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Imagination exercises
Medical expert of the article
Last reviewed: 04.07.2025
“Logical thinking can take you from point A to point B, but imagination can take you anywhere you want to go” – these are the words of A. Einstein.
No creative activity is possible without imagination – a mirror image of reality, which is accompanied by the creation of new ideas and images. In the modern world, interest in attempts to develop one’s creative imagination and activate thought processes has increased significantly. To stimulate the ability to imagine, science is developing and can use in practice special exercises for developing imagination, which not only make our consciousness broader, but also contribute to the development of individuality, creativity, and, ultimately, personality.
Imagination is extremely important for every self-respecting person. It helps us set certain life goals, plan and dream, create. Almost all cultural values known to mankind are the result of creative activity and imagination of writers, artists, poets and sculptors.
Thanks to the ability to imagine, people can move both into the past and many years ahead, come up with new moves and make thoughtful decisions, imagine the results of their future life and activities. Mentally immersing themselves in certain circumstances, people are able to throw off internal tension, relax. It has been proven that a person with a significantly developed imagination and endowed with the necessary knowledge can control their breathing processes, heart rate, temperature indicators. By the way, the inability to control your imagination can also provoke the appearance of certain diseases: often these are digestive disorders or heart problems.
However, today we will not talk about this, but about how you can develop your productive form of imagination, learn to create new, exclusive and creative products. We will consider how to force your brain to transform and reunite particles of something known into a non-standard and, at first glance, incompatible combination.
Exercises for developing creative imagination
There are many techniques that creative people use to achieve greater success in their work. Nature has given us fantasy, but not everyone knows how to use it: but it is so necessary, especially for those who are trying to realize themselves in some creative niche.
As children, we often had to imagine or fantasize about something: this happened when our mother read us a fairy tale, when we molded figures from plasticine, drew or played with dolls. What happened to us now? Is it possible to awaken your imagination again, to develop creative potential?
Of course, you can. Moreover, it is necessary and even very useful. Thanks to simple exercises, we will try to stimulate the birth of new ideas in our brain, to expand the range of thinking.
- Exercise I. Find with your eyes some object that would be approximately at the level of your gaze, two or three meters away from you. This could be a cup, a pencil, a notepad or a vase of flowers. With your eyes closed, imagine that you are in an empty, bright and light space: imagine this for five minutes. Then suddenly open your eyes and look at the object you have chosen for five minutes. Do not think about the object under any circumstances; your gaze should pass through the object. After this, close your eyes again and imagine the object you have chosen surrounded by a bright and light space for five minutes. This exercise should be repeated up to eight times, doing it in a calm environment, without excessive tension.
- Exercise II. In the evening, when you are already in bed, close your eyes and imagine a dark letter on a bright white background. Do not let the letter go from your imagination for 2-3 minutes, even if it persistently tries to leave. The next evening, imagine another letter in the same way. Make sure that the letter stops floating away from you, and is fixed in your brain as clearly as possible. When you learn to fix the image, try to do the same not with letters, but with words. Thanks to this exercise, you can learn to concentrate your attention, expand the boundaries of your imagination.
- Exercise III. Close your eyes and imagine a small yellow square. Concentrate on it. Imagine that the square suddenly begins to grow, to increase in size to infinite dimensions, making all the space around it yellow. Next time, imagine the same thing, but with some other color. When this exercise seems too easy for you, start imagining that one color of the square is repainted into another, into a third. Then return to the original color.
- Exercise IV. Imagine a large and juicy apple in front of you. Start spinning it left or right, whichever is more convenient for you. Imagine that it has flown out of your brain and continues to fly around the apartment. Mentally stop the apple's flight and place it in front of your eyes. Imagine yourself as a worm and try to get inside the apple, examine it from the inside, feel yourself in it. Look at yourself from the outside with the worm's gaze: you can examine not only your body, but also the environment around you, the walls, the interior. However, remember that this should be a view from the outside. Control yourself. If at some point you feel that you are not in control of the situation, immediately open your eyes.
- Exercise V. Find with your gaze any object located near you. Close your eyes, remember and imagine the picture you just saw. Open your eyes again, compare whether the pictures match. Alternately closing and opening your eyes, make sure that the imaginary and real objects are as similar as possible.
- Exercise VI. Well, you have learned to imagine objects with your eyes closed. Now it is time to do it without closing your eyes. For example, imagine that next to your computer there is a brand new mobile phone that you so desired. Remember, imagine with your eyes open.
