Negative Visualisation
Negative visualisation is an exercise that the Stoic philosophers of Ancient Greece and Rome used to do regularly and is a great way to cultivate appreciation for life. By focusing on what it would feel like for important things/people to be taken away from us, we remind ourselves how lucky we are.
I recently did an Instagram post on this and it was really interesting to get feedback from people about the exercise. Some had never heard of this approach to visualisation, whereas others actively used it in their lives. There was a mixed response and I felt that the post could easily be expanded in greater detail. So… here we are!
Most of us are familiar with visualisation - picture your dream house, dream partner, dream job etc. We are told that if we picture things that we desire in our minds, we can manifest them into our lives. While I am completely on board with positive visualisation, I also think that there is immense value in negative visualisation. Instead of focusing on the things that would make us happy if we had them in the future, negative visualisation focuses on cultivating gratitude in the present. Thinking about how we would feel if everything important in our lives was yanked away from us can bring a level of grounding and appreciation to our thoughts. Rather than focusing on what we want, this exercise teaches us to be grateful for what we have. I think this is extremely powerful.
Now don’t worry, I don’t sit around all day focusing on negative situations (that sounds depressing) but occasionally doing this thought experiment can be a great way to cultivate more gratitude in life. I’ve found the exercise to be really helpful and very practical.
Here are some simple steps that we can take to do this exercise. Try the following and see how you feel afterwards:
Picture something negative happening. For example - imagine that your house/flat has burned down.
Pay attention to how this feels.
Now focus on the fact that it hasn’t actually happened. Focus on the gratitude you feel for this negative thing not being a reality right now.
Use this method to cultivate gratitude for everything in your life from friends and family to inanimate objects.
Knowing that important things in your life could be taken away from you at any minute can help you to cultivate immense gratitude.
Repeat this exercise regularly and actively try not to take anything in life for granted.
By doing this exercise regularly we can heighten our appreciation for what we have. We can also take this further and apply an “it could be worse” attitude to the difficulties that we face in life. This is very Stoic. For example, when stuck in traffic, we can focus on the fact that our car isn’t on fire (hopefully it isn't). While this seems like a stupid example, it’s bringing perspective to the experience. Perspective is important and in the midst of a “crisis” we can often lose a bigger picture perspective. This is what negative visualisation aims to achieve.
Have you used this exercise before? Do you think you would ever use it? Let me know what you think! It can be a very powerful and effective way to cultivate appreciation and gratitude. For me, that seems like a good tool for all of us!
“Remember that all we have is “on loan” from Fortune, which can reclaim it without our permission—indeed, without even advance notice. Thus, we should love all our dear ones, but always with the thought that we have no promise that we may keep them forever—nay, no promise even that we may keep them for long.’
”