While some meditation exercises will ask that you imagine an object, others will ask that you to imagine a specific location and it will be helpful to practice the very detailed visualization of a favorite location, either real or imagined. This location should be somewhere that you find peaceful and relaxing to think about.
Here is some practice to help you get started which follows a pattern similar to that used for object visualization.
1. Start in a location that you are familiar with and that makes you feel relaxed. It can be a room in your home or an outdoor location that you enjoy. Sit comfortably and notice all of the aspects of your surroundings. Notice what you see, what you hear, what you smell. Notice the way the air feels on your skin, or if a breeze tousles your hair.
2. Now go to a different location or room, and close your eyes. Attempt to recreate the sensations that you experienced. How much can you remember? What details are difficult to recall?
3. Take note of how you feel and, in particular, of whether or not you find this exercise to be at all stressful.
4. Now picture a nearby location that you have been to before, but that is different from the location you used in the previous steps. Imagine everything you can about what it is like to be there. Picture what all of your senses would have you experience.
5. Now go to that location. What did you miss in your visualization? Do you experience any changes in how you feel about the location now that you are there again?
6. The next step is to imagine a place that you remember from a past experience. A childhood home, a far off vacation spot or a garden you once visited. Settle comfortably and close your eyes. Imagine yourself there again. As before, use all of your senses to recreate an image of what it was like to be there. Put as many details into it as you can, using all your senses to create as complete a picture as possible.
7. Notice how being in that location again makes you feel. What effect are your memories having on your state of being? Do you feel more relaxed? More excited?
8. Lastly, create a visualization of a place that you have never been to before. It can be a place that actually exists but that you have never visited, or it can be a completely imaginary location. Imagine as many details as possible, once again, using all five senses. Notice colors, light, smells, the air and the temperature.
9. Once you have a picture of the location in your mind’s eye, imagine yourself performing actions in that location that will intensify your sensory experiences.
