Visioning combines an intention with the process of visualization, and is a powerful way to manifest certain experiences into your life that your Heart desires to have. Visioning is an innately human expression, one that has been practiced for millions of years through the act of prayer, sacred ritual, song, and dance.

References to the process of visioning can be found in numerous religious texts. The well-known biblical verse, “ask and ye shall receive,” is in reference to visioning—holding a vision is the equivalent of asking the universe for what you desire. Visioning has also been described in many law-of-attraction teachings as the process of “manifestation.” It is important to note, however, that you can only truly manifest that which you already have within, and not what you want. Visioning is the process of tuning into what is already being created through you, and then allowing it to manifest most gracefully by aligning your thoughts, emotions, and actions with the creative energy of the vision.

Visioning is distinctly different from trying to manifest something on account of feeling a sense of lack in your life. When you want something because you believe it will make you happier (be it a romantic partner, a new car, or a bigger house), then visioning will only increase your sense of lack. You can only manifest what you already have within you. And so the first step in visioning is always to find peace and a deep acceptance for your life now, experiencing the natural abundance that exists within you and all around you in the present moment. It is from a state of presence and clarity that visioning will be effective. In this way, visioning is used to focus on the knowingness within your Heart, allowing that which is within your Soul’s desires for this lifetime to manifest with greater grace and ease. Through years of personal experimentation I have learned to use visioning with discretion and respect, while always focusing on my Heart throughout the process, which is ultimately the most effective way to use this tool.

You Are the Creator of Your Life

We are always manifesting experiences into our lives. Just being alive in a human body, creating thoughts, feelings, and actions, produces change in our inner experience, as well as in the outer world. When you have a thought, it sends a ripple of energy out into the field of energy around you. Depending on how strongly focused your thought is, determines how much of an impact it has on life around you. Every thought and desire is heard and felt by the Higher Intelligence that is a part of all creation, and is reflected back to us in some shape or form. By holding a vision, you are channeling and distilling your energy into a specific creation. The more clear and focused your energy is, the stronger the signal will be to the universe. So we want to be very clear about what we are calling into our lives, be clear about where within us this desire is coming from (the Heart or the ego), and then be very responsible in how we use the visioning process.

You can use the visioning process to receive guidance as to the overarching themes that your Soul has come into this lifetime to experience, as well as to receive guidance on unfolding chapters, or stages, of your life. Once the vision has been uncovered, the next step is to get out of your own way so that it can manifest gracefully into your life. It sounds simple enough, and when you look out into the world you can see that most people are using some form of visioning all the time (either consciously or unconsciously). A person holds a vision, and then goes about trying to make it happen in the world.

Visioning With Intention

The difference between using visioning consciously versus unconsciously, however, can mean the difference between happiness and suffering. The more that your vision has been influenced by your ego, the more resistance you will experience in the process of manifestation, and the more suffering you will likely experience along the way. When we hold a vision for egoic desires, we are not aligning ourselves with the highest good of ourselves or others, and consequently, there is less universal energy available to us during the process of manifestation. Using visioning in this way can create more karma for ourselves, and will likely result in some form of imbalance in our life or the lives of others. Once you are clear in your motivations and intentions, however, you can begin the visioning process.

I would suggest creating some form of ritual around this experience in a way that feels good for you. You might consider designating a small section of a room that has any of the following elements; a comfortable place to sit for meditation, soft fabrics, pictures of spiritual teachers (or any one else with whom you feel a strong loving connection to), crystals, essential oils, or other elements from nature such as flowers, branches, or stones. All of these things will help create a loving space for yourself to engage in your visioning process. You also may consider lighting a candle, dimming the lights, or burning a small amount of dried sage or incense to cleanse the energy of the room. Here are the steps for the visioning process:

1. Meditation

Quieting the mind is an essential aspect of visioning. The quieter your mind is, the more in tune you will be with your Heart, and the more energy will be made available for your visioning process. So the first step in visioning is to cultivate a strong foundation of meditation in your life. Practice daily and consistently. Keeping your attention on your Heart center during meditation will be most effective for moving on to the next step of the visioning process. When the time is right to move to the next step, you will know it. There is no rush, and a certain amount of inner silence before moving beyond this step is very helpful.

