I personally think that one of the main barriers to success in visualisation meditation is the name ‘visualisation meditation’. It immediately sets up false expectations for the required result. The term ‘visualisation’ sounds like you should ‘see’ or have a ‘constant clear image’ (in this case of your entire body glowing with light) during the exercise. However, very few people actually experience that level of visual clarity. What most people experience is a ‘sense’ of the image, a ‘feeling’, maybe some fleeting images or sounds. Think of it as building an ‘awareness’ instead of a picture.
The key pieces of advice (that may or not be relevant to you) I’d give to help with visualisation are:
1- rethink the concept of visualisation, aim for building an awareness or feeling instead of a picture.
2- relaxation. Be relaxed in both mind and body, being tense or stressed will inhibit results. Spend a bit of time just breathing and getting comfortable before starting.
3- don’t get fixated on ‘doing’ or ‘achieving’ the result/goal of the meditation as this will actually inhibit you from doing or achieving that goal.
4- allow plenty of time. Don’t try to force or over pace the meditation, let the sense of awareness build in its own pace.
5- experiment with different postures and movement. Sitting in a straight back chaired (‘god’ position), or in a crossed legged lotus position just doesn’t work for everyone! Try standing, reclining or lying down. Add movement in the physical world to emphasise movement in the ‘inner’ visualisation world. I always get my best results by standing and using gestures or movement.
6- manage location & environment. Find somewhere quiet, away from distracting noises and smells; somewhere where you won’t be disturbed or interrupted. I find it best to avoid harsh or bright light, candlelight or subdued lights work well. Burning some incense may help put you in the right frame of mind. Wearing robes, a special garment, or a talisman signifying that you are “doing” a magical work will also get you into the mind frame quicker.
7- allow yourself to fail! This is incredibly important. Often (particularly when you’re learning) things just won’t go to plan and you just can’t get into the meditation. Don’t stress about it! It happens to everyone. Briefly try to analyse why it didn’t happen (too tired, too tense, too hungry, TV on in the other room etc) so you can eliminate external factors and be aware of internal ones. Don’t build a failure up into a massive barrier, acknowledge it and move on.
8- practice, practice and practice some more. The more you practice the more you experience and learn; the easier, faster and stronger you’ll become. You’ll learn something about meditating every time you try, even (especially) the times you fail!
9- make a brief but detaiked, record of every attempt in your magick diary or Bardic journal. This will help you track your progress and will help you to spot developing patterns.
The more experienced a practitioner gets, the less relevant some of these points will become.
A Druid in the Aeon of the Child 