Practical Daydreaming

For Joy and Profit

There is a lot out there right now about manifesting. And I will write more about the magic of it another time. Today, I want to talk about the more down to earth of how and why. 

When I was in the equestrian studies program, back in college, we were taught to spend some time visualizing how it would feel to perform whatever skill we were working on. Focusing on how the perfect jump sequence would feel in your body and look from your point of view, on the horse, we would build as real an experience as we could. Doing that helped practice how it is supposed to feel and therefore helped mind and body act closer to that ideal when I did it for rea

Mental practice builds the neural pathways that help you do it. 

Spending time daydreaming about what you want is valuable time. It gives you practice so you know you have arrived. You will not know it by the look of things, or the specific people who are there. You will know it by the way you feel: how you stand and sit, your emotions, your energy flow, the thoughts that feel real and normal and right in this situation. 

It helps you know that what you want is possible. I have spent a lot of time telling myself I can’t have what I want so I might as well not want it. I think that is something lots of people do to themselves. For me, it’s a way my inner protector keeps me safe. When I assume I can’t have it, I don’t have to do anything to try to get it. I don’t have to risk judgement. I don’t have to risk rejection. I don’t have to do things I don’t know how to do. I don’t risk Doing It Wrong. But it also has cost me. It’s cost me in energy, love, and authenticity. Believing I can’t even want things in parts of my life contributed to many years of low grade depression, and emotional and physical pain. 

Mental practice reassures the inner protector. 

Repeatedly imagining the things you want helps your inner protector to see how it could be safe, and healthy, and maybe even comfortable. This is not the cure for your inner protector. Working with that part of you has many aspects and it will never go away completely. But this can help that part of you to calm down a little. Some things you can include in your rehearsal that will help this part of you: security in the situation, trust in yourself to handle anything that happens, as much safety as you want. 

Practice big and small things.

I have mentally practiced for small things as well as big. I imagine how confident I feel when I constantly remember to pack my laptop in the bag. But mostly I use it for big things. For example I daydream about how I will feel when I consistently make a living with my coaching business. I don’t put specific people in the roles. I do imagine how it feels to know I have enough regularly scheduled, paying appointments. I see my calendar full of appointments and feel confident that I can meet with all of them. I imagine feeling centered in my wisdom and life experience and intuition as I listen to clients. I imagine feeling grateful that I can witness someone owning their truth in a new way. I imagine feeling delight that someone new hires me because a former client recommended me.  

Give it a try.

Start with this simple exercise. Hold your arm out in front of you. See how far you can twist in that direction with your arm out, without moving your hips. Now do that motion again 10 times, trying to go just a little farther each time. On the 10th time, stop and notice how much you have increased. Now hold your other arm out. Twist once to see how far you can go. Now put your arm down and imagine twisting 9 times. If you can see in your imagination, use that. If you don’t visualize in your imagination, focus on the feeling of doing it. Either way, sense the motion of the movement and the stretch? Now try the motion for real again. How much difference did it make? Most people find they made almost as much change with their imagination as with the physical practice. 

You still have to act in order to get what you want. 

You have to run the miles, write the emails, or practice the speech. But that is for another day or at least a later time. For now, spend some time daydreaming about your life as you want it, with all of your needs and desires met in happy and healthy ways. And if you want some help doing that, schedule a discovery call with me. Enjoy!