If you're suffering from anxiety, you know well how it can severely impact your sense of self and security. Fears and worries hinder us from becoming the self that we want to be. But there is a way to take those anxieties and turn them into positive thoughts and concrete plans. If you learn how to visualize the future, you can live in your zone of genius to your fullest expression.
In the fourth episode of Returning Home, Elise guides you through a visualization practice that you can use to ease your anxieties and reconnect with feelings of hope. Through this, you'll be able to meet with your future self and establish your goals. With this episode, Elise Kindya helps you regain faith in yourself, your capabilities, and your impact on the world.
If you want to learn more about how to visualize, this episode is for you!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:
- Learn how to visualize and the various resources that you can add to your healing toolkit.
- Connect with your future self.
- Rediscover your goals and capabilities.
Resources
Episode Highlights
[01:17] How to Visualize an Outcome
- Learning how to visualize helps improve the outcomes we get in our lives.
- If you want new results, you have to take a new way to get there and be excited about the future rather than worrying.
- Our minds are powerful; visualization helps us harness that power to our advantage.
- Lastly, visualization will ease anxieties, become more excited and hopeful, and have faith in yourself that things will work out for you.
[02:32] Some Reminders
- This episode is one of many that contains an actual practice to receive direct guidance.
- Do not drive or operate heavy machinery while participating in this visualization.
- It's best to perform visualization techniques while relaxed, so refrain from doing or planning anything else.
[03:18] How Visualization Works
- Visualization helps you become familiar with your feelings as you take aligned action.
- Your brain cannot tell the difference between doing something in reality or imagining it; thus, thinking about something puts you through that experience.
- We can experience anxiety when thinking about things that may or may not happen, but we can also use our imagination to feel excitement and satisfaction.
[04:06] How to Visualize
- Set aside an appropriate amount of time.
- You'll perform a body scan to relax you before you lie down and begin the visualization.
- Being relaxed allows you to tap into the brain waves that will help you benefit from this practice and absorb whatever you're going to absorb.
- Prepare a journal and a writing utensil for reflection at the end of the practice.
- Journaling helps ground ourselves after doing something intangible, such as meditative sessions like visualization.
- Think about an intention or goal that you want to visualize yourself achieving.
[06:06] Starting the Visualization
- Make yourself comfortable in a position, whether lying down or sitting up, that will hold you throughout the entire practice.
- Release any "shoulds" for now. During this exercise, you'll receive anything you're meant to receive.
- There's no right or wrong way to do this practice; the path of learning how to visualize is individual to each person.
- Open yourself up to learn and absorb anything that's meant for you.
- Call on any of your spirit guides, feel that you're divinely guided, protected, and loved.
[07:11] The 5-3-7 Breathing Practice
- Breathe in and out. You may close your eyes at this time.
- Breathe in for five seconds, filling your belly with air.
- Hold at the top for three seconds, then breathe out for seven seconds. Imagine feeling your belly button touch your spine.
- Repeat this breathing practice five times in a row.
[08:57] Body Scan
- Imagine a brilliant, bright, healing light forming above your head.
- Then, imagine this light reaching your toes and absorbing any tension in your body. Feel your anxieties releasing through your breath or melting into the earth.
- The light enters your toes, working its way up your feet towards your head.
- Allow your body to become heavy, feeling its weight supported by the surface you're on and every last tension dissipating.
- As you're ready, return your breathing to a regular rate; no need to strain.
[12:04] Visualizing Your Intentions
- Once fully relaxed, think clearly about the intention that you set.
- Find the words for it in your mind's eye, imagining the words appearing before you.
- Create a clear intention. Then, get in touch with your future self or the version of you that has already achieved this goal.
- Get in touch with the emotions of your future self, visualizing the words and feeling the bodily sensations.
[13:59] Conversing with Your Future Self
- See yourself face-to-face with your future self and speak to them.
- Ask them what steps you need to take to become them in the future, and listen intently to what your future self has to say.
- Focus on the three steps that your future self tells you to do to become them.
- Think about the first thing you need to become that future version of yourself by thinking about the words for it.
[15:02] The First Step
- When you've completed the visualization of your future self, ask: what's the first step you need to take to become your best future self?
- Create a step one with the words you thought about in your journal. See them in your mind's eye.
- Once you're clear about the first step, find out the actions you need to take by understanding the sensations of the experience.
- Walk into your mind's eye and see yourself achieving the first step.
- When you've seen yourself achieve it, notice how your mind and body are feeling.
[16:42] The Second Step
- Once you've seen yourself achieve the first step, get in touch with your future self again. What is the second step?
- See the words in your mind's eye and imagine yourself writing them down in your journal.
- Walk yourself mentally through the motions of the second step, getting clear on the sensations and feelings of the experience.
- What do you feel as you achieve the second step?
- Get clear on the feeling words and bodily sensations, tracing these feelings to the area on your body where you feel them.
[18:52] The Third Step
- Connect with your future self a third time. What is the third step?
- Walk yourself through the third step, finding the words and writing them down.
- Then, bring yourself through the motions, feelings, and sensations that come with the experience.
- What are your feelings after achieving the third step?
[20:55] Being Grateful
- After achieving the steps and talking to your future self, rest in gratitude.
- Know that you have the answers in you.
- Who you are today is a result of your past actions to bring you to this very moment.
- By learning how to visualize, understand this: who you become in the future starts today.
[22:06] Finding Resources
- You have the potential and capability.
Elise: "... you have all of the potential, all of the capability and if it feels that there's something missing, that you need a resource or some help, know that you have that knowledge now and you can take the steps to gaining that resource gaining that knowledge."
- If you feel something is missing, understand that you now have that knowledge, or that you're capable of gaining that resource.
- When thinking about goals, it's also vital to think about the resources you have.
- Who's present in your life that you can ask for help? What can you ask them for help, and what can they offer? What sort of experiences do you need to achieve your goals?
[23:44] How Does Your Goal Impact Others?
- It's not selfish to want to live your best self because it means other people can also live to their fullest expression.
- People each have their own zone of genius.
Elise: "You have your zone of genius; they have their zone of genius. You can ask them for help in a way that helps them stay in their zone of genius while you stay in your zone of genius."
- Imagine how achieving your future goal impacts the people in your life.
- See your body, mind, and soul being a cause for good. Notice all the benefits that your best self has in the world.
[26:13] Merging with Yourself
- Achieving your goal isn't just for you but also for the people around you.
Elise: "Your ripple effect is felt in your orb, in your world, in your circle of influence. And it matters."
- If there are other steps you need to take to achieve your goal, take some time after the visualization to write them down and plan out how to achieve them.
- Rest in gratitude, picturing your future self and meeting them in an embrace.
- Feel these two versions of yourself merging, bringing your future self into your current self, and notice the feelings and absorb them.
[28:12] Ending the Visualization
- As you're ready, bring yourself back with small movements in your fingers and toes.
- You may also roll your wrists and ankles or stretch your body.
- In your own time, come back fully alert and awake, deepening your breaths. If your eyes are closed, blink them open.
- Grab your journal and write down everything you visualized.
Enjoyed this Episode on Visualization?
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Have any questions or lightbulb moments? I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to hit me up on Instagram or send an email at elise@elisekindya.com.
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