2. Ask Through Prayer

Once you have achieved a certain level of stillness in your mind, you can then ask for guidance from your Heart about what wants to be created through you, or what you are here to experience in this lifetime. Close your eyes, clasp your hands in front of your chest, bow your head to your Heart, and take your attention to your Heart, asking for guidance and intuition. It should be noted that although many people have an aversion to this classic prayer pose (usually because of the religious connotation that it holds), there is a significant reason why we take this position during prayer and visioning. By bowing the head and bringing your hands together, you are creating a focal point around your Heart, helping you to keep your attention on this sacred part of yourself. And just as the saying goes, “wherever your attention goes, your energy flows.” It may seem insignificant, but this posture sends a powerful intention to focus on the center of yourself—your Heart and Soul. You are not praying to some higher intelligence outside yourself, but rather you are tuning into the higher intelligence within you, going to the Source within for guidance.

Once you have asked your Heart for guidance, wait to receive intuition and inspiration. You may receive images, feelings, or thoughts related to your Heart’s desires. This may not occur on the first, second, or even third time that you attempt to pray. Because many people have been ignoring their Hearts for far too long, the Heart can be a bit shy in revealing itself at first. Be patient, open, and sincere in your seeking, and you will be given greater clarity and inspiration in the right time.

3. Cultivate Your Vision

As you begin to receive inspiration through prayer in the form of inspiring images, thoughts, and feelings, keep a journal of what is coming to you. Repeat the prayer process multiple times in order to gain greater clarity about what is being revealed to you from within. It can then be helpful to bring your vision even more fully into focus by doing the following processes:

Visualization

Using the inspirations you received from the last process, create a 15-30 minute guided visualization for yourself that describes your life as though you have fully manifested these visions of your Heart. This can either be a written visualization or an audio recording. The visualization should walk you through the day-to-day experiences of living your vision. As you create the visualization keep the following questions in mind:

-what kind of environment do you live and work in?

-What kind of work are you doing?

-What is the energy of the people around you?

-How are you interacting with others (what is your demeanor and body language like)?

-What kinds of activities are you doing when not working?

-It can even be helpful to notice the kinds of foods are you eating, exercise habits, and forms of creative or artistic expression.

-What are the overall feeling tones associated with your life in this vision?

Don’t focus on material possessions that you may have, or get too caught up in specific details of your vision, but rather, focus on what it actually feels like to be living this vision. Hone in on the actual feeling tones of what your Heart is wanting to experience. As you construct your visualization, really focus on creating a visceral experience for yourself, describing colors, textures, lighting, and other feeling tones. The more you can generate powerful feelings of joy, excitement, and happiness during your visualization, the more effective it will be.

Visualization Example

Here is a visualization as an example; “I see myself starting my day in nature, breathing in the fresh air, seeing the sunlight filter through the emerald green leaves of the trees, feeling alive and full of energy. I am practicing yoga, feeling fit, healthy, and so happy to be alive…I see myself now working in an environment with lots of natural light, warm colors, and a soothing energy. I feel confident and relaxed. As I work, I am surrounded by caring people, doing work that I love…I see myself connecting with others in a genuine way, feeling so grateful for this connection…I see myself with my partner now, cooking dinner in the kitchen, laughing and being playful..etc.” This is just an example of how you might phrase the visualization. What is most important is that you really feel connected to and inspired by the images and feelings of your vision.

It can be helpful to make an audio recording of the visualization and listen to it often. The more detailed you can make it, the better. As you gain more clarity about your vision, feel free to continually change and update the visualization. This will not mess up the process, but rather fine-tune it, so that you can be more certain about what you are calling into your life. The more you practice your visualization, the more of a reality it will become for you, and the easier it will be for this “new” version of your life to actually materialize.

Vision Board

         Another technique that helps to bring the vision more fully into focus is called a vision board. This is where you clip out images and words that are representative of the inspirations you receive about your vision, and then paste them onto a board. Magazines work great for finding good images, which can then be pasted onto a simple poster board. Instead of looking for specific images, pay attention to how images feel when you look at them, and if the colors, shapes, and textures seem to match with the overall feeling of your vision. You can create different sections of the vision board for different areas of your life; career, family, personal development, hobbies, etc. When you are finished, hang the vision board somewhere in your house where you will see it often. The more vivid and inspiring you can make your vision board, the more positive feelings it will invoke within you every time that you look at it.

4. Match Your Vision

Once you have fine-tuned your vision, it is time to begin embodying this reality more fully in your life now. Really study yourself in the visualization process, seeing exactly how you live your Heart’s desires, and then begin to emulate the “you” from your vision with the thoughts that you think, the feelings that you express, and the actions that you take. Essentially, you practice being the “you” from your vision in every way. This may feel strange at first, as though you are trying to be someone else. What you are doing through this process, however, is letting go of all those behaviors that are preventing you from actually being most fully yourself. When you catch yourself thinking, feeling, or acting in a way that is not in alignment with the “you” from your vision, then change your expression. Interrupt whatever it was you were doing, come back to your breath, feel your inner body, and ask yourself, “How would the “me” from my vision respond in this situation?”

