If you aren't a writer, artist, or meditation teacher, you may not have investigated how clear mental images are for you. I have long known that I am not a "visual person" but I didn't realize how "not visual" I am until I tried to meditate. Mental imagery for me is, at best, hazy and short-lived and requires intentional effort.
Most people may not think this is a big deal, but I do because I am a meditation teacher and a writer. Anyone who meditates has likely come across some visualization techniques in meditation practice. Because I meditate, I am acutely aware of my own past struggles with these practices. I couldn't avoid them entirely, however, because many heart practices, including my favorite loving-kindness, use some form of visualization.
This is why I looked closer at the issue and got training in neurodiversity-informed mindfulness to understand it better. Based on this, I have learned to modify my meditation practice to work around my inability to visualize. This post will identify the tips that worked for me.
1. Meditate on Your Mental Visual Ability
Did you know that there is a condition called "aphantasia" which refers to the inability to see mental images? If you haven't heard of this, you aren't alone. I had only discovered it recently myself. Aphantasia is not a mental disorder or something that necessarily indicates a health condition. Instead, it's just a way to describe one's relative ability to see mental images.
Test Option A
The good news for all of us is there is a handy test for exploring your ability to visualize yourself. As the image here shows, bring an apple to mind. Consider how detailed it is. Can you see color, shape and details? How long does the image stay in your mind? How easy is it for you to hold it there?
Test Option B
Another way to consider this is to talk about it with others. I started to understand the impact of my mental visual ability better when I was training to teach mindfulness and compassion. After one guided practice, a classmate described an elaborate image of a butterfly with beautiful colors graceful fluttering wings.
Based on both categories of tests, I don't have aphantasia but I know that I am pretty close to it. I can see images but they are glimpses at best and I have to work really hard to hold them in my mind. My mind would never generate an elaborate image of a butterfly even if I tried really hard.
2. Don't Judge Yourself
You may have already guessed what I am going to say next. Yeah, that's right, this is where self-compassion has to join the party. To be honest, I felt a little jealous when I heard my classmate talk about her beautiful butterfly. It sounded cool. I wished I could see it myself.
But, I avoided judging myself and not just because the course in which this discussion happened was about teaching compassion cultivation. When my classmate shared her story, it helped me share my own. I am not blessed with mental visualization but I have other strengths (as I'll discuss below).
If I focused too much on my reactions of what I couldn't do, I risked missing the chance to explore what I could do. Beyond this, it's not like self-judgment or criticism would help. Thus, my advice when considering your own ability to visualize is to avoid judging yourself.
3. Meditate on Other Areas of Strength
If there was a test like the one above for the ability to detect physical sensations in the body, I would get high ratings. After I got comfortable with my body and learned to attend to it, I realized that my awareness of felt sensations is strong. I can note subtle differences in sensation, hold my attention on them for a long time, and this comes without effort.
Similarly, when it comes to verbal and auditory processing, I am pretty sensitive. My mind doesn't think in pictures but words are ever present. Music affects me deeply and the auditory quality of words is a skill I rely on frequently in writing, public speaking, and crafting guided meditations.
This goes to show that a relative lack of ability in one area is not the same as a lack of ability overall. Even if you aren't a visual person, you may have other strengths. Taking the time to identify other strengths may help you explore how to address a relative lack of visual ability.
4. Lean on Your Strengths as You Meditate
One approach for those of us who are not visual is simply to avoid meditations with visualization. For elaborately imaginative practices, I admit that this is generally what I do. This is not, however, my approach with for all styles of practice.
Because my ability to feel physical sensations is robust and comes easily to me, I have a come up with my own meditation hack. What this boils down to is that I don't take the word "visualize" literally. When I am told to "visualize" something, I don't force a mental image. Instead, I connect with the felt sense of something.
How to Visualize When You Can't Visualize
For example, if I am told to visualize being outside on a nature walk, I don't try to force images of grasses, trees, and the sky in my mind. Instead, I connect with the sensory and kinesthetic memory of walking in nature. I imagine the internal experience of walking in nature in terms of physical sensations.
If this sounds complicated, remember that physical sensation is easy for me. It may be complicated to describe in words but it is easy for me to do in practice. Even better,I can still participate in the meditation and get the same benefits all while doing it my way.
"Visualizing" Someone's Presence for Loving-Kindness
I do something similar when it comes to loving-kindness. With that style of practice, the common instruction is to bring someone to mind and to allow that mental imagery evoke feelings in your heart area. For me, though, I cut out the middle man because imagery doesn't help.
Instead, I bring someone to mind by name and connect with the felt sense of their presence. In particular, I may invoke a memory of how it feels to be in that person's presence or I may notice the felt sense that emerges upon bringing their mind to name. Since loving-kindness practice includes consideration of felt sensations in the body, this style is fairly simple to modify for those of us who aren't visual.
5. Explore Other Options When You Meditate
My last point here is a simple reminder to keep exploring and being curious. I recently started exploring meditation with my eyes open and I was shocked to discover that it made mental images during meditation more vivid. I would have thoughts having content in my visual place would make inner visualizations impossible for me.
Upon investigation, though, I found that the opposite was true. Not only could I tell the difference between actual visual content and mental visual content, but also the mental visual content seemed more robust. What does this mean?
The big lesson here is that the procedures of your practice can influence your meditation experience. If you close or open eyes, listen to meditations or music, or sit or lie down, it very well may affect your inner experience. If you struggle with some aspect of practice or just get curious, it can be fun and eye-opening (pun intended) to see what a new mode of practice offers.
Conclusion
If mental imagery is not strong for you, it does not mean you can't meditate. It doesn't even mean that you can't do meditations which include visualization. All of us are wired differently with various strengths and challenges. With self-compassion and curious exploration, you can learn ways to modify meditation practice even if visualization is not your strength.
If you would like to assess how visual you are, try this Guided Reflection. It will help you explore your capacity for visual imagery to your capacity for awareness of physical sensations.
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children's book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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