The Secret to Guided Visualization Meditations ( hint its not about seeing things!)
I spend the morning as I love to do hand on heart, smiling with gratitude and listening to the ambient noise that fills my room from the open windows. The wind has changed lately now that the trees have leaves on them and the sounds have a soft flutter to them.
Various birds chirp and sing. I look outside and see red winged blackbirds, some kind of neon yellow finch and another bright bird -orange and black. Three Crows fly by as do my favorite wide winged majestic turkey vultures. Everything is bright green now. A soft rain begins to fall. As I take in the scenery I am relaxed and happy.
Now, reading this you likely have an idea of how the energy is that I am telling you about. You know what I have seen and by my description you have a sense of the experience. You know this because you have seen it or read about it before. It rises up from your memory when you read. Simple right?
So if you closed your eyes and I prompted you to see these things, would you get stumped by your inability to actually see inside your head via your imagination or be ok with knowing it?
This is a BIG deal for a lot of people who attempt to use guided visualization in their meditation practice and can make for a very frustrating experience if you are not a “seeing” type of person.
The big issue is this. When prompted to see a bird, or an enchanted ocean or an angel what if you don’t see anything?
Imagine.. Maybe this is you? You’re listening to beautiful music, then a soothing voice comes on.. ( so far so good) ah.. Yes she says Relaaaaaaaaaax.. ( also good) then you hear some ocean sounds ( that’s good too.. Easy to be at the ocean) then she says “ a white sandy beach appears and a beautiful angel arrives accompanied by a magical bird come to take you somewhere ….yadaydayadayada”. At the point you didn’t “see” an angel you might be going “ no angel.. But ok..” then you don’t “see” a bird either and now you’re getting antsy.. And mumbling to yourself “ why is there NO angel and NO bird” and you force yourself to try to see but you are getting tense now and starting to dislike the voice and wanting to turn it off because you do NOT find this soothing at ALL. YOU MUST BE DOING SOMETHING WRONG. You shout to yourself.
Sigh.
Has this ever happened to you?
Or… this…
Her voice tells you to relax, you’re doing pretty good, she says there is an ocean but you go to a meadow , ( that’s not right!) she says an angel comes and you are hanging out with a deer (huh?) you stop and go “ this isn’t what she is saying!” GAH ! And then she says ( you are starting to resent the voice now) that a bird comes to fly you somewhere BUT you’re now on a boat with your deceased Dad and scrambling trying to do what the voice tells you. By the time the vision journey ends you are so stressed out you can’t remember why on earth you decided to do this. You MUST be doing something WRONG.
Sound familiar?
These are two of the most often complaints and worries I have gotten from students over the years( and recently in Oracle School where we use a lot of these techniques). And, what I also had to learn about when I began introducing guided visualization as a mindfulness technique in my own practice over 30 years ago.
I could NOT meditate quietly in the beginning of my spiritual journey. I was one of those ants in your pants kind of ADHD people who couldn’t bear sitting still in silence.
Accompanied by my horde of mind monkeys I drove myself and my meditation teachers in the early days batty with my incessant need to understand what was wrong.
Then I met Yvonne. The first time ever I was introduced to a guided journey was electrifying. She took me through a simple chakra meditation and in 20 minutes I was hooked.
Now .. I’m a clairvoyant.
I am a seer
But I didn’t “see” a thing! I heard the story and followed along and just did it. It never occurred to me that I had to watch a mind movie for it to work.
She said something like .. it’s a combination .. “ see, think, feel, hear, imagine”
Now that said. Sometimes I experienced a guided meditation like a technicolor acid trip ( oops did I say that ?) other times I saw just glimpses of the story and other times a whole other story rose up within me with characters that didn’t belong at all and because my first teacher just told me all of it was fine I didn’t fight it.
And then there were the times I fell asleep and snored myself awake.
Then there were the times I could not for the life of me listen to the voice that rubbed me the wrong way.
All of it.. This and that.
And it comes in waves and in different combinations of experience.
The secret is allowing the experience to be what it is!.
Most of us are “ knowers” rather than “seers”.
You “know” what is being said, and if you can allow your mind to be curious .. you’ll just “know” what kind of bird, what color the ocean is.. Etc.
You might hear a word, a description, or you might feel it etc.
And if you do “see” within and all of a sudden see nothing, don’t struggle, just allow the new way to reveal itself.
No matter what you will be accessing your personal memory as well as the personal memory bank of the whole of humanity.. Consciousness reveals itself as it will.
You just need to allow it. … and listen, see, feel, think, and know.. Or sleep.. It’s all good.
This week I am giving you the Guided meditation Journey – Get On Your Bird.
