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Ilya · 08-12-2008, 05:30 PM

Great excerpt, Tim.
It got me thinking about the term visualization. As I see it, it really has several meaning even in the context of PD. I can think of at least two I will cover below, but maybe there is more. And it seems that many people confuse these meanings. I'm mentioning it because there is more than one answer to the question "why visualization works". And the answer is different depending on the context.
You see, you had to mention the Law of Attraction and to make sure that you are not talking about it.
But really the mechanics of a visualization to use the LoA is different from the mechanics of physical skill improvement visualization your excerpt is about.

One can make practicing a physical skill more efficient by using visualization. As you wrote, it happens because until the electrical impulse reaches the muscle, all action happens inside our nervous system. So there is not much difference between an action happening in real world and in our imagination. What visualization lacks is the feedback from the real world. But for the mental and physical skills it isn't that important. I guess, the effects of gravity, friction etc, are well ingrained in our neurology.

A visualization in order to use the LoA does not necessarily involve a practicable skill. Most impressive LoA application for many is manifestation of physical objects. I'm not going into LoA debate in this forum, but an easiest version of it is perception adjustment. It's like when you buy a car of a certain color and suddenly the streets are flooded with the cars of the same color. The attention got shifted towards noticing these cars and filtering out other vehicles.
Of course the same can be done with visualisation. One can prime their mind to notice some particular objects at the price of the other.
As a side note, it is interesting what things are filtered out if we direct our attention towards something. Effectively some things will disappear from our life. Are there any techniques to specify what those things will be? Or will it be just some random things?

Anyways, visualization is really seeing some images inside our minds. It can be directed towards different goals. And depending on those goals, it will work differently - the different neural pathways will be established.
Paying attention to that can make visualization even more efficient than it already is.

08-12-2008, 05:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ilya Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Moscow, Russia Posts: 452	Great excerpt, Tim. It got me thinking about the term visualization. As I see it, it really has several meaning even in the context of PD. I can think of at least two I will cover below, but maybe there is more. And it seems that many people confuse these meanings. I'm mentioning it because there is more than one answer to the question "why visualization works". And the answer is different depending on the context. You see, you had to mention the Law of Attraction and to make sure that you are not talking about it. But really the mechanics of a visualization to use the LoA is different from the mechanics of physical skill improvement visualization your excerpt is about. One can make practicing a physical skill more efficient by using visualization. As you wrote, it happens because until the electrical impulse reaches the muscle, all action happens inside our nervous system. So there is not much difference between an action happening in real world and in our imagination. What visualization lacks is the feedback from the real world. But for the mental and physical skills it isn't that important. I guess, the effects of gravity, friction etc, are well ingrained in our neurology. A visualization in order to use the LoA does not necessarily involve a practicable skill. Most impressive LoA application for many is manifestation of physical objects. I'm not going into LoA debate in this forum, but an easiest version of it is perception adjustment. It's like when you buy a car of a certain color and suddenly the streets are flooded with the cars of the same color. The attention got shifted towards noticing these cars and filtering out other vehicles. Of course the same can be done with visualisation. One can prime their mind to notice some particular objects at the price of the other. As a side note, it is interesting what things are filtered out if we direct our attention towards something. Effectively some things will disappear from our life. Are there any techniques to specify what those things will be? Or will it be just some random things? Anyways, visualization is really seeing some images inside our minds. It can be directed towards different goals. And depending on those goals, it will work differently - the different neural pathways will be established. Paying attention to that can make visualization even more efficient than it already is. __________________ Ilya.