Visualization - How do you improve it?

[Tsunami1]

I've heard that it is possible to visualize so well that your own mental images can be every bit as life-like as life itself. Some even compare the quality of their visualizations to that of lucid dreams. Sort of like entering into a virtual reality as soon as the eyes are closed. I've been looking into Creative Imagery by William Fezler and the book claims it can help you visualize in all 5 senses. I own the book and it's mostly creative visualization with a little bit of self hypnosis. I have yet to put it into practice however. I just want some second hand opinions from those who are experienced in that stuff. I'm afraid of wasting time and effort on things that "might" work. Also, has anyone found the visualization exercise in Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming any helpful?

[Sensei]

I have only found one way of improving my visualization skills, and that is by practice. Everything else is temporary. For instance: On your next WBTB, get up a little longer and spend some time visualizing. It should be much more vivid and clear than any other time. This is when I see "how far I can go with my visuals" that is to try things like playing chess or pulling up random text and other things. If an entire scene comes, I am usually dreaming, and I start moving my body with the "imagination movement until I can feel it. Then I start moving like normal. If I move before I "feel" anything, I usually move my waking body. It is ok, but it works about as well as any visualization exercise I have found. I make my own now.

[JShadow]

Find 5 objects with simple structures and low amount of details (ex. Mug, apple, tablespoon measure, baseball, salt shaker). Now look at one of the objects and study it, look at every detail and do this until you think you have it in your mind. Now close your eyes and imagine the object. If you're having troubles, look at it again and see if you can remember more details. Imagine it again with eyes closed and repeat looking at it and imagining it until you feel you have the object fully remembered visually. Do this exercise with the other 4 objects you chose. Another way is to simply imagine a room in your house. All the details, carpet color, walls, that shoe in the corner, TVs, whatever is in that room. This skill is pretty useful when you're trying to expect something while in a lucid dream. Personally, I don't visualize visually when I'm wilding, I'm more of a kinetic and sound person. But visually visualizing is extremely useful when you're controlling dreams and trying to manifest something.

[FryingMan]

Frequent, Effortful practice: start small, then continually push your boundaries as your skills grow. Set goals and frequently evaluate progress and re-adjust goals if need be. The same as how to build awareness, dream recall, etc., in any skill or discipline.

[Sensei]

I like starting with a dot, then making it bigger to 3D circle, then 2 3D circles, then add light and shadows, then mess with the coloring and texture packs. Then I go to what I was planning.

[sisyphus]

Find 5 objects with simple structures and low amount of details (ex. Mug, apple, tablespoon measure, baseball, salt shaker). Now look at one of the objects and study it, look at every detail and do this until you think you have it in your mind. Now close your eyes and imagine the object. If you're having troubles, look at it again and see if you can remember more details. Imagine it again with eyes closed and repeat looking at it and imagining it until you feel you have the object fully remembered visually. Do this exercise with the other 4 objects you chose. Another way is to simply imagine a room in your house. All the details, carpet color, walls, that shoe in the corner, TVs, whatever is in that room. This skill is pretty useful when you're trying to expect something while in a lucid dream. Personally, I don't visualize visually when I'm wilding, I'm more of a kinetic and sound person. But visually visualizing is extremely useful when you're controlling dreams and trying to manifest something. This. I would add that, a key concept is that visualization starts with memory. Either short term memory (start at an object, then close your eyes) or long term memory (recreate a scene that you are very familiar with, such as your room). So, visualization starts with memory, thus you begin training visualization by exercising your memory. Next after memory is improvisation. Improvisation is a creative activity, but not random or unstructured. It is guided by a set of rules or goals. To train this, you would step further to a moving object or scene. For short term memory, a candle flame is a ideal, and is used traditionally in a particular style of meditation. The flame moves, but within a narrow range of possibilities. You don't need to memorize every exact movement, you just need to grasp the general pattern. Knowing the pattern, you can recreate it in visualization using a combination of memory (what the flame looks like) and improvisation (how it changes over time). For long term memory, I would chose a familiar activity that has movement, but, like the flame, has a regular pattern. Examples might be a dense crowd of people walking across a street or the back-and-forth of a tennis match.

[Sensei]

This. I would add that, a key concept is that visualization starts with memory. Either short term memory (start at an object, then close your eyes) or long term memory (recreate a scene that you are very familiar with, such as your room). So, visualization starts with memory, thus you begin training visualization by exercising your memory. Next after memory is improvisation. Improvisation is a creative activity, but not random or unstructured. It is guided by a set of rules or goals. To train this, you would step further to a moving object or scene. For short term memory, a candle flame is a ideal, and is used traditionally in a particular style of meditation. The flame moves, but within a narrow range of possibilities. You don't need to memorize every exact movement, you just need to grasp the general pattern. Knowing the pattern, you can recreate it in visualization using a combination of memory (what the flame looks like) and improvisation (how it changes over time). For long term memory, I would chose a familiar activity that has movement, but, like the flame, has a regular pattern. Examples might be a dense crowd of people walking across a street or the back-and-forth of a tennis match. It is interesting because when visualizing chess or my phone, or anything I find that my mind comes up with its own possibilities and strategies as well as gull conversations that make sense throughout my text messages (or skype messages). I never thought of it much since I thought "makes sense in a dream, why not in a visualization"