When I was in teacher training one of my fellow teacher trainees was sick... and we were going to do 27 sun salutations that night. Our trainer for the night informed him that if he didn't feel up to it or started to feel sick during the sequence - that he could lie in child's pose and simply visualize himself doing the work and it would still have some of the same effect as if he were doing the yoga. I was kinda skeptical, but didn't think too much of it.
Later I read somewhere that some scientific study had found that visualizing yourself doing something like lifting weights or doing yoga would provide you with 30% of the progress that physically doing the work would achieve. I was impressed, but still skeptical. I actually tried it last year when I was just starting to really work on Eka Pada Raja Kapotasana and trying to lose my reliance on the strap to reach my foot. That pose is a ton of work and it's hard on the body to do it all the time. I was already doing it at least once every 2 days and didn't want to overdo it... so I started doing a Pigeon Pose visualization meditation every day.
I would simply sit in meditation like usual and after I had myself centered I would simply visualize every single step of setting up and moving into the full pose effortlessly. I imagined it without the strap and happening with ease grace and beauty. Within a week or two I was strap free and have been ever since. Was it because of the visualization exercise? Or was it simply because I was working my ass off? I don't know... but I wouldn't hesitate to practice some visualization to get me into more difficult poses in the future. You know, just in case.
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