When visualizing, do you see in color and see actual objects in your mind?

Start small.

If all you see is black try to "draw" a white line in the blackness. Then try to morph that line into other shapes, like a wavy line or a circle.

Remember, it's all metaphor in your mind.. you can manipulate your metaphors.

Edit:

I can think in images or think in words or more abstract methods. Sometimes I can even think in 4 dimensions but that is somewhat hard.

I'm not sure what the Law of Attraction is.. sounds like some neurolinguistic programming self help tool or something similar.

Maybe this story will help.

When I was a kid I was a bit of a math prodigy. I understood math and wanted more and more. it was my passion. I could do it all in my head and found it annoying when I had to show my work using mathematical structures because my brain didn't work like that. In grade 9 I did a fair bit of math tutoring and quite often I would get frustrated because I couldn't understand how they didn't understand what I was saying. I decided to figure out why....

What I came to realize was that people thought in completely different ways. Different metaphors made sense for different people and it's because our minds interpret information in a different way. I figured out that it was language, partially, that shaped these interpretations so to explain myself I had to use different language than what made sense to me. This realization was a turning point in my life as I began to be far more interested in people, their emotions, their ways of thinking, etc, etc. I became a people watcher and I tried really hard to let in all the information without filtering it. My interests changed greatly too... math got kind of boring and social sciences became so much more relevant and interesting.

Though I didn't have the self-awareness to realize it at the time.. I had completely changed my way of thinking. Here's how I would describe it now...

The world is full of information. Our senses are inundated with information constantly. Our minds filter that information and select what we consider to be important. Our minds then interpret that filtered information to form a model of the world that ultimately defines how we function in it. As our personal model of the world matures, it affects the information that we choose to filter out. It is incredibly important that we do this. The vast majority of information our senses take in is trivial, we need to discriminate and interpret in order to function. However, what is important to realize is that we each have our own interpretations and there is no one right interpretation. All are valid as long as they are recognized as being interpretations.

What I've made a conscious effort to do is remove as many of my filters as possible. I'm still fairly good at math, but I'm also now very perceptive and intuitive. People often call me psychic, but there's nothing magical about what I can do. In my mind, psychicism is a metaphor for the intuition people get by having different filters. A more detailed description of my theory of psychics can be found here:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiwP8...

Here's a thought experiment for you...

What is pink? Picture it and describe it.

If you said it is a particular wavelength of electromagnetic radiation, give yourself 100 points. That is what "pink" "is" in an objective sense.

If you said it is a shade of light red or something like that, what you are describing is the metaphor your mind uses to interpret that particular wavelength of electromagnetic radiation.

Please note that the colour you see in your mind when you look at something pink may not be the colour my mind sees what I look at something pink. The image in my mind may very well be what you call brown, but we've both been taught that the word for that is pink.

Edit...

You're very welcome. Please remember that these are models of thinking -- metaphors for your mind. Everything you see and understand is a function of the way you think. Everything you do is also a function of the way you think. We can change the way we think and these NLP techniques (and others, like Buddhist sages whacking students with sticks, or some psychedelics) can alter the way you think. Force yourself to try different things like hugging a complete stranger.. things that may make you feel uncomfortable. The reason these things feel uncomfortable is that they don't match the behavioural pattern your mind has created for itself. If you don't like the behavioural patterns you have, you need to break the cycle. I'm pretty sure this is what The Law of Attraction is all about. Personally, I wouldn't put too much emphasis on following this program to a tee, as it is just one model.

But yeah, do be careful with what you're doing and make sure the person you become is the person you really want to be.

As for visualization techniques, start small with what I described at the very top. Be sure you are morphing the line, rather than replacing the old line with a new shape. Eventually you can try to incorporate colour.. try to *feel* the colour.

And here's another link for you...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_mind

Edit again... ok, don't hug a stranger that would be invasive. But try singing in public completely at random. Sure people will look at you funny but who cares? They only feel uncomfortable because your behaviour doesn't match the models in their mind for how people "should" behave. But really, wouldn't it be a better world if people just sang every now and then?

Yes, I "think" in color, and I see actual objects.

When I think about time (days, months, years..) they are in a sort of timeline.

When I am thinking about time in minutes, seconds, hours, and such, I actually see a clock at a weird angle.

When I am trying to remember how to spell something, I see the word being spelled out.

