I'm wondering why it's easy for me to visualize with my eyes open and it's very hard to visualize anything with my eyes closed?   Does this happen to anyone else?

Thanks,
Aras

I can visualise with my eyws open or shut. guess i just had lots of practice.
that;s what a very unhappy childhood does for you, you can do it any time
love Cathy

Hi Cathy & Aras-
I'd bet that both of you are excellent at meditation.
Yes?
Early stumbling blocks seem to be the basis for later stepping stones. That's the good side of karma, providing that we're willing to make it so.
dave

Hi Aras,

I think it is just a matter of practice.  Try only doing it with eyes closed and see if it gets easier.  I find if I've been visualizing all day with my eyes open, the moment I switch to eyes closed I lose concentration but after a bit I get used to it (and vice versa).  I know what you mean though, like while watching TV I do a lot of thinking, visualizing, meditating, planning, whatever you want to call it.  I won't remember a thing of what I was "watching" though.  I used to do that in school too, learned to act like I was paying attention but really my mind was other places.  Huh, just like driving too.  Wow, I just realized I don't really pay a whole lot of attention to what I'm doing because I think too much about other things.   ;)

Hi aris and Vickie,

I suspect that I visualize all the time except when someone expects me too. I have performance anxiety :P.  I too survived school by letting my mind wander even if it was just to picture how nice the weekend would be. I visualize when I dream, where I'm going to move furniture, what the outcome of meeting up with someone I'm looking forward to seeing, how it would be if I got fired from my job, etc... as you guys probably do. I do this quite freely as long as no one says to visualize this or that.  

The reason that I was able to follow bruce's retreival exercises so easily was because I was so tired and then caught off guard by getting confussed regarding what I would be retreaving.  I learned that if I can take the performance pressure off myself emotionally then I can more easily visualize on demand but to do this I have to sort of numb my emotions, remember to go with the flow, and to release expectaions.

Hope this helps,

Jean :-*