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If you don’t have it already download it. If you do have it but struggled with the prompts try it the way we’ve talked about this week. Betcha you will love it!
PS – we have been getting RAVE comments about my latest deck ..the tarot/oracle hybrid The Good Tarot. If you have them please leave a review on amazon! http://bit.ly/goodtarot
WEEKLY ORACLE CART GUIDANCE AND LESSON
Usually I do Meditation like a long version of the HeartMath emotional shift into co”here”ance….basically feeling Love and Gratitude for an extended time while sitting quietly…..usually half an hour but 5 min is better than not at all on a busy day.
Now guided meditations are another thing altogether…..I am not good at them if you measure this by asking did I do what I was told to do…nope, not very often. LOL But my mind is busy with lots of perceptions and as long as it is not my “To Do List” I am good with it. I am kind of like a dog on a walk….. I see a squirrel on my walk and feel excited….if you asked me about my steps on the walk I would draw a blank but if you asked me about my experience of the walk I would say fantastic because I saw a squirrel.
There are many kinds of meditation…..keep searching until you find one that feels good….feels settled and grounded when you are finished and then keep doing it
I do the Heartmath one every morning! Love it!
I love this, Colette, more please, thank you. Much love, Brigitte Millar
OMgosh… I so needed to hear this! I relax better when I don’t think and just let go… but I have to say that my logical mind steps right in when I’m supposed to walk through a forest only to arrive at the ocean… it used to catapult me right out of the relaxation mode into the “what???” mode. Thank you for this post, Colette! And btw, I’ve listened to countless meditations from various guides but your voice was programmed by Source as the ultimate meditation guide. Thank you!
thank you!!!
Love to you Colette!! Thank you for sharing your wisdom! <3 I teach a totem animal workshop, 8 classes total. I do guided meditations in each class, and a couple of the ladies were having difficulty "seeing" what I am describing for them. I shared your wisdom with my group of class participants, I know they will appreciate it. I always tell them to check out your books and cards, you are awesome!
With gratitude,
Jeannie Vos
thanx Jeannie!
Oh MG , oh MS . Thank you for your gift of Colette . I laughed myself into tears reading this post. Just what I needed Spirit provided through you <3. Love You ????
Bought The Good Tarot. It’s a beautiful deck and I am enjoying doing my personal readings.
I have been told I have a great knowing. I can get into deep meditation almost instantly because, along with no ability to visualize, I don’t have any mind chatter.
I used to be able to visualize, but no more.
I am losing my sight slowly, with cataracts and retinal tears on top of the glaucoma. When my sight goes, I will not be able to visualize anything, so death will be my choice.
Perhaps you might want to share that ” great knowing” with people before you choose to depart. Might make your experience more meaningful.
It will be possible the visualiza with your inner eyes?
Wish you love xx
yes!
It will be possible the visualiza with your inner eyes?
Wish you love xx
Thank you for sharing Colette. I began meditating shortly after my husband passed away in 2013. It was a challenge. All the “to dos and to don’ts” would run through my mind. But as time went on I found various guided meditations. And yes, there was one that the voice was like listening to nail on a chalkboard.
Shortly after beginning meditation I found your site and my journey took off. I learned to release through your oracle cards. I found visions in my meditations. And I connected again with my late husband. Who is turning out to be quite the prankster now that I can’t swat him physically.
I look forward to your blogs and weekly readings. So, thank you for what you have shared and for the path you have led me to.
There are times when I have no trouble feeling into a meditation. I am an auditory learner.
Your suggestions are very meaningful.
Thank you,
How do I download the meditation?
I’ve been meditating regularly for about 4 years now. I use all sorts of different methods. I think that sometimes people get stuck in the idea that meditation is only one thing, done one way. I also use the Heartmath coherence method as part of my daily meditation. I encorporate blessing into my meditation time as well.
I agree that some voices aren’t so relaxing to me when listening to a guided meditation! If that’s the case, I’ll find another with a more agreeable sounding voice. So many ways to journey!
Love your new deck. Just ordered it. Looking forward to receiving.
Blessings.
Awesome article Colette and I so identified with what you say and how at first it is frustrating and I just wanted to give up. I kept trying and stopped fighting and sure enough, I just went with the flow and over time it worked and then I could totally relax and enjoy. Visualizing is much easier now and I know that this article will strike a chord with many and help them in a big way. Keep up your awesome work. I look forward to seeing you again in Toronto for Spirit Jam in June!!….April was awesome and you are a special woman with a God given talent. Blessings, Scott
big love thanx for sharing !!
