My mom was so special in that she believed imagination was an important quality that could be practiced and strengthened. I remember she would have me use visualization to help regulate my emotions as well as resolving minor aches and pains. She would have me close my eyes and concentrate on the physical sensation, then I would have to give it a color; a shape; a scent - things that would create an imagined dimensional object in my mind. From there, my mom would walk me through imaging a way to discard the newly formed “object”. Maybe crumbling it up or wiping it away or even throwing it on the ground and jumping on it. I still use that technique to this day when I have a headache forming.
Mom also taught me to lucid dream, even though she didn’t call it that - it was her way of helping me with my vivid nightmares as a child. When I would wake in the middle of the night, she would talk me through how I could control the narrative in my dreams - just like if I was writing a story. She believed imagination can be used to find solutions - but it had to be encouraged and developed.