That's all I can think of right now. :)

Yes, I can see images and colors with my mind, but I don't consider myself to be psychic in any way. I am a wanna be artist, I make jewelry, and I can tell stories. But because of this I can close my eyes and picture things in full color Like I said, I'm nowhere near psychic.

I do, but then again being more creatively inclined, I always have.

For me it is like second nature.

It's not so much about thinking abstractly, but thinking visually. Some of us are just more visual than others. All I can say to you is to practice.

I'm a visual thinker, yes. I think in images and always have. I also have a photographic memory. I'm sure the two have something to do with one another.

It makes no difference whether my eyes are open or closed, because the images are in my mind. That's just the form my thoughts take. No one "actually sees anything" (other than light and dark) on the insides of their eyelids, as far as I'm aware.

I'm always interested in hearing what forms other people's thoughts take, because I can't even imagine thinking in something other than pictures. If you'd care to share, please do.

As a side note, though? The "law of attraction" is bunk. Don't waste your time on that nonsense. Being able to visualize does not make someone "psychic".

Edit for Mycah (and more info for the asker, if you want it): I see timelines too! I see them for seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, and years. But I have a couple of really weird ones:

When I think in terms of hours of the day, I see the house I lived in until I was ten years old. The morning hours are located in the living room where the sun would come in through the windows, and then they move around the house in a circle like a big 24-hour clock, with the afternoon/evening hours in the kitchen, and the nighttime hours in the bedrooms.

When I think in centuries, or go further back than about the mid-eighteen hundreds, I see a map. Certain centuries and time periods are associated with different parts of the world, based on my knowledge of history. For example, the 1400-1500s are located in Italy, because I associate that time period with the Renaissance. Perhaps my brain does this to facilitate the memorization of dates or something.

Years and decades in the 20th century I see on my timeline, but they have pictures to go with them: events, fashion trends, and music are the most common ones I see (yes, I see music; if I know what the artist looks like, I usually see them; otherwise I see images based on what the music makes me see in my head when I hear it- it could be a place, an object, a scene, or something totally abstract and weird).

I also see a number line when I'm doing in math in my head. Each grouping of ten is shaded a different color, so I can tell where on the line I'm at. I cannot do math in my head without visualizing, period. When I do it on paper, though, my brain works completely differently.

2nd Edit: The distinction I'm talking about is between seeing with your eyeballs and seeing things in your mind. I have no idea how it works, but I can be looking at something with my eyes, and picturing something completely different in my mind. That's why closing my eyes makes no difference to me, because when my eyes are closed, the distinction is still there. With my eyeballs, I see nothing but blackness on the inside of my eyelids. The imagined images are still in my mind. I don't actually physically see them.

My photographic memory works the same way. It's not "literal" in the sense that I do not have a true eidetic memory (where one is able to recall a picture with perfect detail, including things like long strings of random numbers), and I still do not physically see anything on the backs of my eyelids. I simply mean that my memories come in the form of pictures, which are usually pretty accurate, and if I concentrate very hard, can be fairly detailed. They are recreated in my mind. This is helpful to me when taking exams, because I can picture my notes or the textbook or blackboard in my mind. I cannot read every single word, but I can remember where certain concepts appeared on the page, and this helps me to bring the details to mind, if that makes sense.

I'm curious as to what made you think you had a photographic memory, since you seem to be having such trouble with the concept of visualization. Is it possible that you were visualizing without realizing that's what you were doing? When you say "I can think abstractly," is this what you mean, or are you referring to yet another way people can think? I think most people can think more than one way to a degree; it's just that one way is usually dominant. To answer your question, yes, sometimes I do talk in my head, usually when I'm trying to think of something to say. But when I think in words like that, there's usually a picture to go with it. Very rarely do I think only in words, although I suppose it has happened on occasion. It is more difficult for me to comprehend what I read or hear if I think that way, whereas, if I think in images, comprehension is easy.

It is the wish of every individual to be successful in all his endeavors. Everyone wants to lead a good life without any worries and anxiety.

My friend's hair colour The night sky The colour of every Twilight cover The colour of a garbage bag The colour of my cat's fur

You don't need psychic powers to have an imagination. Anybody can achieve vizualization... unless you're talking about something supernatural, in which case, you're just crazy.

Dont do it unless you want to become mad.

In Buddhist practice all thoughts are to be stopped.