By Ashley James | Anxiety Freedom Technique
I’m about to share with you one of the most powerful insights I’ve ever learned about the brain—one that completely transformed how I approach anxiety relief.
Your brain cannot tell the difference between what is vividly imagined and what is real.
When I first heard this, I was skeptical. It sounded too simple. Almost too good to be true.
But the neuroscience is crystal clear: when you engage in vivid mental imagery, your brain activates many of the same neural networks as when you’re actually experiencing that event. Your nervous system responds. Your emotions shift. Your physiology changes.
This is why anxious thoughts create anxious feelings—even when nothing dangerous is happening.
And it’s also why visualization can be such a powerful tool for rewiring anxiety.
What Neuroscience Tells Us About Mental Imagery
Let’s look at what research has revealed about how the brain processes mental imagery.
The Same Brain Regions Activate
A comprehensive review published in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences found that “visual mental imagery engages the primary visual cortex (V1, V2, and V3), with neuroimaging research highlighting the similarities in neural activation patterns between actual visual perception and mental imagery.”
In simpler terms: when you imagine something visually, your visual cortex lights up—the same region that processes what you actually see with your eyes.
Another review in Nature Reviews Neuroscience confirmed that “visual imagery involves a network of brain areas from the frontal cortex to sensory areas” and “can function much like a weak version of afferent perception.”
Your brain treats imagination as a form of perception.
Emotional Responses Follow
This isn’t just about visual processing. The emotional centers of your brain respond too.
Research published in Frontiers in Psychiatry found that “mental imagery can induce emotional experiences by triggering perceptual and memory system components of affective states.”
When you imagine something frightening, your amygdala activates. Stress hormones release. Your heart rate increases. Your body prepares for danger—all from something that exists only in your mind.
This is precisely why anxiety can be so all-consuming. The worried thoughts you think trigger real physiological responses, which then reinforce the worried thoughts in a vicious cycle.
The Aphantasia Research That Proves the Point
Some of the most compelling evidence for the power of mental imagery comes from studying people who lack it.
Aphantasia is a condition where people cannot create mental images. They think in concepts and words, but they cannot “see” pictures in their mind.
A groundbreaking study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B examined how people with aphantasia responded to frightening stories. The results were striking:
“This condition is associated with a flat-line physiological response (skin conductance levels) to reading and imagining frightening stories.”
People who couldn’t visualize the scary scenarios showed almost no stress response. Their bodies remained calm because their brains couldn’t simulate the experience.
The researchers concluded that “muted emotionality from reduced imagery might engender resilience to conditions known to involve imagery, including depression, social anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, and addiction.”
This is powerful evidence that mental imagery is a key driver of emotional responses—including anxiety.
How Anxiety Uses Mental Imagery Against You
Here’s something I understood deeply once I learned this research:
Anxiety is essentially negative visualization on autopilot.
When you’re anxious about a future event—a presentation, a difficult conversation, a medical test—what’s actually happening in your brain?
You’re imagining negative outcomes. Vividly. Repeatedly. Often without even realizing it.
Your brain shows you images of failure, embarrassment, rejection, danger. And because it can’t tell the difference between imagination and reality, it responds as if those things are actually happening.
Your amygdala fires. Cortisol and adrenaline flood your system. Your body prepares for a threat that exists only in your mind.
Research confirms this: “Individuals with anxiety-related conditions may exhibit exaggerated fear responses to innocuous stimuli due to the involuntary generation of threatening mental images.”
The problem isn’t that you’re broken. The problem is that your brain’s incredible visualization ability has been accidentally programmed to work against you.
Flipping the Script: Using Imagery for Healing
Here’s where it gets exciting.
If negative mental imagery can trigger anxiety, positive mental imagery can trigger calm.
And research proves this works.
Guided Imagery Reduces Stress and Anxiety
A 2023 study published in PMC examined the effects of guided imagery on stress, brain function, and attention. The findings showed that “guided imagery (GI) may be more effective for enhancing attentional control in specific contexts, as it increases alpha power and reduces stress levels through mental rehearsal and visualization.”
Alpha brain waves are associated with relaxed, calm states. Guided imagery literally changes your brain wave patterns toward relaxation.
Visualization Changes Brain Activity
Research on stress inoculation through visualization shows that “repeatedly visualizing high-pressure scenarios can reduce anxiety and improve coping when the scenario happens for real.”
Athletes have known this for decades—mental rehearsal improves performance. But it works for anxiety too. When you visualize yourself calm and successful in a challenging situation, you’re essentially training your brain for that outcome.
Clinical Applications
Mental imagery is now recognized as “a core process of many psychological interventions, particularly in affective and anxiety disorders,” according to research in Frontiers in Psychiatry.
The review noted that “the empirical evidence on mental imagery-based psychotherapeutic interventions supports a role for therapeutic approaches targeting/employing mental imagery in affective and anxiety disorders.”
My “AHA Moment” with Visualization
Let me share something personal.
