a6Snapshots

Duration: ≈ 2 minutes per snapshot.

Objective: Generate subtle impressions of visual quality within thought forms.

Instructions:
Phase 1: Find 3 images, illustrations, or photos that you are completely unfamiliar with (works best if someone else finds it for you, so you don’t get to see it beforehand). Allow yourself to look at the image at hand for an extremely brief moment (max about 1 second). Then, looking away / closing your eyes, proceed to verbally describe everything that you saw within the photo. Try not to visualize very hard, just allow things to either be present or not. Afterwards you’ll dissect your thought processes.
Phase 2: After you’re done describing everything that comes to mind, take a moment to review the photo at hand to see how it stacks up to what you were considering in your mind. Then move onto the next one.
Phase 3: After you have recounted each photo, without looking at them, review each one as best you can mentally, without words. Then proceed to ask yourself some questions.

Post-Exercise Inquiries:
(The following works best if you do 3 images in succession) If I had to pick one of the photos that stands out from the others as being more visual in my mind, which one would I pick?
What about that particular image makes it stand out from the rest?
Are there any visual qualities I can notice while recalling it?
Any sense of color? Sense of shape? Layout? Perspective?
Try to dissect any minute difference that you can.
This is also a good point to record numbers on our 1-10 numbering scale (1 being absence of visual sense, 10 being extremely vivid).
You can take numbers down for each of the components, as well (eg: color 1-10, shapes 1-10, etc…)

Notes:
Keep in mind that this is not a memory exercise, and doesn’t matter what you get right or wrong. It’s always fun to compare what you had recalled in your mind to the actual photo, but it’s neither here nor there as to what is accurate or not.
Once you have the feeling of mind’s eye activity kicking in here, you can skip reciting the details of the snapshot verbally, and just practice holding it in mind.