Something I'm Trying to Increase My Visualization Skills

I'm not sure if this is a popular technique or not. It is simple enough that I would not be surprised if a lot of you do this already. But I had never heard of it until I accidentally came up with it near the end of my meditation.

At the end of my meditation, my eyes were closed, but I was imagining an image of my room. I began to wonder what small things I could change about the image in my head. So I changed the walls from white to red. I changed the carpet to concrete. Then I completely removed my bed, desk, drums, and dresser. I even changed my closet, door, and window into solid walls. Even with no sources of light in the entire room I was still able to see. All that was left in my new red room was me sitting in my chair. The room was completely different by the time I finished, and I could see it as vividly as I would see my normal room.

So the technique is basic and I'm going to continue practicing it.
1. Imagine the most familiar room you can in detail.
2. Change small details about the room.
3. Continue changing the room until it no longer resembles a place where you have ever been.

Let me know if this is already a common technique and if so, what is the name of it.

Thanks Everyone!

Never heard of this technique, sounds awesome, totally gonna try.
Thanks for sharing it with us :D

I like the idea :) I will do it tonight as I go to sleep.

Visualizing almost anything non-threatening can not only help you fall asleep but also utilizes the same area of our brains as when we dream... the secondary visual cortices.

*reads thread*
*spits coffee over computer*

This is so simple yet it should work more than bubble gum in a siblings hair:P

Tenman,

Your reply is the first thing I read when I woke up for a WBTB. It made me laugh so hard I dont think I'll be able to sleep now. Jk. Thanks for the replies guys. I'm about to explore this method some more as soon as I finish posting this.

I just tried it again. I did the same thing as before. Turned my walls of my room red, and slowly removed furniture. This time I imagined myself removing it in more creative ways. Things like rolling my bed up to be so small it disappears, crumbling my desk up with my mind like a piece of paper, and lighting my drumset on fire. Then all of a sudden I knew I was starting to slip into a dream because I started moving my dresser out of my room manually rather than wishing it away. Also this fat truck driver guy in a hat and sleeveless shirt started helping me. I did not consciously bring the truck driver into my mind. I told myself, "do not lose consciousness" out loud in my imagination (after writing this I realized how strange it is that I said something out loud and heard it with my ears just as clearly as I would in the physical world, but I was only saying it in my own mind). After telling myself not to lose consciousness, I was able to continue moving things with my mind and making my door and window disappear. After everything was removed, it was just the truck driver and me. I touched him with my index finger and he turned into vapor. Then a blonde woman appeared behind me. I heard her speak before I saw her. She asked me how I felt. I replied, "perfect". I knew my response was a little strange so I reminded myself, don't lose consciousness. Then I touched her and she disappeared. I was all alone in my empty room with no way out. So I sat on the floor and meditated. I did this only for about a minute until an idea came to me. I wanted to create a new scene. So I pulled my walls and my ceiling toward me until my room was small box. I was crammed tightly in this box. Then I told myself that whenever I peak out of the box, I will see a new scene. So I barely lifted the lid of the box (what used to be my ceiling). I peaked out and saw steps leading up to a building. It was night time. The building had two sliding automatic doors. The light coming out of the building was almost blinding. I stepped out of the box and slowly walked inside the building. I looked back at the box from inside the building. I turned back around and there was a very unattractive woman standing in front of me. That's when the imagery faded.

I want to say that this was a LD but I honestly can't tell you if I was asleep or awake. The whole experience felt so real, yet I knew the whole time I was just building a world in my mind. When I opened my eyes, I didn't feel like I was waking up. I felt like I had been instantly retuned to my real room from a distant location.

What do you think guys? LD or no? Is this similar to feelings and thoughts some of you have experienced.

Please lend me your insight and advice. It would be greatly appreciated. I am going to continue trying this method every time I meditate and sleep and see where it gets me. I'll keep you posted.

That sounds interesting, the thin line between dreams and visual thoughts.
I'm probably going to try this.

Chung, it sounds like really advanced meditation to me.

If you where lying down I would say that you entered a dream or fell asleep. Did you feel sleep paralysis?