The technique that changed my life—what I now teach as the Anxiety Freedom Technique—is built directly on this principle.
Here’s the basic framework of what I learned:
- Think of a future event that normally causes anxiety
- Notice the anxiety level (scale of 1-10)
- Close your eyes
- Float above your timeline—imagine looking down at your life from above
- Float forward to 15 minutes after the successful completion of that event
- Vividly imagine the successful completion—what you see, hear, feel
- Notice how your anxiety has shifted
The first time I did this, I was stunned. The anxiety that had felt so real, so immovable—it simply dissolved. Within 60 seconds.
At the time, I thought it was magic. Now I understand the neuroscience:
By vividly imagining the successful outcome rather than the fearful outcome, I was activating different neural pathways. I was giving my brain a new “experience” to reference. I was teaching my amygdala that this situation could be safe.
My brain couldn’t tell the difference between the imagined success and real success. So it started responding as if success was possible—even likely.
The Science Behind “Future Pacing”
What I described above is a technique called “future pacing” in NLP. And research supports why it works.
The key insight is this: your brain stores imagined experiences in similar ways to real experiences. When you vividly imagine a successful outcome multiple times, you’re essentially creating memories of success.
Then, when you encounter the actual situation, your brain has “been there before.” It’s not facing the unknown—it’s revisiting a familiar (imagined) experience.
Research in attention and anxiety confirms this mechanism: “Attentional control theory specifies that deficits in attentional control are central to the development and maintenance of anxiety.”
Visualization practices improve attentional control. They train you to direct your attention toward positive outcomes rather than having it hijacked by fearful imagery.
Practical Applications: How to Use This
Based on the research, here are evidence-based ways to use mental imagery for anxiety relief:
1. Notice Your Negative Visualizations
The first step is awareness. When you feel anxious, ask yourself: “What am I imagining right now?”
Often you’ll find vivid images of worst-case scenarios playing in your mind. Recognizing this is the first step to changing it.
2. Redirect to Successful Outcomes
Deliberately replace the feared imagery with imagery of successful completion. Make it vivid—engage all your senses. See it, hear it, feel it.
The more vivid and emotionally engaging, the more your brain treats it as real.
3. Practice Regularly
Like any skill, visualization improves with practice. Research suggests that consistent practice over 6-8 weeks creates measurable brain changes.
Even 5-10 minutes daily can make a significant difference.
4. Combine with Relaxation
Research shows that guided imagery is most effective when combined with relaxation techniques. When your body is calm, your brain is more receptive to new imagery.
5. Use Guided Resources
Working with guided visualizations—whether audio recordings, apps, or a practitioner—can help you maintain focus and deepen the experience.
The Deeper Implication
There’s a profound truth embedded in this research:
You are not at the mercy of your anxious thoughts.
Yes, your brain responds to mental imagery as if it were real. But you have far more control over that imagery than you might realize.
Anxiety often feels like something happening to you—an involuntary reaction you can’t control. But when you understand that anxiety is largely driven by mental imagery, you gain access to the control panel.
You can learn to notice the imagery. You can learn to redirect it. You can learn to create new images—images of safety, success, and calm.
And as you practice, these new patterns become stronger, while the old fearful patterns weaken.
This is neuroplasticity in action. This is why change is possible.
Looking Forward
In my next article, I’ll explore what the research says specifically about hypnosis and anxiety. Hypnosis is perhaps the most direct way to work with the unconscious mind’s imagery—and the clinical research is more compelling than you might expect.
For now, I want you to sit with this truth:
Your imagination is one of the most powerful tools you possess. If it’s been working against you, creating fearful scenarios that trigger anxiety, know that it can be redirected. It can become your ally.
The brain that learned to imagine danger can learn to imagine safety.
You are not stuck.
Have a wonderful week, everyone!
To Your Health,
Ashley James
References
- Pearson, J. (2019). “The human imagination: the cognitive neuroscience of visual mental imagery.” Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
- Proceedings of the Royal Society B (2021). “The critical role of mental imagery in human emotion: insights from fear-based imagery and aphantasia.”
- Frontiers in Psychiatry (2019). “Mental Imagery and Brain Regulation—New Links Between Psychotherapy and Neuroscience.”
- PMC (2023). “Investigating the Impact of Guided Imagery on Stress, Brain Functions, and Attention: A Randomized Trial.”
- Trends in Cognitive Sciences. Research on visual imagery and primary visual cortex activation.
- Attention and anxiety research meta-analyses.
About the Author: Ashley James is a Master Practitioner and Trainer of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Time Line Therapy, and Hypnosis. Her understanding of mental imagery and its effects on the nervous system comes from nearly two decades of study and personal experience. After using these techniques to overcome her own chronic anxiety, she has helped thousands of others experience the same freedom through the Anxiety Freedom Technique.
Disclaimer: This article is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. While mental imagery techniques have research support for anxiety relief, they should complement, not replace, professional mental health treatment when needed.