The Power of Visualisation
Visualisation is a powerful tool in an animal communicator’s toolbox. It helps us to communicate our intentions and information and receive imagery impressions from an animal in return.
Honing seeing-in-pictures is an asset for anyone wishing to develop their animal communication skills.
To do it we begin by holding the intention of what we want to see. Everything springs from intention. Then if an image can be seen in our mind, we are visualising.
Some people find visualising more natural than others, and there is a scientific reason behind this which I will discuss later. The great news is that it can be learned, so even if you feel a failure at visualising now, it doesn’t have to always be this way.
To receive helpful and often crucial image-based information from an animal, we can practice seeing images in our mind, just like the images and video clips we see when we’re dreaming.
What is Visualisation?
It is the ability to create mental images in your mind. You will be using your imagination to create a vision that can be communicated. Developing this skill also enables you to receive from an animal in the same way.
Training your visualization skills is the route to improving it. The more you practice visualizing the better your ability gets. If you find the image is blurry or unfocused, try looking at the physical object or scene you wish to picture in your mind, and then continue seeing it with your imagination.
Visualization isn’t something fluffy used by people who aren’t living in reality. It’s quite the opposite; it’s used by a whole array of people who know how to use it to bring about positive outcomes in their life. Many athletes including Olympians use it to excel in their sports.
What If You Can’t Visualise?
Relax, with some training you can improve your visualisation skill, but first let’s explore those who can’t and those who can from a neurological point of view.
Adam Zemen, professor of cognitive and behavioral neurology at the University of Exeter College of Medicine and Health says, “There are big invisible differences between us in the ability to visualise, and these are linked to differences in the ways our brain work.”
Zeman led a team of researchers who investigated why an estimated 1–3% of people lack the ability to visualize. He termed this inability “aphantasia” in 2015. He also termed people with highly developed visual imagery skills as “hyperphantasics.”
To give everyone who struggles to visualise some hope, we learn from Zemen, “We have many ways to think about things in their absence, of which visual imagery is just one, and lacking the ability to visualise does not imply a lack of imagination.”
Aphantasics or Hyperphantasics?
To understand the differences, Zeman carried out ‘functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans on 24 participants with aphantasia, 25 with hyperphantasia, and 20 people with mid-range imagery vividness who were part of a control group.’ The researchers also carried out cognitive and personality tests. The scans were conducted while participants were resting, relaxing, and not focusing on anything.
The research revealed that hyperphantasics had a stronger connection between the parts of the brain related to vision and frontal regions connected to decision-making and attention.
All three groups were able to provide comparable scores on standard memory tests, but people with hyperphantasia gave richer descriptions of imagined scenarios than the control group and had a stronger ability to remember events and to recognize faces better than aphantasics.
How To Visualise
Do you wish to know how to visualise mental images?
Try this simple exercise for improving your visualisation skill.
- Set aside 5 minutes to practice each day.
- Choose a small item, like a cup, apple, or candle.
- Make yourself comfortable in a chair and hold your object in your hands.
- Examine the object for about one minute and look at every detail, so you can remember it.
- Close your eyes and try to visualise the object for about one minute. If you lose the image or it loses its clarity, open your eyes, and look at the physical object again. Shut your eyes again and continue visualizing it.
- After visualising for about one minute, rest for a few seconds, and then repeat visualizing the object again. Re-opening your eyes whenever you need to.
- Each day you get decide whether to switch item to something new and repeat the process or to try with a new object.
- At the least, practice this visualisation exercise daily.
- When you can, repeat this twice a day.
Key Notes:
- About 1–3% of people lack the ability to visualise.
- Study finds neurological reasons for why some people visualise better than others.
- Visualising is a key tool in the animal communicator’s toolbox.
- There are ways to strengthen your ability to visualise.
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Pea Horsley is an international teacher, TEDx speaker and bestselling author of 3 books including ‘Heart to Heart’ and ‘The Animal Communicator’s Guide’, which have been translated into nine languages, online course Animal Communication Made Easy, and creator of the Conversations with Nature World Summit. Pea is the UK’s most highly regarded animal communicator and wild animal retreat facilitator. Join Pea’s membership, The Pride, and be part of a global community listening to a council of animals advising humanity and together forging real transformation.
