Aphantasia and meditation?

Hey Crystal, great question. Most aphants we talk to find the common visualization-based exercises frustrating. Many have discovered they have aphantasia from not being able to visualize during a meditation class. This was the story of Ed Catmull. However, there is certainly more than one way to meditate as you’ve mentioned, walking meditation and repetitive tasks. There are some other alternatives to meditation with aphantasia in this article written by our community editor, Lianna M Scott (https://aphantasia.com/article/stories/meditation-with-aphantasia/). You’ll also find similar wellbeing resources here (https://aphantasia.com/topic/wellbeing/).

Recently realized complete aphant. I recall having much better success with body-focused meditation techniques like sequentially focusing on or tensing and relaxing muscles, or breath awareness. I was frustrated with guided visual meditation and generally very present and mindful anyway, which is probably why I have avoided or not felt the need to participate in group meditation activities.

I do better with repetitive movement tasks like going for a long walk or a nature hike than doing guided meditations because I can’t imagine what they’re trying to visualize. Body based meditations like muscle relaxation could be an option as well but I’m autistic and have poor and have poor interoception which makes a lot of the body based things hard too

I am a long time mediator and I actually find aphantasia to be helpful when it comes to classic insight, breath based meditation. You are right that there are a lot of guided visualization techniques you will find online, but there is a difference between vidualization and meditation. I would look into vipassanna meditation which basically focuses on the breath and the physical sensations you have. Inevitably, your mind will wander, but as soon as you realize you’ve started thinking you can simply say to yourself “thinking” and gently bring your attention back to your breath. Really try to focus on the physical feeling of inhaling. It helps to pick one location such as your nostrils (feeling the air go in and out) or your stomach or chest (feeling the rising and falling). So there’s really no need to visualize anything, and in fact visualization would actually hinder your ability to remain focused on your breath and body. Some people also find a mantra helpful. It can be as simple as just repeating “breathing in, breathing out” or even just the word “this” over and over. Even to this day I might have sessions where my mind is wandering most of the time, the important part is learning and practicing catching yourself and just bringing your awareness back to the breath. Insight Timer is a good free app. I like to set it so a bell will ring every few minutes which brings me back into the present if my mind has drifted. Hope this helps!