responds by bringing our “reality” into alignment with the energy bodies frequency, thus bringing your manifestation into reality.

Many people choose to skip right to manifestation visualizations, and that is okay, however the more work you do with grounding, cleansing, empowering and balancing the energy body, the stronger and healthier you will be energetically and the more powerful your manifestations.

Our ancestors were powerful energy workers, they knew that visualization could be used to work with energy to bring positive change. As science and technology have advanced, we have forgotten that we have the ability to work with subtle energies, especially our own subtle energies, to effect great change. Working with visualizations to bring our energy bodies into harmony is the first step in beginning to understand and embrace energy work.

To start your visualization journey, I suggest working with the grounding visualization below. This is a great visualization to do at the beginning of your meditation practice to calm the mind and prepare yourself to move into stillness.

Grounding Visualization

The following visualization is a simple yet effective way to ground your energy. When our lives become stressful and chaotic, we need to ground our energy bodies in order to re-center ourselves. Once grounded we can approach life’s stressful times from a place of calm.

Chakras: Root, All

Benefits: Grounding

Time: 10 minutes

1. Begin by finding a quiet place where you can sit or lay down comfortably without being disturbed. If you have a set amount of time for the visualization practice set a timer so you won’t have to worry about keeping track of the time.

2. Take 5 deep cleansing breaths, in through the nose down into the belly/base of the spine. Breath gently here, as you settle in your breaths will become deeper automatically.

3. Once you have settled and feel ready imagine roots coming out of the base of your spine where you are sitting on the floor, if you are sitting in a chair imagine roots coming out of the bottoms of your feet. Continue to breath slowly and deeply.

4. Visualize the roots traveling down through any floors below you and then reaching the earth. Breath. As your roots reach the earth imagine them weaving through the soil, rocks and roots. Imagine your roots flowing all the way to the center of the earth, connecting to its core. Breath.

5. Breath here and feel the soothing energy from the earth’s core flowing up your roots into your body. The beautiful earth energy flows into your root, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown chakras and then travels back down into the earth, flowing in a smooth channel and soothing your energy centers removing any chaotic or stagnant energy as it flows.

6. Continue visualizing the earths energy circulating through your body for as long as you feel it is needed or if you set a timer remain here breathing slowly and deeply into your belly for as long as you are able.

When you have finished thank the earth for helping to ground your energy system. Thank yourself for making time for this visualization practice. Be sure to drink a glass of water following this practice and continue to drink water throughout the day. This will help your body continue to move the grounding energy through your system.

At first this visualization may take 10 to 15 minutes, however as you continue to practice this will take less time. I often use this grounding visualization, and a chakra balancing visualization, at the beginning of my meditation sessions to help me settle into my practice.

Visualization is a powerful tool as it helps open a dialogue with our subconscious minds and our energy bodies.  When we work with visualizations we are stepping into our power and beginning to realize our full potential as spiritual beings.