Visualization is a wonderful mental time out if you are feeling stressed, anxious, etc. Mentally taking a step back from a situation and starting some positive emotional momentum with a few minutes of pleasant imagery won’t instantly solve all your problems, but it will do wonders for your state of mind and your ability to respond to people and events in a more positive, constructive way.
More than just a mental break, doing visualization with the intention of feeling a certain emotion has other benefits. One is that it helps people become more aware of their emotions and how they are feeling. Greater emotional awareness means that you might catch yourself when you are in the early stages of irritation instead of letting yourself continue the reactionary spiral from irritation to annoyance to anger to…
I think visualization is also a great tool that empowers people with the knowledge that they aren’t at the mercy of emotions. You can choose how you feel. You can choose to foster certain emotions and let go of others. You may be surprised by how doing a visualization and reaching for the feeling of patience for a few minutes in the morning helps you be a bit more patient as you move through your day. It builds momentum in that direction. Of course, I’m not suggesting that you can flip a switch and go from anger to contentment, but you can at least get yourself pointed in the right direction.
Also, you may have heard the phrase “Emotions are energy in motion”. I believe emotions are energy and that visualizing with the intent of feeling an emotion like peace amplifies that frequency of energy, that particular note, within. And that amplification will benefit your state of mind.
So while just doing a visualization without feeling does have some benefits in that it can take your mind off a problem for a few minutes, you can get so much more from your visualization time if you go into it with a clear intent to experience whichever emotion you choose.