In this blog, you’ll learn:
- What a vision board is
- Why life purpose is important for your health
- 3 Mental Blocks that can interfere with your Vision Board Quest
- The 4 steps to build a vision board and how we enhance process using Energy Therapy
- The Action Steps you can take crystalise your life purpose.
What is a Vision Board?
A Vision Board is an amazingly powerful tool that you can use to help cultivate and clarify your life purpose.
It is a foundational step before setting goals, helping in the understanding of your deeper motivations and passions.
The vision board process is a lifestyle strategy included in our Blue Align Approach.
Why is Life Purpose so important for your health?
Your Life Purpose stands as one of the most important aspects of well-being, a reality emphasised by the scientific studies of the Blue Zone communities. Research conducted within these regions demonstrates that having a strong sense of life purpose can not only enhance your quality of life but also potentially extend your longevity by up to seven years (1).
Clearly, purpose has a significant impact on our health and healing, and needs to be considered as part of any holistic health model. We apply this when treating any chronic health problem like back pain, headaches, arthritis and more, for example, by helping people focus on the activities they enjoy in life!
Communities of people within the Blue Zones have built a culture around having a sense of purpose.
These five unique areas in the world ¬ Loma Linda (California), Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Ikaria (Greece), and Nicoya (Costa Rica) ¬ share common lifestyle practices that offer a blueprint to remarkable health and longevity.
The Okinawa way of determining life purpose is deeply rooted in the principles of Ikigai (Figure 1). Ikigai is a Japanese concept that translates to “a reason for being” or “a reason to wake up in the morning.”
The Okinawan approach to determining life purpose involves a holistic consideration of various factors. It often involves reflecting on:
what one loves,
what one is good at,
what the world needs, and
what one can be rewarded for.
By finding the intersection of these elements, individuals in Okinawa strive to discover their unique ikigai, which serves as a guiding principle for their daily lives, contributing to a sense of fulfillment and purpose.
Figure 1. The Principles of Ikigai
Three Mental Blocks that can interfere with your Vision Board Quest
(And why it’s important to help clear them).
Our Blue Align Approach aims to help you overcome three main roadblocks:
- Uncertainty
- Living in the past
- Over-thinking
1. Uncertainty
Many people who start the vision board process find they are not actually clear on what they want!
Uncertainty is the silent killer of dreams. It casts doubt, breeding hesitation and indecision, and clouds the clarity needed to know how to move towards your dreams.
A vision board aims to provide clarity, align thoughts, emotions, and actions, and ultimately provide a roadmap towards your dreams.
2. Living In The Past (Limiting Beliefs)
In the stress of the day-to-day, it’s easy to get caught up in the feeling of survival – or survival-based emotions.
These emotions are typically those linked to our fight-or-flight response, like fear, anxiety, anger, guilt or shame etc. These emotions are rooted in our instinctual responses to perceived threats or challenges, and they are very powerful. The problem is, these emotions often play a part of a limiting story that we tell ourselves about what has happened in the past.
An example of this might be a person who experienced a past relationship betrayal. Now, in new relationships, they instinctively retreat, fearing history will repeat itself. This fear holds them back, keeping them from fully embracing new connections and the chance for happiness.
A vision board is a way for you to break free from limiting stories around survival-based emotions, by creating a positive emotional association to a new future.
3. Over-thinking
Overthinking about what we want in life is a common problem.
The more we dwell on every detail or potential outcome, where every possibility and consequence is examined and re-examined, we get in the way of dreaming.
There is a big difference between trying to think positively towards your dreams, to believing and knowing.
A knowing is about a feeling… ‘I don’t know how this will happen; I just know it will!’
Overthinking can become a never-ending loop to the brink of mental exhaustion, often leading to increased anxiety and stress.
The vision board process can help you feel grateful for your life, and letting it unfold.
It starts from simply asking questions like ‘What would I love more of in my life?’
The 4 Steps to build a Vision Board and how we enhance this process using Integrated Energy Therapy (IET)
Step 1: Envision Your Ideal Life. Fulfill Your Heart’s Desires
Begin by getting into the right mind-body state. Find a quiet spot with no distractions, switch off your phone, and play some gentle music (try our Energy Healing Playlist on Spotify).
Now, it’s time to dream big! There are no limits to what you can put on your vision board. To make this process effective, you need to shift from thinking in your head to feeling in your heart.
“Living in your heart” isn’t just a saying; it means focusing on deep emotions, feelings, and values that are important to you.
The Science of Love in Your Heart
Feeling emotions like love, gratitude, and inspiration can create positive electromagnetic rhythms in our heart, which has significant scientific benefits. Surprisingly, the heart’s electrical power is much stronger than the brain’s, and its electromagnetic field is 5000 times stronger (2). This field extends around us for about 3 feet, expanding even further when we feel intense positive emotions (see Figure 2 below)(3).
When our heart coherence improves, it boosts alpha activity in the brain, leading to stress relief and enhanced creativity. This calmer, focused state enhances learning, decision-making, and broadens our perspective on options.
Figure 2.
How we use Integrated Energy Therapy (IET)
IET aims to help people become more aware of their energy field. The practical approach of IET focuses on our feelings in relation to this energy field. When a person concentrates on their dreams and goals, their energy field naturally expands. This expansion feels like rediscovering innate truths deep within. In this state, individuals can feel more aligned with their purpose and filled with love, connection, and gratitude. Conversely, negative thinking contracts the energy field. Ultimately, the goal is to guide people toward their expanded energy field and nurture that heart feeling.