- Exercise VII. Do you like to travel? Excellent. Now we will do it mentally. Try to first mentally go into the next room. Then go outside, get in a car or on a bike, go to nature, to a river, swim, etc.
When imagining any pictures, do it with pleasure. You can turn on some light music. It is desirable that no one distracts you at this time.
Yes, and don’t overdo it: excessive imagination can immerse you so much in a world of illusions that social and everyday issues risk receding into the background for you.
Exercises for developing a writer's imagination
By visualizing objects, we develop our creative imagination, because it is very important for a writer to imagine his characters, their fates, and the further development of events.
If you want to take up writing but doubt the brightness of your imagination, do not worry: there are no people in the world who do not have imagination. Yes, there are people who simply do not use the gift given to them by nature, and over time it fades, but they are not hopeless: with some effort, imagination can still be restored. To do this, first of all, you need desire, willpower and knowledge of the appropriate exercises.
- Close your eyes and remember some interior item in your room. Without opening your eyes, try to name the characteristic features of this item. When everything is listed, you can open your eyes and, still not looking at the selected item, try to write down all its features on paper.
- Think of a quatrain you know. Using its last line as the first, try to write your own poem.
- Try writing a short essay about the place where you like to relax the most.
- Write a 400 character article about the place you would dream of living in.
- Describe the phrases you would say to an unexpected guest who arrived at an inopportune time (for example, at night).
- Write a short story that begins with the phrase: “One day, I had an opportunity… but I didn’t take advantage of it.”
- Write a message to your past life. For example, write to yourself when you were, say, 7 years old.
- Write a short description of your favorite childhood toy.
- What was the hardest thing for you in life? Describe it.
- What was easier for you than you expected? Describe it.
- Write a story about the left shoe.
- Write a humorous story about a day in your life that you feel was once wasted.
- Write a short article that begins with the words: “If I were given the opportunity to change one thing, I would start with…”
- Write yourself a certificate stating that you are the laziest person in the world.
- Make up your own story about Little Red Riding Hood.
- Imagine that you are an invisible person. Describe your actions and the reactions of the people around you.
- Identify several of your phobias and write about the most important one.
- In a short article, try to describe the weather outside.
- Describe in 250 words what you would do if it were raining outside right now.
- Think of a story about what you would cook for dinner for your worst enemy.
- Is there a person among your acquaintances who is very proud? Describe his behavior.
- Look out the window and find an unfamiliar passerby with your gaze. Write 150 words to describe his appearance, profession, hobby, come up with a name for him.
- Make a list of fifty things you would never do under any circumstances.
- Imagine that you are a Christmas tree and you have just been cut down. Describe your feelings.
- Make up a story that should include the following words: civil engineer, boss, construction site, lunch.
- Come up with a monologue on behalf of a recently purchased expensive watch that was accidentally thrown into the trash.
- Make a list of fifteen reasons why you need to learn English.
- Make a list of ten reasons why it would be beneficial for a school teacher to change professions.
- Think of seven phrases you wouldn't want to say to someone who's just been fired.
- Write a text of an angry public speech consisting of seven short paragraphs beginning with the words: “like peas against a wall.”
- Make up a short story using the words: priest, money, cellar, teapot.
- Write an article on the topic: “The whole world worships false idols.”
- Describe seven reasons why a wealthy person might leave his homeland.
- Create a monologue for a lonely birch tree that survived in a burnt forest.
- Make a list of the dishonest person's most compelling excuses.
- Make up a newspaper story using the words: hawthorn, glass, lawn, glasses.
- Make a list of ten things you would sacrifice your last $10 for.
- Complete the request with five options: “Please do not harm…, because…”.
- Make up an instructive story using the words: family, photograph, parcel, bread.
- List seven things you might be ashamed of.
- Write a story in the form of a monologue about a pie that was put in the oven.
- Imagine that you came to work and the door to your office was boarded up. Describe the ten most daring reasons why this could happen.
- Come up with step-by-step instructions on how to teach a clothes moth the rules of the road.
All tasks should be completed in writing, spending as little time as possible on each (this develops spontaneous thinking).
Such exercises train the imagination, and everything else necessary in writing (developing one’s own style, composition, plot construction) requires study at a professional level.
If you still feel that your imagination is not enough for creative activity, do not worry: constant exercises to develop your imagination will sooner or later allow you to reach a new, higher level.
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