But if you where meditating. . . you just hit a new level of self mind control:shock:. Congratulations!:bowdown:

I was lying down. I've hit SP by accident a lot before. I had actually never even heard of lucid dreaming until I was researching SP one night. But whenever I try to induce SP, it's never as deep as my accidental ones. I just become so relaxed that I have no urge to move and it takes a pretty good amount of will to move my body. When I would have SP by accident, I couldn't move at all no matter what I did. Also, when I try to induce SP, my body goes completely numb. One time, I was so deep into it that I couldn't even remember if I was wearing clothes lol. But I always meditate lying down and I almost always become semi paralyzed.

Well you probably fell asleep. :smiley:

But you said you got out of it pretty quick and from others experiences, that can be hard from sleep.
Either way that is awesome, in the original sense of the word, that you can dream at will.

I would post the bowing smiley again but my phone doesn't like smilies.

Chung! I did a DEILD attempt this night and entered a sort of vivid state that felt like I was between awake and dreaming. It was like a vivid daydream that never transitioned into a vivid REM-dream..
You can read about it in detail in my DJ. Perhaps it's similar to what you experienced. I see my experience as a lucid NON-REM dream anyway perhaps hypnagogic state.

Nice technique! Hope it continues working for you and anyone else that tries it. :)

Nice MasterMind. I still am experimenting with this method. I'm positive that I am falling asleep and dreaming now rather than just having deep visualizations. I always start imagining myself performing a task, and a few minutes into it, I actually feel like I'm performing the task. I have to work on stabilization though. There have been a few times that I have woken back up when I remind myself I'm dreaming. I think instead of telling myself I'm dreaming I'll try focusing on my hands. About to try it with a wbtb. Goodwin me luck.

It worked, kind of.
I thought of my old school when still conscious, I walked around in the hallways and up and down stairways and so on, and after something that seems like a couple of seconds other people started showing up, I felt that I am falling asleep, and then i woke up after a couple of hours.
No memory of a lucid or normal dream after that.

Joseph,

That sounds like how it started for me. The more I practice this, the easier it's becoming. I have found one thing to be important: once you see images appear on their own, such as the people you saw, don't force anything else to appear. Try not to imagine anything new. Just go with the flow. Only try to control your own actions. Let your surroundings just happen. Once you feel like you have a firm grasp on your surroundings, then it's time to try to manipulate objects. I've been able to do things like punch a who,e in my bedroom wall and it opens up to what appears to be infinite darkness. Then I throw everything in my room into the whole. It's kinda fun. Good luck. I would recommend continuing with the technique. It's paying off for me. Also, try using it before an afternoon nap. That's been most successful for me so far. Keep me posted. I'd like to hear if you discover anything that I haven't. It would be helpful for both of us if we collaborate.

Is this normal...When I close my eyes and try to conjure up an image of something, it flashes in my mind for a second then is gone. I can't hold the image there long enough to change anything. Is it because I have no imagination? I can never daydream either, no images appear in my head.

Hehe yeah it's completley normal. You have imagination don't worry :) When you daydream your not supposed to see it as clear as physical reality, it would be cool of course but not really safe if you had that good imagination. :P Have your eyes open and think of a rabbit if you can see the rabbit just by focsing on trying to see it, I don't mean like see it with your eyes but with uhm whatever we use to sense our thoughts, some people would call it the mindseye. If you can do this with ease you knowhow to visualize, if you had some difficulties doing this, you either focus too much on HOW to do it or you have other thoughts occupying your awareness. If that's the case try to get relaxed and just be aware that you think. Even if you think "Oh no now I am thinking to much again" just try to passivel observe that by acknowledging that you thought it.

You are just as capable as anyone else Amandaceline, you just have to stop over-analyzing the actions. - "The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure".

And LOL don't mind my signature I don't mean see as in seeing with the eyes I mean see as in understanding. :)

Amandaceline,

When you try to practice visualization, it does require some deep concentration. What position is your body in? Do you spend time relaxing and clearing your mind before you attempt the visualization? Also, when you try to conjure an image or situation, try to use all your senses. I practice by imagining a familiar place or object. I see it first, then touch it, smell it, sometimes taste it, and listen for any sounds. As soon as I see the image, I always imagine myself touching an object. This usually helps me get grounded in the scenario. Often when I do this, objects or people start to appear on their own and I have to remind myself to stay aware.