Cynthia - I also just recently discovered I have aphantasia, however, it turns out both of my sisters also have it too. I have a lot of the same feelings you do. I did very well in school, however, it would have been so much easier if I could have visualized objects! I remember taking an IQ test when I was in 3rd grade - one component of the test was to rearrange blocks in the same order as the test provider had done. If you could visualize the blocks that would have been a snap!  I always thought when people said "in my mind's eye" or "photographic memory" they were just terms and not that people actually visualized images!  The saddest part for me is not being able to visualize my loved ones. My oldest sister just passed away suddenly and I wish I could close my eyes and see her beautiful face.  This has all blown my mind and I just wanted to share with you that you are not alone.

Hello Cynthia, Thanks for sharing your revelation with us. Many aphants in our community have expressed similar frustrations and challenges with meditation. For some, it's how they too discovered their aphantasia.  We have a few resources on mediation and even an image-less guided mediation example you might be interested in. Check them out and be sure to leave us a note in the comments if you found them helpful.  Meditation and aphantasia You can meditate with aphantasia "Seeing" dragons with aphantasia with image-less guided meditation example

Cynthia - I also just recently discovered I have aphantasia, however, it turns out both of my sisters also have it too. I have a lot of the same feelings you do. I did very well in school, however, it would have been so much easier if I could have visualized objects! I remember taking an IQ test when I was in 3rd grade - one component of the test was to rearrange blocks in the same order as the test provider had done. If you could visualize the blocks that would have been a snap!  I always thought when people said "in my mind's eye" or "photographic memory" they were just terms and not that people actually visualized images!  The saddest part for me is not being able to visualize my loved ones. My oldest sister just passed away suddenly and I wish I could close my eyes and see her beautiful face.  This has all blown my mind and I just wanted to share with you that you are not alone.

Hello Cynthia, Thanks for sharing your revelation with us. Many aphants in our community have expressed similar frustrations and challenges with meditation. For some, it's how they too discovered their aphantasia.  We have a few resources on mediation and even an image-less guided mediation example you might be interested in. Check them out and be sure to leave us a note in the comments if you found them helpful.  Meditation and aphantasia You can meditate with aphantasia "Seeing" dragons with aphantasia with image-less guided meditation example