Exercise 1. Heart Meditation Technique
- Find a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed.
- Sit comfortably and close your eyes.
- Direct your attention to your heart area.
- Take slow, deep breaths in a steady rhythm.
- As you breathe, focus on generating feelings of love and gratitude.
- Imagine someone or something you deeply care about.
- Continue breathing rhythmically and nurturing these positive emotions for a few
minutes. - Open your eyes gently when you’re ready.
Exercise 2. Clarifying Questions
While maintaining a grateful mindset in Exercise 1, reflect on some significant questions. These questions can be found below in Table 1 (11 examples provided).
Refer to Table 2, which presents a list of core life areas. As thoughts and ideas emerge, organise them under these essential life categories.
Jot down any ideas related to your dreams or desires. These could be images, statements, or words. Remember, there are no incorrect ideas; anything that motivates and fills your heart is valid.
Table 1. 11 Key Questions
- What are my most cherished long-term goals and aspirations?
- Which aspects of my life do I want to enhance or transform in the coming year?
- What values and principles define my ideal life and guide my decision-making?
- What experiences or adventures do I want to manifest in the near future?
- Who are the key individuals or communities I want to connect with and build relationships with?
- How can I visualise and represent my career or educational objectives on the vision board?
- What personal development areas do I want to focus on to grow and evolve?
- Are there specific health and wellness goals that I want to emphasise in my vision board?
- What images and words capture the emotions and feelings associated with my desired outcomes?
- What inspirational quotes or affirmations resonate with my goals and can be incorporated into the visual representation?
- In what ways can I express gratitude for the accomplishments I’ve already achieved and those I am working towards on the vision board?
Table 2. Vision Board – Core Areas of Life:
- Prosperity
- Friendships
- Health
- Home
- Romance
- Family
- Leisure time
- Spirituality
- Vacation
- Vocation
The creator of IET, Steven Thayer explains hearts desires this way:
“The soul wields great power and shouldn’t be underestimated. Its desires, visions, dreams, wants, and needs aren’t merely passing emotions; they carry significant and meaningful messages from within. They serve as a compass needle, pointing the way. Deciphering this compass of the heart is the human challenge—to uncover its true direction. That which ignites immense excitement and happiness, almost feeling too good to be true, often aligns with the divine purpose meant for you within this lifetime.”
Step 2: Preparing the Images for the Vision Board
The old-fashioned method is to look through magazines and cut out images that represent your vision. If you have magazines with great pictures, great, use them!
Another option is to search for images online based on the ideas you developed in Step 1. You can save these images in a folder on your phone, then download the images to your computer and paste them into a Word document. This way, the size of the images can be adjusted. Then print them out in colour and cut out where needed.
Exercise 3: Find Images that Inspire
Look for images in magazines, on Pinterest or on Google that reflect the key points identified under the core areas of your life from Step 1. These could be images, statements, or words.
Remember, there are no wrong ideas; anything that inspires and resonates with you is valuable. Cut out or print out in colour. Set a time frame to have this done.
Step 3: Building your Vision Board
Building a physical vision board requires the following tools:
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Magazines (optional)
- Colour printer and paper
- Large roll of butcher paper
I appreciate the versatility of having a large vision board. I bought a large roll of butcher paper from Spotlight, about 70cm wide and 5m long, and cut it to size. Then, I used Blu Tac to stick the paper onto the back of my bedroom door.
Exercise 4: Group Images into Categories
Spread out your collected images on your bed or table and organise them into categories, or group them based on what feels right. Glue the images onto the paper and place the board in a spot where you’ll see it regularly, such as the back of your bedroom door.
Using a glue stick makes it easy to lift and move the images after they dry, allowing you to rearrange or add new ones. I prefer spacing them out so there’s room for more additions, which works well with the size of the paper I used.
Step 4: Transform Your Vision Board into Your Mind’s Eye
Make it a daily practice to connect to your vision board. Enter a meditative state and centre yourself in your heart, as outlined in exercise 1.
You can take a photo of your board and put it on the desktop of your computer, phone or whatever works for you. Continue to change or refine your board to keep feeling inspired.
Exercise 5. Vision Board Meditation
During the heart meditation from Step 1, concentrate on each of the core elements in Table 2.
As you meditate, visualise and cultivate the feeling of gratitude for having each element represented on your vision board in your life.
Repeat this throughout the day.
The Law of Attraction & Expanding your Heart Field
The Law of Attraction teaches us that focusing on positive emotions and thoughts from the heart can bring positive experiences into our lives. This concept is often associated with the heart’s electromagnetic field, suggesting that by maintaining heart coherence and thoughts towards what we want, we can align our heart’s energy with favourable outcomes. Simply put, “like attracts like”. The more love you feel, the more love you will attract into your life etc.
Understanding your life’s purpose is crucial for your overall well-being and fulfillment. By creating a vision board, you can clarify your dreams and aspirations, taking tangible steps towards manifesting them. This process isn’t just about wishful thinking—it’s about actively aligning your thoughts, emotions, and actions with your deepest desires. Overcoming common mental blocks, like uncertainty or overthinking, is key to moving forward. Through practical exercises and energy therapy techniques, you can harness the power of your heart’s energy to attract positive experiences into your life. Don’t just dream about your ideal life — take action today to bring it into reality.
