What's needed to Visualize...

So I've been working on Meditation for a bit and one of the best pieces of advice I was given is that I don't need to visualize in order to meditate. That has been very helpful. A lot of what I've read about meditation would say 'picture this' or such. I also downloaded a meditation timer for my phone. It's neat to just let go for 10 minutes. But it doesn't seem to do anything for my focus.

When I was trying to work through visualizing, I came up with a bit of a mental block, and I tried to figure out why. I used to be able to visualize very easily. Now I have trouble for some reason. One of the things I had looked into was that Michael Jordan would mentally rehearse before a game. I thought about this for a few weeks and what I came up with was that you need a couple of things to be able to visualize like Mike.

1.) A functioning visual imagination
- I ended up with PTSD after getting hit by a drunk driver and I've been wondering for a while if I've been suppressing nightmares and such. I could see a real possibility in something like that interfering with my imagination. There's also a condition called Aphantasia which is a complete inability to see something in the mind's eye. So I've been wondering if the PTSD caused an induced Aphantasia. And if so, I need to find a way to work through it or around it.

2.) The ability to detach from your surroundings
- To be able to go into your imagination, the mind's eye, headspace, or whatever, you have to pull yourself out of your surroundings. Have you ever been so engrossed by something your were watching that you forgot where you were? When that happens, you've lost track of your surroundings. That's basically what I mean, but you would have to be engrossed by what you are picturing, I think.
- Sometimes with PTSD, one can develop a condition called Hypervigilance. This is an acute, aggravated, sometime paranoid awareness of your surroundings. I've wondered for a while if I have a slight case of it. Mostly with sound. It's easy to close your eyes. It's a lot harder to close your ears.

and this one isn't necessary, but:

3.) A functioning equilibrium
- Have you ever been on a boat, you get off the boat onto dry land, and it feels like you're still on the boat rocking back and forth? That's a function of your equilibrium that tried to compensate for the movement of the boat to counteract any vertigo. Well, you activate this internal sense in your dreams and sometimes when people meditate, they can experience a sense of floating. When athletes picture themselves in their activities, some of them will sometimes experience the feeling of motion associated with that activity. This isn't an illusion. That internal sense has to be being activated in some way. All sense of motion is processed by the inner ear.
- I also have a medical condition called Raynaud's disease. It affects circulation to all of my extremities to varying degrees. I get pain and discoloration on my feet, hands, and even my ears can turn purple and hurt. I've found that when I can relieve my symptoms, my balance comes back and I can walk normal. My balance isn't so bad that I'm falling over all the time, but if I walk too fast in a hallway here at the house, I can walk right into a wall.

So I seem to be having some issues in all of these areas. Mostly when I try to visualize, I can't do it for more than a couple of seconds. Something is pulling me out. I can't seem to shut out the pain in my legs, but that's not always the case.

So at least by breaking this down into it's component parts, I can work at different aspects of Visualizing. I want fix this. I just don't know exactly how.

Any ideas?

A couple of eyes would help.

From my experience, the easiest way to meditate is to focus on your breath. Breathe in deeply, down into your stomach and back out. Your mind will start to wander sooner or later, and when you realize this, just go back to focussing on each breath you take.

I don't know what you try to visualize, but you could start with something very easy, like a number. Try to imagine the number 1 in a certain form, a bit like the fonts you have in MS Word and such. Maybe add a color and/or a texture. Then you could try to spin it around a little, like in a 3D animation or so.

About 'closing your ears', I like to listen to either meditation music or a guided meditations. There are lots and lots on youtube you can listen to via your phone or so.

a reply to: CryHavoc

I will tell you this from my own experience. (I also had an MRI this week-down in the tube and they asked if I was alive)....I said "Sure...I wasnt IN there. Meditation you know?"

For years now (40+ years)..its not even focusing...but breathing 4 breaths a minute.
ex: 7 1/2 in, 7 1/2 out, 7 1/2 in, 7 1/2 out
7 1/2 in, 7 1/2 out, 7 1/2 in, 7 1/2 out

I know I'm aware Im not really moving my chest up and down, but its not so much as "focusing" on it...*

*PS: My wife years ago used to get scared because she thought for sure I wasnt breathing at all

Best,

Save travels-MS