Meditation, Visualization, and Guided Imagery: 3 Things to Know

What are the differences? What is best for me?

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If you missed last blog about resetting your arousal system (fight-flight-freeze), you can find it here.

Comparison

All of the following, by design, help promote relaxation or resetting of the arousal system and focus on health and healing. In some specific cases, each one of these, when designed that way, can help a person focus on a task - like an athlete visualizing their event and desired outcome. Here we are focusing on how each of these helps a person destress, relax, reconnect to themselves, and/or heal an emotional or physical hurt that has been experienced during the day.

Guided Imagery - This, as the name applies, is a guided technique, that uses specific scenes and or word choices to elicit a multi-sensory experience in your mind. You don't have to work hard, focus, or effort. You only have to lie down and listen. The work has been done in the creation of the guided imagery, so you will get the sensory experience even if you fall asleep. These are typically 5-30 minutes in length. One person whose guided imagery has been well researched and found to have statistically significant results for relaxation and pain control, even if you fall asleep during the guided imagery, is Belleruth Naparstek, LCSW. The goal is relaxation, calming, and healing, and you can listen any time, even right before bed.

Visualization - This can be guided or self-directed visualizing, which as the name implies involves seeing in the mind's eye. It can be for the goal of resetting/relaxation, but it can also be used for goal setting or goal envisioning. It can also be used, as in the case of athletes, for rehearsing, in your mind, a desired outcome. It is like focused day dreaming. When it is guided, it can be used for healing as well, but the focus in on "seeing", rather than total sensory immersion like guided imagery. Visualization is usually 5-15 minutes, and can be done multiple times a day. Falling asleep during visualization would mean, you did not complete the visualization, and that is why laying down is discouraged.

Meditation - This can be guided or self-directed, with the purpose of relaxation, yes, but more specifically, the purpose is to bring mindfulness, present moment awareness, and clearing of the mind, which can lead to inner peace. The simplest form of meditation is connecting to the breath to bring awareness. Meditation can last 5 - 90 minutes, or more, as in the case of Buddhist monks, who can meditate for hours. There also are movement meditations, like walking meditation, but the focus is the same: awareness of the present moment. Falling asleep during meditation would mean you did not complete the meditation, and that is why laying down is discouraged.

What is best for you?

It is well known in the literature that relaxation - calming the heart, mind and body - allows the body to rest, recover and heal. Relaxation even helps with pain management. Click here for an article by the NIH (National Institute of Health) that reviews controlled studies that test how relaxation affects pain. The body knows how to heal, if we take time to get into a relaxed state.

Healing can also happen when we sleep, if we have quality/restful sleep for enough time each day. Which is why I often recommend people start with guided imagery, if they are not used to relaxing, so they can relax and then drift off to sleep.

If you are ready to relax while staying awake, but you don't think you can sit still, walking or movement meditation could be a good place for you to start. Your movement, while it can be physically good for you to engage in, would be completed with the main purpose of clearing your mind. That means, you likely need to do this alone, or with someone who is skilled at moving meditation. You let your thoughts come and let them go just as they came. You observe things around you as you move, but notice how your thoughts come and go. Do this until you are more calm, present, relaxed and your thoughts are in the background.

If you want to envision success in a presentation or run (or anything), you would likely want to use visualization. This is a chance to be still; your practice and work is already completed. You focus on calming your breath and then move into visualizing how you want things to go. Once completed, you focus on your breath and the present moment. This can also help you sleep before your big day.

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