How to imagine a better future for yourself
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Unlock the full reading · $5.50 →Dan Tomasulo presents the 'best possible self' exercise as a psychological tool for combating unclear or pessimistic futures. The method involves systematically imagining an optimal future self across multiple life domains, which research shows can improve mood, increase optimism, and create actionable pathways forward. This structured visualization practice helps people move from vague worry to concrete possibility.
Teaching:
• Use 'best possible self' visualization as a closing meditation after difficult practices when students feel discouraged about progress
• Cue students to imagine their most capable physical self during challenging transitions rather than focusing on current limitations
• Frame the six-day-a-week commitment as practice in becoming your best possible practitioner rather than grinding through obligation
• Apply this to injury recovery by having students visualize their fully healed capable self performing the practice
Writing seeds:
• Essay contrasting 'best possible self' visualization with traditional yogic concepts of sankalpa and how Ashtanga's fixed sequence already embodies the future self you're practicing toward
• Post on how the Ashtanga method is essentially 'best possible practice' made systematic—you're always practicing the version slightly beyond current capacity
• Piece exploring how daily practice builds the neural pathways between current and future self, making visualization concrete rather than fantasy
• Short post for Shala Daily on using 'best possible breath' or 'best possible vinyasa' as micro-versions of this exercise during practice
Idea map:
• Connects to systems literacy through understanding how present actions create feedback loops with imagined futures—practice as iterative prototyping of the self
• Relates to attention training since visualization requires the same focused awareness as asana but applied to temporal rather than physical space
• Links to embodiment because the 'best possible self' in Ashtanga isn't abstract but literally the body performing specific postures with specific breath
• Extends practice-as-method thinking by making explicit what's implicit in daily practice: you're always rehearsing a more capable version
Source: https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-imagine-a-better-future-for-yourself
Teaching:
• Use 'best possible self' visualization as a closing meditation after difficult practices when students feel discouraged about progress
• Cue students to imagine their most capable physical self during challenging transitions rather than focusing on current limitations
• Frame the six-day-a-week commitment as practice in becoming your best possible practitioner rather than grinding through obligation
• Apply this to injury recovery by having students visualize their fully healed capable self performing the practice
Writing seeds:
• Essay contrasting 'best possible self' visualization with traditional yogic concepts of sankalpa and how Ashtanga's fixed sequence already embodies the future self you're practicing toward
• Post on how the Ashtanga method is essentially 'best possible practice' made systematic—you're always practicing the version slightly beyond current capacity
• Piece exploring how daily practice builds the neural pathways between current and future self, making visualization concrete rather than fantasy
• Short post for Shala Daily on using 'best possible breath' or 'best possible vinyasa' as micro-versions of this exercise during practice
Idea map:
• Connects to systems literacy through understanding how present actions create feedback loops with imagined futures—practice as iterative prototyping of the self
• Relates to attention training since visualization requires the same focused awareness as asana but applied to temporal rather than physical space
• Links to embodiment because the 'best possible self' in Ashtanga isn't abstract but literally the body performing specific postures with specific breath
• Extends practice-as-method thinking by making explicit what's implicit in daily practice: you're always rehearsing a more capable version
Source: https://psyche.co/guides/how-to-imagine-a-better-future-for-yourself
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