I know that alot of people are very successful with using visualisation techniques.

However, I have great trouble "imagining" things.

One of my relaxation tapes gets you to "walk slowly" down some steps into a sunken garden.

He counts too slowly, and I'm always at the bottom before he gets to four! Also, my mind wonders, and because he has said sunken garden, I straight away think of the Blue Peter sunken garden and start looking round for Simon Groom and Goldie.

People have said, when you are anxious, just imagine you are on a warm sunny beach etc, but I can't do that either.

It's is really frustrating. I know this tape helps, I put it on as I'm going to bed, and always wake up calm in the morning (it has some subliminal messages embedded in it too), but I would really like to do it "properly".

My therapist has given me a really good self help book for irritable bowel syndrome, and there are some visualisation things in this that I can't do either.

How does everybody else "ground" themselves, and keep focused on the job in hand? It's really beginning to drive me mad (nay madder), because I really want to experience the true benefit of these suggestions and can't. Is it just me being useless, or is this quite common?

Charlie