In meditation we come to peace with what is. With visualization we create something better than what is. 

The words meditation and mindfulness mean many things to many people. Some consider visualization to be meditation. But it is really not. That’s like saying that ketchup and mustard are the same thing because they are condiments. Meditation is aimed at calming the mind, becoming less influenced by the mental chatter and coming to inner peace. It is typically disengaging from the mind. Visualization, on the other hand, is about engaging and focusing the mind in a more powerful way than normal. In that sense, visualization is almost the opposite of meditation. Rather than sitting still trying to let your mind settle, we are engaging the mind in an effective and empowering way. It is a powerful tool that helps us to be more capable, resourceful and creative in all aspects of our lives.  

Meditation helps us be less attached to goals, visualization helps us grow, take action and actually achieve our goals.

In coming to accept what is, meditation makes us less attached to goals and outcomes. In engaging and focusing our mind, visualization stands in stark contrast, empowering us to create the life we want. Visualization is a process that helps you achieve your goals more easily. It is more than wishful thinking or daydreaming or simply creating pictures in your mind. At EnVision, we see visualization as getting clear on your vision, positively shifting your mindset and emotional state, and fulfilling more of your potential to achieve your goals. With that, we are better able to affect the world and create what we want. 

Meditation helps us to become more aware. Visualization helps us use awareness to overcome limiting beliefs, obstacles and challenges and to use more of our creativity and intuition.

In this sense, meditation and visualization are complements to each other. They each do different things. While both can be considered important, visualization has a greater importance when it comes to our focus, motivation, personal growth and success. Meditation affects us more globally and generally, visualization helps us specifically and intentionally. Overcoming limiting beliefs, obstacles and challenges are part of achieving our goals and creating the life we desire. Visualization can help us identify and actually change these internal patterns, where meditation often only affects them indirectly. For tapping into creativity and intuition, meditation allows us to create more space and capacity for intuition and creativity, while visualization helps us to engage and utilize them towards a specific goal. 

Finally, Visualization helps us prepare for our day and get the most out of our day, while meditation gives us a break from it.

Beyond just preparing to handle things in a calm way, visualization helps you to mentally rehearse so that you can perform at your optimal in specific situations. Visualizations can help us to prime our day to show up as our best self. However, visualization is not just limited to preparation, we can use it moment-to-moment to help us stay connected to our vision and the reasons “why” we are pursuing it. We can use it to help us shift our emotional and mental state throughout the day. Finally, we can use it to learn and remember more efficiently.

Visualization is a tool and a practice that can involve relaxation to make it more powerful. But it is not designed to give you a break from your life — it is designed to enhance your life and make it more successful. And the combination of meditation and visualization can be quite powerful. As one popular meditation teacher has said, “Meditation on its own is weak, but with visualization it is 1000 times more powerful.”