Going to a Vision Board Workshop Was More Powerful Than I Expected
I almost didn’t go to the vision board workshop offered by my yoga studio. Could two hours of glorified arts and crafts possibly be worth my time and money? But pretty quickly, I was glad I did — I'm a visual learner, after all. And by the end, I knew I'd discovered a method of goal-setting that I'd revisit year after year.
After inviting us to get comfortable with pillows and blankets, the instructor led us through a twenty-minute guided meditation to spark the creative process and bring forth the imagery of what we might want to include on our vision boards. We mindfully inhaled and exhaled while visualizing times of personal happiness, success and love and making connections between the circumstances surrounding those events.
I went into the workshop with ideas of what I planned to include on my vision board, but the meditation forced my thought process to go more in-depth in my analysis of what I’ve achieved in the past, what I wanted to achieve in the future and how I could channel past mindsets for future endeavors.
By the time we opened our eyes and grabbed a poster board, I realized that 20 minutes had passed in which I did nothing but connect with positivity and open my mind to the idea that anything is possible. We weren’t building our vision boards based on fixing or compensating for negative aspects of our lives. Instead, the meditation helped to conjure up the positive parts we wanted to generate or continue to have.
While you may not have access to or enjoy a guided meditation, you should still have a general idea of what you want your vision board to look like, what aspirations you’d like the board to help you visualize. But also keep an open mind and choose images, words and colors you feel drawn to.
Here are five more things I learned from taking a vision board workshop that can help you make one too.
1. A vision board is basically a collage.
If you've ever cut pictures and words out of a magazine and glued them on construction paper, you've made a version of a vision board. You can also add drawings and photos, and write in words and phrases that represent specific and realistic things you want to bring into your life. Whether you want to find another job, train for a marathon, travel more or simply carve out more time to relax, vision boards collect and display your aspirations to encourage you to take active steps to manifest them.
2. Vision boards represent different things to different people.
I had no idea what to expect when I arrived at the workshop and found an empty spot on the floor where the other participants sat encircling piles of magazines, markers, glue sticks, scissors and stickers. After the instructor explained the purpose and process of vision boards, she asked everyone to share their reasons for wanting to make one.
Some people wanted visual reminders of their goals and desires. Some hoped a vision board would help bring focus to the chaos in their lives. And some believed in the law of attraction, that we can bring into our lives whatever we hold in our mind’s eye, that our thoughts attract experiences. By the time it was my turn to speak, I realized I was hoping my vision board would provide all of these things.
Vision boards can hold a wide range of meanings for different people, so set your own intention before you get started.
3. You only need a few materials to make a vision board.
After understanding why you’d like to create a vision board, you need to gather materials, the most obvious of which is some sort of poster board, corkboard, large piece of thick paper or a canvas. Choose a size that will fit in your desired location in your home.
In addition to the board itself, you’ll need scissors, glue sticks or double-sided tape, magazines or images from computer printouts, photos and maybe markers, stickers, glitter or any other craft items you’d like to include in the visions you hope to create.
4. You should include images and words that represent your goals for the year.
For the next ninety minutes following our guided meditation, the room filled with hushed activity as we all folded into our creative selves, cutting out pictures and gluing them to our boards. Every now and then, classmates posed requests to the others to keep an eye out for specific images they were looking for, like doors, clocks and salads.
I collected pictures of books and suitcases, beaches and sunshine, good health and family togetherness, moving them around on the poster board until they were positioned just right before gluing. I also pick a word every year that acts as a focus for me, and I centered that word on my board so that my cut-outs surrounded it.
Some people finished their boards, others brought them home to complete. And despite the fact that no two vision boards looked alike, they all held meaning and insight for the person carrying it out of the workshop.
There are no rules when it comes to what you should put on your vision board. Magazine clippings, personal photos, drawings, motivational quotes, mantras, checklists, stickers. Whatever speaks to you, add it to your board.
5. Display the board somewhere you'll look at it often.
Equally as important as choosing the right images to include on the vision board is the placement of it in order to see it regularly.
As I contemplated where to put it in my home, I reminded myself that the point of the vision board is to go beyond simply looking at it. As I learned in the workshop, I needed to use this visual aid as motivation to actively make moves toward those goals, those hopes, those dreams.
The instructor of the workshop advised us to regularly take time to examine and review each image that we glued with a purpose and reflect on why we chose to include it. She said she kept one of her vision boards in her bathroom because it’s a room she’s frequently in. She explained that some people who want to focus on getting healthy put their vision boards on their refrigerators. She also suggested placing it bedside on a nightstand so it starts and ends your day.
That vision board sat atop my dresser in my bedroom so I would see it whenever I went into my closet for clothes. It was a staple in my home decor until the following year when I attended another workshop, displaying the new vision board on my desk in my home office, where I caught glimpses of it multiple times throughout my work-from-home day. And when I went to my third vision board workshop, I brought my teenage daughter, which ended up being both a fun bonding experience and an opportunity for me to get a peek inside her thought process and her hopes for the future.
My vision boards are reminders that my goals and dreams are within reach if I keep them in my mind’s eye and continue moving toward them. And with these tips, your vision board can do the same for you.
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