Discovering I Have Aphantasia

[Zoliar∞]

Hello everyone

I recently realized something about myself: I have a condition called Aphantasia. It’s a neurological trait that makes it impossible for me to form mental images. When I try to imagine a scene or an object, I don’t actually “see” anything in my mind — I only understand the idea or shape of it. Imagining things is really difficult for me, and sometimes I need intense focus just to get a sense of a visual scene.

I noticed this because many of the exercises here rely on visual imagination, like picturing light, a scene, or a symbol, which I find very challenging despite my efforts. I’m wondering: will this affect my progress in meditation and other practices, and is there any way to work around it?

 

[Citorro]

Hi! I actually had this condition too, but I reversed it through meditation and training my vision. Do you have any eye conditions such as astigmatism, myopia, ex?

 

[Ælberiigor]

and is there any way to work around it?

It can come with the time, fixing a simple black picture drawn on white paper can help to start

This faculty is related to Fire Element when it's a flash or water when it's long to start then is persistent.
Maybe you are able to keep a song in mind (Air Element) or a smell (maybe Earth Element)... another kind of mental image permitting to start the visualization process.

No need to force anything, just train to harmonize your psychic skills.
Personally, images I have in mind are not so bright but primarily an intellectual schema, and it depends of my condition : tiredness and restlessness do not help.

 

[FancyMancy]

I posted about something similar before. I don't have aphantasia, but more pictures being much more watered-down, or like seeing white text on a yellow background, it can't be noticed easily. I posted about doing void meditation, which had the happy and unintentional accident of helping me to be able to picture things more clearly. Another member, in a different thread after that, said void also helped them to be able to picture things more clearly, as well. What I think I didn't post was that I realised that when I dream I can see whatever is happening, or when I am dozing but still awake I notice that picturing things becomes much easier, but then if I stop dozing and wake up fully, the ability to keep the picture lessened. Void meditation might also help you, to clear and still your mind and reduce noise (not just audio but irrelevant things bouncing around in there) to help you focus on the goal at hand.

As for trying hard to form mental pictures - that might not be the best idea. It sort of defeats the object, because you might be putting time and energy and effort and work into causing something to happen rather than that thing actually happening. It's similar to intrusive thoughts - observe it momentarily and drift it away gently.

I hope this helps.

 

[Zoliar∞]

Alright, thanks, I’ll give this a try