A Guided Visualisation Exercise for Relaxation: Step-by-Step (NHS Guidance)

Visualisation is one of the simplest relaxation techniques to try because it needs no equipment, no special posture and no experience: just a quiet few minutes and an imagined place. This guide explains how the technique works, using two NHS sources, and offers a short version and a longer, guided version for anyone who prefers a script to follow.

What a visualisation exercise is

NHS inform, Scotland’s national health information service, describes a visualisation exercise as using an image as a way to focus the mind. The image is an ideal spot to relax, which can be real or imaginary, somewhere restful, calming, safe and happy, or a place the person has been to that helps them feel relaxed (NHS inform, “Visualisation exercise”). The page notes it is sourced from Public Health Scotland and was last updated in December 2025.

The short version from NHS inform

The NHS inform version has a few plain steps:

1. Picture an ideal spot to relax.
2. Imagine the place in as much detail as possible, using the senses to make it real, for example the sounds, smells and noises that may be in the area.
3. Picture yourself comfortably enjoying it.
4. Close your eyes and take a slow, regular breath in through your nose.
5. Become aware of your breathing.
6. Focus on the relaxation place in all its detail, and breathe out through your mouth.

NHS inform says to do this exercise for 10 to 20 minutes.

A longer, guided version

Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust publishes a patient information sheet describing a longer version, which it calls a very simple technique that some people find useful in a number of situations. It suggests the following sequence (Cambridge University Hospitals, “A brief guide to guided imagery”):

• Settle first. Get comfortable, sitting or lying down, close the eyes or fix attention on one spot, and spend a moment paying attention to the breath going in and out.
• Check in with the body. Notice the muscles from the toes to the head and whether they feel tense or relaxed; if tense, try to release the tension.
• Walk down a path. Imagine standing at the beginning of a path and moving down it while counting from one to ten, travelling in any way that appeals, such as walking, running, flying or skating.
• Pass through a gate. At ten, imagine a gate. Touch it to open it, walk through, and touch it again to close it behind you.
• Explore with each sense in turn. Look around and notice colours and textures, listen to each sound, touch things nearby and notice the textures and temperatures, attend to the smells and to the tastes associated with the place.
• Leave, knowing you can return. When ready, go back through the gate, close it, and remember that the place can be visited again.
• Come back. Move back down the path, counting backwards from ten to one. Open the eyes at two, and at one be back in everyday life.

Choosing the place

According to the same sheet, the place can be somewhere visited recently or long ago and remembered fondly, somewhere read about or seen in a film, or somewhere entirely imaginary, such as a beach or mountains. The scene can be created exactly as wished. NHS inform’s requirement is simply that the place feels restful, calming, safe and happy. A few practical points follow:

• Pick a place that feels uncomplicated. A holiday memory, a garden or a quiet stretch of coast are typical choices.
• Build a small set of places to rotate between rather than relying on a single scene.
• Choose sensory details that are easy to recall, such as the sound of waves or the smell of cut grass, because the technique relies on using the senses.

Expect wandering attention

The Cambridge guidance says it is normal to be distracted during these exercises. When it happens, the advice is to notice it and bring attention back to the task. A wandering mind is therefore expected, not a sign of doing it wrong.

When to practise

The same sheet suggests practising when not feeling stressed or anxious. It says that with more practice the exercise should become easier to use at times of discomfort. One practical way to apply this is to try a five- or ten-minute session at a calm point in the day, for example after work or before bed, then extend it toward the 10 to 20 minutes NHS inform suggests.

How it fits with other techniques

Visualisation combines well with other techniques covered on this site. It pairs naturally with slow breathing (breathing techniques) and with tension release (progressive muscle relaxation and body scanning). Visualisation adds an image to focus on.

This article is general wellbeing information and is not a substitute for advice from a GP.

The bottom line

A visualisation exercise means picturing a restful, calming, safe and happy place in as much sensory detail as possible while breathing slowly, for 10 to 20 minutes according to NHS inform. A longer script from Cambridge University Hospitals adds a body check, a counted path and gate, and a sense-by-sense tour of the place. Wandering attention is normal, and practising at calm moments makes the technique easier to use later.

Sources

• NHS inform, “Visualisation exercise”
• Cambridge University Hospitals, “A brief guide to guided imagery”