Does anyone have any tips on how to improve this? It would really help me with WILDing and just visualization in general. Most of the other branches of my imagination (auditory, taste, touch, etc…) are pretty good, especially auditory, but visual is just plain bad. I’d really like to get to the point where I can see an outline of what I’m imagining in real life, I can’t even see anything when I close my eyes and make it as dark as possible. I only have the idea that it’s there. I’d appreciate your help.
From my personal experience, when I look in my minds eye, it is upwards, inside my head, that I feel like my minds eye is looking, just out of reach from my normal vision
My tips would be to daydream, but your obviously auditory, and there is little to do about that
Like Renegade said, daydreaming is one of the best ways to do it. What I would do if I had this problem is to try to recall a event moments after it happens. For example lets say theres a dog sniffing the bushes outside your window. You close your eyes and remember: How big was the dog? What color was its fur? How long was its tail? How fast did it wag? etc etc. It’s best to try to remember everything in exact detail. You can start really small, mabye just trying to visualize 5-10 seconds worth of “memory”
Reading. A lot of reading - particularly fiction, such as fantasy and science fiction - requires one to visualize. Most of the time you won’t even realize that you are visualizing images.
I’ve come to to find out, though, that concentrating on the process and/or thought of visualization tends to diminish its quality.
Can’t agree more (Is there anything to agree on???).
I’m currently reading the final Potter-book and as I’m reading I visualize everything and it becomes like a movie I’m watching. The dialog, expressions, camera movements and everything else, I mean, if we’d been able to record visualizations and dreams, we’d have the final potter-movie in cinema right now.
I think we’re talking about a different kind of visualization, maybe not. I’m talking about being able to actually see an outline or transparent type image with your eyes. I do visualize stories when I’m reading, but it’s in my mind, not with my actual eyes. Is that what you’re talking about?
So you mean that when you visualize, you see it with your ACUTAL eyes? So the “light” from your mind-images reflects back into your eye which turns the light into signals which are sent to your brain (I’ve never liked biology).
Nothing you visualize are actually seen with your eyes, the stuff you visualize or daydream about is exactly the same as what you see when you read a book. HI on the other hand is different, but that’s not what we’re talking about.
So you’re basically saying you want to produce your own hallucinations? I’m sorry, that I think is extremely rare. Short of meditating your brains out, for lack of a better term, or staying awake for several days, or something like it to produce hallucinations you won’t have much luck. You got the hypnogogic hallucinations though.
But you can train your ability to visualise simply by practising. And reading fiction can be good practise. It’s a matter of focus, when I read something and really get into it I can almost totally lose awareness of my surroundings and then the imagery is the strongest, ofcourse. But it’s still not “in my vision”. It still in my head.
Heh, try using reverse psychology on yourself, “Do not visualise a red cartoon turtle swimming in a sea of green slime!”
ilovelucid, here’s an excercise that might help with your visual imagination and sometimes I like to do it just for fun.
Find a place to sit and relax (or meditate if you will, I try to find a tranquil place which is usually around nature) and close your eyes. With what you hear try to visualize the objects and movements around you that are causing the sounds. If you hear a bird from behind you, try to visualize that bird on whatever branch of some tree it’s on chirping. I’ve gotten pretty good at it to where I can get a pretty 3-d visualization of the area around me. If you want you can open your eyes after a little while and see if you’re correct on what things looked like or re-check your visualization.
Well, I wouldn’t call it that, but it’s something to that extent. The other day I was talking to one of my friends about imagination, lucid dreaming, etc… And he says that if he imagines a little man tap dancing on his desk, he can see one, but it’s very faint and almost like and old television with bad picture. I believed him simply because he had no reason to lie and I remember a few posts on this forum where people have said that they can like overlap what they’re imagining into their actual eyesight. At least I think that’s what they meant… Also, my friend says he sees colors constantly when he closes his eyes.
You’re not supposed to see things that aren’t there. The imagination does not interfere with eyesight. Unless there is something peculiar going on.
Laberge uses an example, though for another purpose, that fits in here. If you have an apple on a table in front of you, and you imagine an apple right next to it, you will have no problem determining with one is the real apple, you can sort of see it, but it’s not quite there.
Make no mistake, an imagining can be very clear and detiled, but it exists in you inner vision. That is in a normal state of consciousness. If you get yourself into another state of consciousness you can see an imagining and not be able to tell the difference between it and a real perception.
Remember, if you get a grainy image in you eyesight and not just in your minds eye, that is an hallucination.
What happens when you try to WILD or something is, you’ll see images, imaginings. They may be clear, but sooner or later you’ll have HI, And they will put any imagining to shame because they appear as real percetion. It is due to a change in consciousness.
If you cannot get that vivid imagrey when imagining things during the day, eveything is as it should be.
I’m rambling aren’t i? I always do that when I’m up all night, sorry.
I couldn’t see a thing a week ago, but if you just do some exercises it will improve quickly, I improved it to point that i can’t have a same image for 5 seconds-not much but it’s a start
Well if you’re serious about visual visualization, study pranayahma I guess…
Other than that-
[color=darkred]-close your eyes and imagine yourself playing a piano(first hear the voices, then you will be able to see the keys and eventually the entire piano)[/color]
[color=orange]-once your visualization has improved at least a bit, just visit deviantArt and look at a picture, then after you close your eyes, try to focus on your monitor, and not your body(imagine like that your eyes are still open)
There are two types of images you can see:
-through your eyes
-spiritual eyes
you have to focus on the second, and clear the former(the black image when you closed your eyes)
[/color]
[color=olive]-if you want to improve quite further than that, well you should realise that visualization is the next level of a really high mental concentration[/color]
