Visualisation, also called mental imagery, is essentially seeing with the mind’s eye, or hearing with the mind’s ear. That is, when visualising you are having a visual sensory experience without the use of your eyes. In fact, research has shown that visualisation recruits the same brain areas that actual seeing does (Pearson et al., 2015).

Humans have evolved to rely heavily on our eyesight, making us highly visually oriented creatures. Because our brains are adapted to easily process and comprehend visual information, visualisation can be a powerful tool for influencing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. In fact, research has shown that processing emotions using visualisation is more powerful than processing verbally (Blackwell et al., 2019). For example, when research participants listen to descriptions of emotionally valanced situations (i.e., “your boss telling you that they are disappointed with your work”), participants that are instructed to imagine themselves in the situation demonstrate a greater change in mood than those that are instructed only to think about the situation verbally (Blackwell et al., 2019).

There appear to be a number of emotional, cognitive, and behavioural benefits to practicing visualisation.

Some forms of visualisation have been shown to increase optimism and other positive emotions (Murphy et al., 2015). It has also been shown to be a useful method for regulating negative emotions such as anxiety or overwhelm (Blackwell et al., 2019).

Visualisation techniques can be used to facilitate some kinds of decision-making and problem-solving (Blackwell et al., 2019). For example, visualisation might be helpful when planning the best route to take on your upcoming road trip. Visualisation techniques, such as the mind palace, are also an effective means of improving memory. The mind palace technique involves using a place you are very familiar with, such as your bedroom, and using different locations within that space as mnemonic devices associated with a particular piece of information you are trying to store.

Visualisation can also help us to achieve our goals by allowing us to determine the appropriate sequences of actions needed to reach our goal and identify any potential obstacles we might encounter as we proceed toward our goal. In other words, we can use visualisation as a sort of rough draft for our plans by imagining each step we need to take to reach our goal, what each step might include, what might go wrong, and the ways in which we might need to prepare.

Visualisation music is music that is specifically intended to facilitate visualisation and similar meditative processes. This kind of music can also be described as atmospheric or ambient, as the purpose is not to occupy your attention, but rather to help you focus your attention on your visualisations.

Visualisation boards, also called vision boards, are visual representations of your goals, intentions, and desires. Vision boards are typically poster-sized and include a collage-type arrangement of images that symbolise different facets of your goals and intentions. Vision boards are useful for ensuring that your goals remain salient. That is, by creating a visual representation of your goals, you can easily look back at your vision board and remind yourself of the intentions you set. When your intentions are at the forefront of your mind, you are more likely to act in accordance with them.

There are many exercises in which you can engage to practice visualisation and enjoy some of its many benefits. Here are a few fun exercises to try if you are interested in including more visualisation in your life.

Guided imagery is a visualisation exercise in which you engage all of your senses as you imagine yourself in a positive, peaceful environment.