How to Use Creative Visualization to Get Unstuck in Life

We feel stuck in life at different stages and for various reasons. Though it feels utterly unsettling, it’s the perfect opportunity for growth.

With the right tools, you can transform your entire life. You can create a positive change with the power of your mind alone.

And creative visualization is one of such tools that can help you do just that — rapidly, effortlessly, and creatively. Here’s what you need to know about creative visualization methods for anxiety and healing.

Why Creative Visualization Works, According to Science

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O. Carl Simonton, radiation oncologist, pioneered the mind-body connection to fight cancer.

He would have his patients do specific exercises to enhance their chances of recovery and improve their quality of life by using the power of their minds alone.

In one of his methods, based on meditation and visualization, he would teach them to focus on positive mental imagery and to visualize their immune system cells destroying cancer cells.

He called this process a guided sensory imagery method as it involved using all five senses.

The Creative Visualization Method

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This powerful method, once coined as an alternative healing tool, is now known as creative visualization, which can help you not only accelerate your healing process but also:

• Move toward your goals
• Feel more positive about your life
• Find a way when you feel stuck
• Be more productive
• Accomplish your projects
• Find solutions
• Overcome anxiety

Vishen, Mindvalley’s founder, affirms that the greatest skill you can learn is to take your visions out of your head and make them a reality in the world.

The idea that thoughts create our reality isn’t metaphysical but is backed up by science.

For example, Australian sports psychologist Alan Richardson confirmed that a person who consistently visualizes a certain skill develops “muscle memory” as if they were physically engaging in the activity. 

In this study on creative visualization, he tested randomly selected students who had never done creative visualization for twenty days.

He divided them into three groups:

1. Group A practiced free throws on the courts.
2. Group B did nothing.
3. Group C practiced creative visualization.

By the end of the experiment, Group A improved their free throw ability by 24%. Group C, who practiced purely in their mind, improved by 23%. Group B had no improvement.

So creative visualization is almost as powerful as real-world practice.

How Creative Visualization Works

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There are four primary states of human consciousness, or brain frequencies — beta, alpha, theta, delta, and gamma. 

Each frequency correlates with a specific state:

• Alpha correlates with a relaxed, meditative, creative state.
• Theta correlates with psychic functions. 
• Delta correlates with synchronicities or bending reality. 
• Gamma correlates with peak performance and concentration.

Scientists have found that creative visualization operates predominantly at alpha, a relaxed state of mind, when your mind is a bit sleepy but still active.

In other words, it’s the ideal state for being susceptible to autosuggestions. So the best time for practicing creative visualization is right after you wake up in the morning.

Creative visualization process for anxiety

• Close your eyes and get into a relaxed state.
• Imagine a high-definition large TV screen in front of you. 
• Visualize the current situation you want to improve, such as feeling stuck in life. 
• Feel the emotional pain of your situation. By seeing first what you don’t want, you get better results. 
• See it, hear it, feel it as if you’re reliving it for 1-2 minutes. 
• Erase the scene of you being stuck in life. 
• Visualize a new scene of you feeling optimistic about your life. 
• Make it as vivid as you can in full color. 
• Bring all your five senses – see, hear, feel, taste, and smell the scene you’re visualizing. 
• Feel amplified positive emotions.
• See two or more people benefit from this outcome. 
• Say to yourself: “Let this or something better happen.” 
• Open your eyes and step out into the world.

According to Vishen, when you see other people benefiting from the outcome, it will amplify your results. 

Creative visualization for healing

When creative visualization is applied to healing, it’s called imagery therapy. 

Vishen, for example, used this technique to heal his severe acne when he was 14 years old. He says, “your subconscious mind understands through imagery, so you want to use symbols and images that represent the healing process for you. Whatever works for you is perfect.”

So, just like Vishen did, you can use it for any ailment or injury to accelerate healing and recovery. 

Creative visualization process for healing

• Decide on what it is that you want to heal.
• Get into a relaxed state of mind to make autosuggestions work better.
• Visualize a giant TV screen.
• Project what you want to heal and feel the pain that this illness is causing you.
• Reflect on that pain for a minute.
• Erase that picture.
• Project the healing you want to get, using the symbolism that speaks to you.
• See yourself completely healed.
• Feel all the positive emotions of being healed, bringing in all your five senses.
• See your healing benefiting two or more people.
• End the process with the affirmation affirming your healed part of the body.

The four rules of creative visualization

1. Make it as vivid as possible.
2. Bring in all five senses.
3. Feel amplified positive emotions.
4. See two or more people benefiting.

You want to practice it three times a day, for five minutes each, until you’re healed.

Before applying this method, keep in mind that creative visualization shouldn’t be used as a substitute for medication recommended by your doctor. But it can be used in conjunction for maximum results. 

Visualize Your Bright Future

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Lisa Nichols, celebrated motivational speaker and Mindvalley’s trainer, explains that we become what we think about every day. 

She says, “every great leader and visionary visualized their great future before they took action.”

So if you’re seeking to find a way out of your stuckness, it means that you’re on the way to your greatness. If you can visualize your new possibilities, you can surely create them in your life.