Vision Boarding 101

What is a vision board? A vision board is a visual depiction of those things you want to create in your life. The purpose of the vision board is to help you focus and gain clarity. The process of creating a vision board helps you clearly define what you want. How does that help you get the things you want to show up in your life? Your mind is a sponge. It absorbs whatever information you expose it to. The mind doesn’t question or judge the information. It doesn’t assess the information and say, “That isn’t possible”. The mind takes in the statements you feed it and your subconscious mind goes to work to make them real.

Visual statements have an extremely powerful impact on the subconscious mind. When you create a vision board representing your goals and dreams with visual images, it stimulates your emotions. This emotional power energizes the thoughts you are feeding to the subconscious mind. It puts basic universal laws of attraction to work bringing you what you focus on. Where thought goes, energy flows. What you place your attention on will tend to show up in your life.

Vision boarding is not a new technique. Cave men used cave paintings to ‘envision’ the upcoming hunt as a success and to set goals for achievement. Indigenous peoples from all corners of the world have used techniques like sand paintings and manifestation circles to visually represent the changes they wished to create. Athletes use vision boards and visualization techniques before a game. In different contexts, vision boards are also known as dream boards, wish boards, wisdom boards and story boards.

Most people think they know what they want, but do they really? It is often easy to define what you don’t want but defining what you do want can be very difficult, requiring some real introspective thought. The vision boarding process helps you clarify what you want.

A vision board can be created with a picture of you in the center surrounded by pictures depicting qualities of the person you want to become or it can solely focus on those things in which you wish to acquire experience. It can be focused on a specific area such as career goals or it can cover every area of your life. Your vision board can represent things you want in your life today or it can be a representation of what you want life to look like at a certain future point in time. There are no rigid rules to vision boarding. You can put together any combination. Just be clear on what you want.

To create your vision board first choose your focus, accepting that this focus may change during the process. Then use the following steps to create your vision.

Step one: Gather Materials - poster board, magazines, pictures, markers, glue stick, tape, scissors and music if you wish. I will often search the internet and print pictures that represent my goals.

Step two: Meditate and Contemplate - What is it that you want to represent in your vision board? Sit quietly and set your intention for the creation of this powerful vision board. Ask yourself the following questions: What do I want to create in my life? What are my goals? What are my desires? Open your heart to whatever thoughts come to you. Mix it up. Keep in mind that things are neither big nor little, easy nor hard, since they are all just energy.

Step three: Begin! Create! - Begin putting together your vision board. Go through magazines and cut out what appeals to you. When you have gathered representations of what you wish to create in your life, lay them out on the board. Remove what no longer feels right. Follow your inner guidance as you arrange images, words and phrases. Take a moment to focus on each one and feel what it will be like when it is in your life. Secure the representations with tape and/or glue. Enhance your vision board by placing a fabulous picture of yourself in the center if you wish. Finally, consider laminating your board or covering it tightly with plastic wrap to protect your vision.

Step four: Hang Your Vision Board - Hang your vision board in a place where you will see it and connect to it several times a day, especially in the morning when you get up and in the evening before bed. This allows you to see it when you rise and your mind is most clear of distractions, and in the evening when the images can sink into your subconscious mind to mull over while you sleep.

You can create a vision board large enough to hang on the wall or small enough to carry with you wherever you go. When you connect with your vision board, take time to focus on each item and actually feel each representation as if it already exists in your reality. Use your senses. Touch the images on the vision board. Visualize yourself in the experience, living your vision. All this will help inspire and motivate you, creating a positive energy flow between the universal energy, you and your vision, magnetizing your dreams into your reality. Keep alert. Be aware. If an opportunity presents itself or your intuition guides you to take action, go for it!

Vision Boarding is a powerful and effective tool for manifestation. You will be amazed at how quickly the items on your board will begin manifesting in your life! Use your vision board to clearly define your dreams and to become an active participant in creating the life you dream of!