Visualization works wonders for your whole life.
When we see and practice our future clearly, we help it to unfold. We literally change our brain by visualizing, and on a quantum level we actually CREATE the future we envision.
It’s not hanging out on the beach watching dreams manifest and having them rain down, but that time spent sitting with your beautiful visions for yourself, your creativity, for the people you love and for the world that make a distinct difference in shaping all the work you do and influencing all that you create!
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Since I wad a small child one of the greatest gifts my father gave to me was his obsession with cassette tapes about creative visualization to create a future by your design. He was early in the visualization game, and he’d have me listening to them for hours, reclining in my seat and seeing the future as a 12 and 13 year old as we’d drive to Open Houses shopping for real estate.
His otherwise chaotic, cluttered and mis-aligned life was also a proof that visualization really only works well when you take action to sweep away the distractions and commit to your vision. We’ll get to that in a minute. First, let’s explore some visualizing magic.
This is a popular “visualization” story that I listen to from time to time when I feel hazy about what I want and I’m not seeing the big picture clearly enough.
When Jim Carrey was fifteen, he dropped out of school to support his family. Soon after, he and his family were living in a van. Despite these challenges, however, Carrey continued to follow his dream of becoming a comedian. As we all know, he was successful in his endeavors.
He wrote himself a check for $10 million for “acting services rendered,” dated for 1994 right before Thanksgiving, and carried it in his wallet everyday to stay inspired. In 1994, Carrey learned he would earn $10 million for his role in Dumb and Dumber.
There are thousands of these stories that I’ve heard over the years, starting with the stories on those self-help tapes as a tween.
Making amazing things happen is not “luck” my friends.
When you do the creative work and imaginative full-body experiential visualization of a new reality, you change your brain and you can even enhance your abilities physically… all with your creative vision…!
You create your own luck every day.
Studies show that visualization prepares and trains the brain for optimal performance to better attain your desired outcome. According to Psychology Today, the imagery created while practicing visualization has been shown to “…increase confidence and self-efficacy, improve motor performance, and prime your brain for success…”
You are preparing for success every time you visualize it!
A study at Harvard compared students learning a melody on a piano using either physical practice, or simply visualizing themselves playing the melody. The group using physical practice played the melody 2 hours a day over 5 days. The other group envisioned it. It was found that the brain changes in both groups reflecting the wiring of a new habit into the brain were nearly identical. (more HERE on this)
An Australian Psychologist named Alan Richardson conducted an experiment where he divided basketball players into 3 groups. He then measured each player’s ability to make free throw basketball shots. After this was done, one group practiced each day for 20 minutes. The next group purely visualized making free throws, without any practice. Lastly, the third group was not allowed to practice or visualize.
The outcome reported HERE: “There was significant improvement on the group that only visualized; they were almost as good as they guys who actually practiced.”
Imagine if they all BOTH practiced and visualized?
Srinivasan Pillay, the founder and CEO of NeuroBusiness Group explains in her article, “The Science of Visualization: Maximizing Your Brain’s Potential During The Recession”, that if a person has a blood clot in their brain and the result is a stroke, oxygen and nutrients will not be able to reach the tissue and this will result in surrounding tissue not receiving blood either.
However, as quoted in the article, “…if a person with this stroke imagines moving the affected arm or leg, brain blood flow to the affected area increases and the surrounding brain tissue is saved. Imagining moving a limb, even after it has been paralyzed after a stroke, increases brain blood flow enough to diminish the amount of tissue death. This is a very clear indicator of the power of visualization.”
In a study reported in Psychology Today measuring and comparing the brain patterns of weight lifters either visualizing lifting hundreds of pounds, actually lifting hundreds of pounds, or doing both, scientists found that, “…mental practices are almost effective as true physical practice, and doing both is more effective than either alone.”
Another article by A J Le Van in Psychology Today explains that it has been learned through studying the brain that instructions given to your brain mentally are the same as physical actions. She writes:
“The cognitive processes in the brain, motor control, attention, memory and perception are all being influenced by mental imagery. It’s been found that mental practices can enhance motivation, increase confidence and self-efficacy, improve motor performance, prime your brain for success, and increase states of flow – all relevant to achieving your best life!” (you can read the full article HERE)
If visualization is so powerful, why don’t we all do it all the time?
Here are a few reasons why I’ve found it can be difficult to do and hard to stick with even though it’s so simple and invigorating and effective:
Toxic ties. If your life is full of stuck people, cynics and those who believe that life sort of just happens to you and it’s not fair and it’s out of our hands, that thinking is contagious. Likewise, if your close circle is full of negativity and complaining, it will affect your clear thinking mind.
Cluttered spaces. Clutter is an absolute block in your energy that translates into every area of your life.
Not enough bandwidth in the mind. If you’ve got too much taking up your attention, you’ll struggle to keep up with any kind of new routine, never mind one that requires free imagination and flowing energy.
When you de-clutter your space and life you make room for the clarity of vision that makes dreams come true.
Try simplifying, getting space, making things easier, staying alone for a few days, detoxing your space…
Then, sit down and start envisioning all the beautiful outcomes you want for yourself and for the world.
Do it daily. Do it richly. Add in color, sounds, scents and fresh details each time.
Then… go live those dreams in actions that lift your life higher every day!
Do this and it won’t be just your own life that changes. You’ll have the energy and clarity and focus and creative power to change the world.
xoxo Dana
P.S.: If you’re ready to take the energy around you to the next level, detox the negativity and make space for joy, the Joy Immersion: 30 Day Negativity Detox is here for you.
THE JOY IMMERSION is a commitment to happy-making, mirror-polishing, life-lifting and simple space shifting for 30 days. It’s loaded with lots of actions that can help you detox from your own negative stuff, uncover more of your greatness and light, and see happiness everywhere you look…!
And you can start right HERE!
P.S.: If you’re ready to take the energy around you to the next level, detox the negativity and make space for joy, the Joy Immersion: 30 Day Negativity Detox is here for you.
THE JOY IMMERSION is a commitment to happy-making, mirror-polishing, life-lifting and simple space shifting for 30 days. It’s loaded with lots of actions that can help you detox from your own negative stuff, uncover more of your greatness and light, and see happiness everywhere you look…!
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Welcome to Creating Genius!
I spent the last year creating this e-guide to balancing and unblocking life by pulling together the best of a decade of space-changing and life-shifting feng shui! It’s 50 days and 50 ways to use feng shui to shift your space and your routines to move from “stuck” to creatively inspired and alive.
Start Creating Genius right HERE!
Gather up your magic & make gorgeous dreams come true!
xoxo Dana
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