Thank you Colette for leading by example for the spiritual path. I really look up to you. I’m currently in my first year of graduate school and becoming a clinical mental health counselor…I hope to help my future clients using guided visual meditations. As an indigenous person and growing up on my reservation I think, I’m a “seer” in the sense that when I’ve meditated and gone straight to the journey, my guides and Source. However, I have gotten dissatisfied with some of my experiences because my ego mind compares the last experience to now and that is “not good enough.” It feels comfortable to just give up on meditation when this happens. Maybe it just comes down to flowing with the uncomfortability and insensitive times to really access our personal and collective memories. Practice, time, and perseverance. The more I can practice and be self-aware of self, the more serving I can be others who desperately need help. Thank you again, you are a true definition of a healer on Mother Earth!
congrats n your grad school and aspirations! Just go with the flow.. without expectations
Thank you so much for this blog post. It is just what I needed to hear today. Meditation was always a very frustrating experience for me, since a very long time. There was a time, when I could just see random colours in front of my inner eye. Then there were moments just like you described it. When I could be absolutely nothing, no matter how hard I tried. I would just feel tingling sensations in my crown chakra more at my back. And sometimes it was just inner knowing like you said. I almost never Saunders settings describe to me. It became so frustrating that I eventually stopped my regular practice altogether. What was an eye opener for me was that you said it could be different literally every time you meditate. What I find quite ironic is, that I have no problem seeing a movie in my head, when I listen to, or read fiction. I’m so sorry, this comment turned out to be so long. I just wanted to say thank you, for motivating me,to give it another go.With love from Germany Tanja
thanx for sharing .. not too long!
Purchased the Good Tarot deck recently….the artistry is exquisite, a delight to the senses!!
Hugs….Jill
so proud I am !
LOL ayup i got the wait i dont’ want a bird i like this other grounded guide oh yay i haven’t noted you in a while thing, and then i beat me up for not following that voice thing, for me ‘guided’ means trying to be enough to be YOU the speaker and not come to ground in the way that clicks into place from my HP in the best was for me, and of course i get to forget over and over so i can remember it and forget again my HP is hilarious that way!
This post showed up right on time. I’ve just started to learn about my own intuitive abilities and your post reinforces just what the author of my current mediumship course has been stating all along. I appreciate the way you explain things and give great examples. Thank you Colette. BTW – how was you trip to Cayman (my home)?
its was way too brief
Thank you again for sharing this wonderful wisdom that you have Colette. Love the new tarot deck, and this reading was so helpful to me–at least I know I can keep working at the meditation and will someday be able to keep focused…I guess I need to learn to push away all intruding thoughts. Please keep up the readings, love you for everything you give to everyone.
Thank you… and your orange and black bird is an Oriole…
Thank you for this blog, meditation and Oracle Guidance and lesson, Colette! You could not have said any of it better but my favourite is “The secret is allowing the experience to be what it is”.
Just what I needed.
I really must admit that I am not very good at the “guided” part of meditation. I find that the creative process is a channel to redirect my mind and to become immersed in bringing something into being. It could be anything really even baking a cake. What I find most helpful is that “time out of mind” space where there is no thought. It is experiential and that seems to slow everything down. I also like meditating while moving, could be just meandering anywhere being totally present noticing sights. sounds, scents awakening to the moment. In fact, sometimes I am too present for my own good and that can be draining as a sponge-like being absorbing it all. I enjoy Dr. Joe Dispenzas’ water meditation where the body becomes immersed under water one part at a time. Think that it is my impatience just sitting there and breathing. I need to see results, progress. I have tried the bird meditation and it does help sometimes to create some distance from an ongoing issue; but I do find creating is the form of meditation that allows my soul to space breathe and to release the minds’ grip. We are all different. Thankfully.
“To BE is to DO. Jean Paul Sartre To DO is to BE. Fredrich Nietzsche
DO BE DO BE DO. Frank Sinatra. ( just a little levity!!!)
P.S Love the t-shirt you were wearing on last weeks universal card lesson. Can you share who the manufacturer is? I would love to learn more about how they printed the designs so I can move forward.
Lots of Love
Ack… second try.. hehe. Computers! Anyway, love this! Catching up a little late. I don’t always visualize what’s being described, but I figured that’s just me. However, I do see in images and never really realized that there are others who don’t. Thanks for your insights, Colette, as always! <3
Colette,
i just finished this guided meditation and I LOVE IT!!! I usually have problems with the sound of the voice. It becomes like nails on a chalkboard!! ughh! but your voice is soothing and peaceful. Not to mention that sometimes the author goes too fast and doesn’t give enough time to “visualize” where i should be next. Or I just don’t like where I am being placed. I look forward to hearing more meditations from you (hopefully). I am so at peace now. It is unbelievable Thank you!!!