This may sound weird but I have aphantasia and I can’t visualize in my mind, or close my eyes and visualize. This makes meditation very difficult.
Anyone else have Aphantasia or know of any non-visual guided meditations - like on youtube or similar. I have tried to do it mysef but I get lost and my mind wanders very easily so some kind of guide makes it easier to keep focused.
Please don’t give me suggestions on how to ‘fix’ this as I have lived with this for my entire life and have tried everythig out there to fix it. I don’t need fixing, i just need a ‘work-around’. (sorry, not trying to be or sound snotty, but ways to ‘fix’ me is the only answsers i ever get when I ask for advise, which i why I came here.)
I changed the category for this post to Q&A. I think you’ll have better chances of your post being seen.
Visualization is something I seriously struggle with too! It takes not just hours but sometimes a whole day to really find a vision in my mind’s eye that I can picture in my brain.
Can I asked how you were diagnosed? I have never heard this term and am seriously intrigued!
I researched it years ago as i was completely shocked that i was the only one who couldn’t ‘see/visualize’ their happy place with birds, rivers, etc. I brought it to my GP who laughed at me saying that was impossible, so i went to several different DRs til someone listened to me, and confirmed that is what i have. I did numerous studies, trial, tried all kinds of techniques but nothing. I remember not being able to visualize as a child. As a teacher would tell us to close our eyes and imagine an apple; that is it red, and has a brown spot, etc; classmates could ‘see’ the apple but i just saw black. But I can describe an apple for you and go into great detail, but that is based on logically memory not visualization.
I have tried hypnotherapy, medication, astral projection, dream therapy but nothing works. I also don’t dream, or at least I don’t remember them. (Again, tried lots of techniques to help remember them) I do wake up feeling scared or sad, or upset so i assume i had a dream that i don’t recall. I do sometime get what i call a polaroid moment - where i will get a sudden ‘flash’ of somehting but i can’t focus on it, or study it or even mentally hold onto it, it just pops up and as quickly as it appears it is gone.
I have tried many different guided meditations and found that i can kinda stay focused on ones that use feelings instead of pictures. Instead of imagine your happy place i enjoy the feelings that are mentioned. Like you are on a beach it is warm and sunny and you are feeling so happy, and content, you can feel the warmth of the sun…
My first meditations were silent group meditation at a Buddhist temple. The point was to keep your mind blank and just let your thoughts float over. It sounds bland, but I had really good luck with it & I still dont do too well with visualization during meditation. I’d rather do it “my” way lol
Edit- reading your reply made me giggle, because while I can picture something, it takes awhile. And I also have very few dreams. Maybe I have a little bit of that issue going on in my head too. It’s funny bc I’m an artist but I really dont ever visualize my work, I just go by instinct.
Yes, i am very ‘artistic’ but i just go by what i put to paper. i have an idea logically/logistically how i want something to turn out based on things i have seen before. But until i get my hands on the project i never know how it will turn out.
I also can’t learn by reading - i have to see it in action. I was reading a book on iching and re-read the same few pages multiple times because i couldn’t figure it out but then i went to youtube and found a video that showed each step and then the words made sense. I can’t read fiction books because i can’t imgaine the scenery. If i watch the movie, i can kinda follow along in the book.
I am so glad I stumbled across this post! I didn’t know there is a name for the inability to visualize. I’ve always struggled with it, my grandmother was always having me practice but I never could, which of course led to frustration. I feel better knowing that it’s an actual thing
I know this is an older post, but I have the exact same problem. I really thought something was wrong with my concentration at first. I was so frustrated! I also did research about it and learned about Aphantasia.
through trial and error, I learned that although I could never “see” my happy place or “see my surroundings walking down the path”, I could “feel” them. I eventually realized that I had a strong clairsentient thing going on and decided not to fight it. So when guided mediations would say things like “see the birds” I would “feel” the birds. It could either be the physical feel of their wings, their joy at flying, or even just feeling their presence to know they are there. I could also describe something in great detail as though I could see it. But nope, never saw a darned things while meditating.
I’m not sure that the original poster is still reading this thread, But I thought I could post my experiences in the hopes that it could help others.
My work around was to find a guided meditation that I enjoyed. After hearing it a time or two, I would be able to automatically convert the “see” into “feel” and was thus able to get some good results.
However, traditional meditations still aren’t something I enjoy frequently and oftentimes are still a source of frustration. I prefer quick check ins and being in the moment. A quick grounding and practicing mindfulness has been much more rewarding and much less frustrating over all.