Psychologists consider visualization to be an effective cognitive tool that allows you to maximize access to your own imagination and present all aspects of what you want with high confidence. At the same time, not only a “naked” visual image is formed in the mind, as on a TV screen, but also a three-dimensional model involving all the senses in the process. Visualization techniques are used to achieve goals in any area of life: it can be success in sports, a new level of financial well-being, romantic and family relationships. The visualization method can also be successfully used to promote health, reduce weight, get rid of bad habits, and achieve positive dynamics in the treatment of diseases.

The lack of desired changes in our lives is most often due to the lack of necessary neural connections in the brain. Any action leads to the formation of “bridges” between neurons, and the more often we do something, the stronger the “bridges” – we do familiar things without even thinking. And what we have never done causes fear and inner resistance. That’s why sometimes people can’t take a decisive step towards their desired goal for the rest of their lives. At the same time, there is no difference for our brain whether we perform actions in reality or just imagine them. In both cases, new neural connections are formed. Therefore, after a series of “mental rehearsals” it can be much easier for us to “transfer” the experience gained into real life. In addition, if we experience emotions during visualization, there is a change in the biochemistry of our body. If we feel joy from a mental image, serotonin is produced, if we feel euphoria from victory, dopamine is released. Thus, the event is fixed not only at the level of neural connections, but also at the level of the body, increasing motivation to achieve the goal and instilling confidence in victory. So, if we want to get rid of any disease and constantly imagine how we will feel after recovery, the biochemistry of the body will begin to change, “pushing” the body to turn aspirations into reality.

When striving for a goal, you can focus on the image of the end result (for example, imagine yourself in a perfectly slender body or in your dream home). The second way is to focus on the process of achieving what you want: this allows you to visualize specific steps and intermediate results. The combination of both types is the most optimal: the presentation of the final goal is a source of inspiration, and the visualization of intermediate steps and stages helps to maintain confidence and not give up, especially if it takes a lot of time and effort to achieve the result. So, for example, if you need to get rid of 30 kg, it is important to visualize not only the final goal, but also how much easier the body will feel if you lose only three or four kg, imagine the joy that you can feel when a tight-fitting skirt becomes loose at the waist. There are also three important visualization conditions:

1. Details. Brightness, authenticity, and richness of detail: the more realistic the picture we present, the more active the process of forming new neural connections in the brain is. So, if you briefly think about a piece of chocolate, this thought will soon be forgotten. But if we imagine in detail the slightly misted tiles in a silver wrapper, the brain will soon begin not only to intensively motivate us to possess a delicacy, but also to offer various options for achieving the goal, building routes to the nearest pastry shops.
2. Emotionality. When we manage not only to live the desired event on the levels of thoughts, but also to experience strong feelings in the visualization process, it helps the body to overcome obstacles on the way to the goal faster. For example, a person wants to run a marathon, but at the same time does not dare to even start running, and when trying to visualize jogging, he feels insecure or afraid associated with previous experiences. Listening to music from inspirational films about marathon runners, for example, will help you form positive emotions about the goal. Synthesizing the sensations of listening to music with visual images will help you start acting — first in your imagination, and then in reality.
3. Expanding the experience. New experiences, including those that we form in our imagination, are based on existing knowledge, ideas, and images. For example, a person dreams of diving, but has never been to the sea: it will be quite difficult to create a reliable image in the visualization process. In order for the “picture” in your head to be as reliable as possible, it is best, of course, to go to the coast, but you can also watch films about divers, read their biographies, art books on this topic, etc. It is necessary to constantly get new impressions and expand the experience, then the brain will have much more “material” from which he will be able to “mold” a new reality.

In 2004, scientists from the Lerner Research Institute (Cleveland, USA) conducted a study on the impact of “mental training” on real physical abilities. The participants were divided into three groups: the first performed “imaginary finger movements”, the second flexed her arm at the elbow joint, and the third performed real physical exercises — maximum finger movement. There was also a control group that did not participate in mental or physical training. Classes were held for 15 minutes, 5 days a week for 12 weeks. Before and after the experiment, the participants measured the strength of the muscles involved in real or imaginary movement. An indicator called cortical potential was also measured — changes in the electroencephalogram associated with the control of voluntary muscle contractions. It turned out that the muscle strength of the participants engaged in real exercises increased by an average of 53%. In volunteers who flexed their elbow in imagination, it increased by 13.5%, and in those who conducted “mental training” on the abduction of the little finger, the muscles became stronger by an average of 35%. In the control group, the muscle strength did not change. Thus, during this experiment, it was proved that despite the fact that real exercises showed the greatest increase in muscle strength, imaginary workouts also lead to tangible changes on the physical plane. In December 2019, the results of another study conducted by specialists from the University of Burgundy Franche-Comté (Dijon, France) were published. Using the method of transcranial magnetic stimulation, scientists assessed the excitability of spinal cord regions that occur with a real or imaginary thumb movement. First, the study participants were asked to perform a physical exercise — finger extension by 90°, while the researchers recorded changes in the bioelectric activity of the spinal cord. In the second stage of the experiment, participants had to imagine how they performed this movement. It turned out that neuronal firing was similar in intensity in both cases, both during real exercise and during imaginary exercise.

Thus, in these and many other experiments, it has been proven that mental exercise is accompanied by tangible changes on the physical plane. This confirms the idea of visualization as a method that allows you to “live out” any events in advance and prepare your brain and body for their realization in reality.