Articles
Stories from people with aphantasia, what the research says, and things to try.
Direct Experience: Meditation Without a Mind’s Eye
When you can't picture anything in your mind, meditation can seem off-limits. But the absence of mental imagery may be a gateway, not a barrier—one that leads more directly into presence and the heart of awareness.
Linda Wright · February 2026
The Power of Abstract Thinking in Aphantasia
The concept of 'tokens' and 'types' helped me understand how we think differently: visualizers use specific imagery, while aphantasics excel in abstract thinking.
Tom Ebeyer · February 2024
3 Ways to Motivate Yourself Without Visualization
How do you stay motivated to achieve your goals if you can't visualize them? Discover alternative motivational strategies without visualization.
Tom Ebeyer · January 2024
Can't Visualize An Apple? Try This Apple Illusion to Experience What Others See
This apple illusion allows people who can't visualize to temporarily 'see' an image that isn't there—using visual perception to demonstrate what others experience through their imagination.
Aphantasia Network · October 2023
Are You a Visualizer or Conceptualizer? The Ball on a Table Test
The Ball on a Table experiment is a simple visualization test that reveals whether you think in pictures (visualizer) or concepts (conceptualizer). This revealing experiment, originally credited to u/Caaaarrrl, takes less than a minute but provides profound insights into how your mind processes information.
Aphantasia Network · October 2023
Learning and Remembering, With or Without Aphantasia
Memory is tricky whether you have aphantasia or not. Here are some strategies you can use to learn and remember.
Alice Grebanier · September 2023
Aphantasia, Neurodiversity, and Healing
A psychology practitioner begins to bridge the gap between practitioner and client in relation to aphantasia.
Rebecca McHale · August 2023
Meditate With Aphantasia
Many easy ways to meditate without a mind’s eye. Next time you find yourself frustrated by the inability to visualize in meditation, give some of these alternatives a try.
Jim Collison · August 2022
Mental Images and the Design Process
When I learned about aphantasia I began to wonder... How might the vividness of our individual imaginations impact our design process?
Melanie Scheer · July 2022
Visualizing the Invisible
What do typical visualizers experience? How does my imaginative experience compare? Designer Melanie Scheer introduces a new way to visualize the visual imagination spectrum.
Melanie Scheer · June 2022
Visualisation and Why We Don’t Need it to Make Visual Art
Artists, writers, illustrators, photographers and all people who work with their creative impulses are not limited by their aphantasia.
Elina Cerla · May 2022
Creative Workarounds for Aphantasics
How do I create if I cannot create things in my imagination? Artist shares creative workarounds for aphantasics.
Julia Stone · January 2022
Photography, Creativity, and Aphantasia
Master photographer shares tips for expanding your photographic talent with aphantasia in this article on photography, creativity, and aphantasia.
Chris Wooley · January 2022
How to Write with Aphantasia
If you can’t visualize, how can you write? Write by patchwork. Award-winning aphantasic author shares tips for how to write with aphantasia.
Dustin Grinnell · June 2021
The Art of Aphantasia
Discover the art of aphantasia. How Disney animator and 'mind blind' artist Glen Keane creates without visualising.
Matthew MacKisack · June 2021
5 Ways to Enjoy Reading with Aphantasia
Squeeze more joy out of reading without visualizing. Aphantasia is an opportunity– and an excuse–to let yourself get distracted by language. Breathe it in, enjoy it.
Bartholomew Lander · May 2021
Discover You: Navigating Therapy and Aphantasia
Realizing you have aphantasia is a discovery. Discoveries can be challenging. Tips for navigating therapy and aphantasia.
Harrison Chapman · January 2021
How to Make Art with Aphantasia
Alice doesn’t visualize; she conceptualizes. How one artist discovered the superpower behind creating art with aphantasia.
Dustin Grinnell · February 2020
