Visualization meditations are my most favorite kind, of the sort that use the imagination to connect body and mind. In case it isn’t explicit yet, my body speaks to me through my imagination; where other people are very attuned to sensation or sound, my body likes to show me images.
There is a type of meditation visualization called the inner mentor or future self meditation, but I like to call it the inner wise woman meditation (I use woman, because my inner self is decidedly female, but person, human, man, being, are all accurate too – use name you most identify with). The meditation guides you into your body and then sends you on a journey to visit a version of your future self and asks you to notice all kinds of details about them. It gives you a chance to see what they’re like, where they live, how they look, have them gently care for you, and ask them big questions like “How do I get to where you are?” and “What do you need me to know?”. At the end, your inner wise person gives you a parting gift before you leave.
(This feels like a good place to note that if you try a visualization like this, not everyone has an initially positive experience – as with any visualization or meditation, it may bring up something uncomfortable, so it might be helpful to identify someone who can support you with any pieces that feel especially vulnerable. And, remember that the body speaks in the language of metaphors, so this isn’t intended to be like looking into a crystal ball and seeing exactly what your future life will be.)
What I found through this visualization was a person that I liked, that I felt excited about moving toward. She is wildly free – swimming naked in the ocean, spending most of her time with nature and feeling the warmth of the sun on her skin. She moves at her own intentional pace, never, ever rushed or hurried. She is frequently watching the sunset on cliffs overlooking the water. She enjoys solitude, but never feels isolated because she deeply trusts herself and feels completely grounded, embodied. She usually feeds me tea and cookies. The first time I visited her, her parting gift to me was a packet of seeds; the second time it was a bouquet of flowers.
My inner wise woman is the person I long to see when I see myself. She is a north star, a guide to integrating my inside and my outside. She has helped me heal and accept parts of myself that I didn’t otherwise know how to get to. I suspect that her magic is that she is the embodiment of my desires, and trusting her means that I’m trusting myself.