In addition to changing your day-to-day thoughts, feelings, and actions, it may be necessary to make big changes in your life. If you are working at a job that is not contributing in some way to your vision, then it may be time to let it go. If you are not in a relationship that is nurturing your growth and development, then it may be time to let it go. If you are not eating the kind of diet that is supports your vision self, then it is time to make some dietary and lifestyle changes. If you are living in an environment that is not supporting your well-being and happiness, then it is time to move to an environment that is more conducive to your vision. Let yourself be bold in the changes that you make in your life, knowing that “…when you want something, the entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it.”

5. Let Go

The final step to visioning and manifesting is the act of letting go. This is perhaps the most important step in the manifestation process, and is crucial that it really be practiced. Once you have done the previous steps, it is time to let go of your attachment to your vision coming into reality. This may seem like a paradox. But the idea is that the goal of achieving your vision is actually not as important as the quality of your experience in the here and now. The experience from your vision is truly what the Heart desires (not the outcome), and you can begin allowing yourself to have that experience now. As you practice the last step of embodying your vision, you are allowing yourself to start living your dream now. By becoming the “you” from your vision, you are beginning to change how you perceive and interact with your world, tuning into the vibration that is most representative of your natural self. This is the law of attraction in action, in that as you begin vibrating at the frequency of your vision, you are synching up with the vibration of all the people, places, and circumstances that match your new reality. Initially it may seem as though not much has changed. In reality, however, there has been a huge internal shift, and it is only a matter of time before the external circumstances of your life begin to match up to that of your vision. And by the time your outer world catches up with your inner world, it will likely seem more or less inconsequential if you achieve the goals from your vision because you will have enjoyed the journey so thoroughly along the way.

Letting go of desire is crucial in this process, because as long as we are in a state of want, then we are holding onto the belief that there is something lacking in our lives that we need to obtain in order to be happy. So when we focus on desires that are not yet met, we are sending out the vibration of lack, and the universe can never fully provide us with what we want, because at a fundamental level we don’t truly believe that it can be a reality. So begin acting as though you have already manifested your vision. Embody it fully and let go of needing to see verification in the outer world. It has been said that you can truly only manifest what you already have, not what you want.

Be very disciplined with your thoughts and feelings about your vision. Once you have completed this visioning process do not spend idle time thinking about your vision, or trying to work out how its all going to unfold. The “how” is not so important—let the universe take care of that. All you have to do is stay alert and present, and take the opportunities that will undoubtedly begin to arise in your life as you practice staying focused, patient, and in a state of acceptance. When you match your energy to that of your vision, you have set the wheels in motion, and it is now time to enjoy the ride. This does not mean that you stop working towards your goals in a structured and organized fashion, but it does mean that you continually let go of attachment to the outcome of life circumstances.

The reason that we let go of our attachment to outcome is because the universal intelligence is wise, and surprises us time and time again with twists and turns along our journey--unexpected events that are exactly what we need to experience in that moment for our growth. When we go with the universal flow, we allow ourselves to change, expand, and to grow in a way that is in alignment with our Soul’s path. The mind does not have access to this greater wisdom. The mind would rather map out exactly how you are going to get where you want to go, and then fight tooth and nail to get there. The Heart, on the other hand, knows that the Universe has a bigger plan, and that everything is happening in perfect divine timing.

Letting go means that, on the one hand, you do everything in your power to have mastery over your own experience. You do this through being in control of your thoughts, feelings, and actions, and by practicing the previous step of aligning yourself with the version of you from your Heart’s vision. This is self-mastery. On the other hand, you continually bring deep acceptance to whatever is happening around you, letting go of the ego, and remaining in a state of non-reaction and non-judgment. When one door appears to close, you continually practice having faith that the right door will open in the right time. You let go of trying to make things go a certain way, of hoping things work out in your favor, or of trying to use any force whatsoever to get what you want. If you find that you are feelings stressed, anxious, or exerting force, then let go, return to your breath, and relax. The path of manifesting from the Heart is that of allowance, grace, and deep acceptance.

This does not mean that there will no longer be challenges in your life, however. There will likely be many challenges and obstacles that arise as you begin to follow your Heart. But now these challenges are experienced from a higher perspective, and you can see that they are there for a reason--to serve your awakening process, helping you to bring more awareness to those parts of yourself that remain unconscious. When a challenge arises, observe how you respond to it. Does it bother you, does it upset you, does it cause you to get anxious? Why would that be, when every challenge is an opportunity to learn and grow. Life would be very boring if there were no challenges and everything went exactly the way that you wanted it to go.  Using these techniques is using the law of attraction.