 The Power of Visualization
Jeff Dane
The brain is an amazing organ. It wires itself based on our experiences. If we practice something frequently, our brains make connections to improve our success in performing that activity. If we don’t practice it, the brain “prunes” those unneeded connections. What is remarkable is that our practice can be completely mental to have a positive impact on performance. We don’t have to actually do something to improve, we can simply “think” about it.
Athletes and trainers know and use the power of visualization. Professional and Olympic athletes use visualization as a routine part of their training regimen. But you don’t have to be an elite athlete to reap the benefits of mental rehearsal.
Many have heard the story of Major James Nesmith and his ability to cut 20 strokes off of his golf game by simply visualizing playing golf while he was a prisoner of war. During those 7 years of imprisonment, he visualized himself playing golf 4 hours a day, 7 days a week. Without ever picking up a club during that time, and actually deteriorating physically, he shot an astonishing 74, twenty strokes better than he had ever shot before. Hard to believe? Maybe not.
Guang Yue and Kelly Cole performed a study in 1992 where they had two groups of individuals perform finger exercises. Both were to do the exercises 5 days a week for 4 weeks. The exercises involved 15 maximal contractions with a twenty-second rest between each. The catch was that one group actually performed the exercises, and the other visualized them, as well as imagining a voice shouting to them, “Harder! Harder! Harder!” At the conclusion of the study, the group that physically performed the exercises increased their muscle strength by 30 percent, and amazingly the group that visualized the exercises, increased their muscle strength by 22 percent!
The power of visualization transcends physical activities. We can use students’ magnificent brains to accomplish wondrous things in the classroom. Below are some ideas to integrate visualization into your classroom. Give it a try!
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Action Steps for Using Visualization
- Visualize Procedures. As you teach classroom procedures, stop and have the students actually visualize each step involved in the procedure. For example, they can visualize each step of a science experiment before they even start. It’s a big advantage to have students mentally rehearse the procedure while still in their seats, so they know exactly what to do when it’s time. Do this continually for the first week or two as they are learning them.
- Visualize Problem-Solving. If you are teaching the class a new algorithm or problem-solving strategy, have them visually solve the problems. You can give them the problem and have them perform it mentally, or you can lead them through the steps.
- Visualize Performances. Have students close their eyes and picture themselves performing calmly and successfully. This can be especially helpful for students who have performance anxiety.
- Play Visualization Games. Use simulations and games that sharpen students' ability to create mental images.
- Guided Imagery. Use the structure Guided Imagery. Have students close their eyes and visualize as you read a script or tell a very descriptive story. This structure can be used in just about any subject area. For example, to learn about the human body, students take an imaginary trip inside the body seeing the internal organs, what they look like, where they are, how they work. To learn about the Civil War, students close their eyes and picture themselves as a soldier in a famous battle as you describe each event in detail.
- Visualization Music. Play relaxing background music at 60 beats per minute to relax the brain and put students in the optimal state of mind to facilitate visualization.
- Write and Share Visualizations. Have students visualize for a period of time with no writing and no talking. Then, have them write what they visualized. Finally, have them share their visualizations. This process makes visualization a repeated practice. Students visualize the content many times: 1) in their own visualization, 2) during the writing time, 3) sharing their visualizations, and 4) hearing the visualizations of others.
- Visualizing Success. Take the opportunity before “big” tests, or state assessments to have the students visualize performing everything perfectly before beginning.
- Visualize Athletic Feats. Coaches can use visualization when adding new plays, or before beginning a game to help prepare for success.
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