Sometimes people get overwhelmed or discouraged when starting out with meditation or visualizations. One thing to keep in mind is that you don’t have to empty your mind of all thoughts in order to meditate and you don’t have to “see” anything when doing a visualization. I greatly enjoy doing guided visualizations because listening to someone’s voice makes it easier for me to focus.
To do a guided visualization, the first thing you need to find out is how you “see” things in your mind’s eye. When I tell you to think of a dog, what do you experience? Some people see an actual picture in their mind of a dog. Some people “feel” the presence of a dog. Some people just have a knowingness of a dog being there. I even had one person tell me that they saw the letters d o g in their mind. All of these experiences are the correct way to experience a dog in your mind and you may even experience it in a way not mentioned. However you experienced “seeing” a dog, that is how you will experience a guided visualization.
The main things to remember when listening to a guided visualization are to take slow, deep breaths and to try to relax. If you fall asleep while listening, that is ok! Your brain will still be listening and you will get benefits from it. There is also great benefit to listening to the same visualization on multiple occasions as you may experience them differently each time.
If you find yourself getting stressed while listening, return to your breath. Keep it slow and steady. If emotions surface, keep breathing and try to let them flow and let them go. Sometimes it is helpful to journal after a visualization. Listen to your body and enjoy the process.