Summer Vacation Memories
Vacation photos that you or others have taken can be leveraged to strengthen your imagery and Mindfulness skills.
Find one of your favorite past vacation photos, or use the one above that I took when my son and I went on a trip to Glacier National Park, and follow the steps below.
Take 1-2 minutes to study all aspects of the picture.
Once you have as many of the details of that picture memorized, close your eyes and picture that image vividly in your mind.
Imagine that you are now in that location.
Look around and take in all aspects of this experience.
What do you see? (natural objects, colors, people)
What sounds do you hear? (birds, other people talking, a babbling brook)
What do you feel? (cool breeze, feet in the sand, warm sun on your face)
What emotions do you experience? (awe, peace, excitement)
Are their any scents or things you can taste in this location?
Continue to be fully present in that location for several minutes.
Slowly have that image fade from your mind as you begin to picture the room around you again and then open your eyes feeling joyful and refreshed.
How do you feel after that? More clear-minded, focused and relaxed perhaps?
I encourage you to keep an eye out on your next vacation for photo ops to use with this technique. For one of the benefits to using your own vacation photos, other than generic ones, is that these are likely to bring back great memories so you will feel an extra bit of gratitude, joy and appreciation while strengthening your imagery and Mindfulness skills.
You can also do this with videos from your vacations. For instance, one of the natural elements I enjoy most are waterfalls, so I took the one-minute video of a waterfall in Glacier below. Now, whenever I need a quick Mindfulness practice to clear my mind and help me focus, I just pull up this video on my phone, and for the full minute concentrate on the sights and sounds of the video. Try it yourself now…