Visualisation is one of the strongest mental exercises you can do to gain the success you really desire. So many top athletes and sports professionals use these techniques and evidence is growing that this can make the difference between winners and losers. Visualisation can help you develop beliefs and a self image of true champions.
Sports Hypnotherapists/Hypno-analysts use visualisation all the time to prepare their clients to win. Just by seeing the event in your mind, whatever your sport or position, in this case it might be saving a ball from going into the net or it might be the power in your kick as you score that goal, the fact of the matter is your body reacts to your thought. Through visualisation data from your thought processes are fed into your brain like that of a computer. The brain processes your thought and the entire body chemistry is reacted as it receives the clear precise message th
at is sent to it. Just like a computer takes the information you give to it and gives out what you have asked it to do. Your body will give out what you have fed to it as thought. To help understand the power of visualisation I will am going to use examples from the sports and entertainment field, yet thee are many documentations of how visualisation has been vey powerful with healing and in the corporate world for building business or and public speaking.
In our Byfleet, Kew, Guildford and Harley Street practices Hypnosis and Hypnoanalysis are used very successfully to help any problems arising from psychological or emotional issues. Nowadays, there is an increasing demand for Hypnosis & Hypnotherapy not only for the successful treatment for such things as Fear of Flying, Anxiety,Childrens Therapy Eczema, Social Phobia, Depression, Public Speaking and Stress management but also for such things as Sports Enhancement due to the huge success rates. Contact us at Byfleet, Kew, Guildford and Harley Street. For your FREE initial hypnotherapy consultation or to book and appointment CLICK HERE
Lets use one of the world’s greatest soccer players David Beckham to show a great example of using the power of the mind. In a home video taken of David when he was a young boy of around 10 years old, he was telling the cameraman how he dreamed of becoming a professional footballer. David was born and brought up in London but can you guess which football strip he was wearing in this old film ? If you guessed Manchester United you were correct. Most young boys his age would have been so pleased if any of the London clubs like Arsenal or Tottenham Hotspurs had signed him – in fact his Dad is a Tottenham supporter. Not young David. Right from a really young age he dreamt of just one thing….becoming a great player for Manchester United.
You too can learn from David’s example and so many other people who have used the power of visualisation to make their dreams come true.
One UK football team found themselves at the bottom of their league, so someone suggested printing a fake league table dated in the future with them at the top. It was placed where all the players could see it every day. Their results changed completely and they started to dramatically rise all the way up the league table for real Thinking back to David Beckham again who is world famous for scoring spectacular goals from free kicks. He always believed he would become an expert free kick taker and that’s why he always stayed behind after training to practice more and more on his own. Some people might say that his skills must be natural, that he was born with talent. Part of that is undoubtedly true but one thing about winners is that they always go that extra step further….practice just that little bit longer an harder than the average person….they believe that they will be great and they prove it.
Recently David took part in an experiment for television along with leading professors looking at the power of visualisation. They measured David’s brain patterns whilst he was taking free kicks then they sat him down in a comfortable chair and asked him to imagine taking free kicks in his mind. The amazing thing was that the brain patterns were nearly the same. By using powerful visualisation, David could practice his free kicks just with his mind. The best part being that he could practice scoring every time which helped his mind believe that the next time he took a free kick for real it was bound to result in a goal Another key ingredient in powerful visualisation is to dream a big dream ! There is no point of dreaming of small things such as ‘if I could only get into the local side then maybe….maybe a scout from one of the top European sides might spot me’.
If you aim for something less than what you really want then that is the very best you will achieve. In the worst situation you will not even make the local side. No, for this to work the dream has to be a great one. You are young and by using powerful visualisation every day you will become a great achiever so dream a big dream….dream a massive dream !
Dominic’s Story
Dominic had suffered from eczema since birth, and had been teased about his condition since his first days in school and was starting to become withdrawn and displayed bouts of anger not only towards others but also himself. Eczema was ruling his life and he was so taunted he refused to remove his top for PE and would wear a long-sleeved jumper in the middle of summer to hide his arms. Due to the severity of Dominic's eczema the treatment took place over a period of 6 sessions using powerful positive visualisation and the Blow Away Technique.
Domonic was asked to imagine something very unique: that a vessel (he was to choose what kind, a space ship, or tank or submarine etc) that was so tiny that it could go inside of his body and travel round wherever it needed to go…inside of his vessel he had all the equipment that he needed, all of the medication and whatever that might be, maybe a cooling gel or laser or some kind of zapper that would rid the eczema from his body completely. Dominic chose in his mind the kind of vessel which was a hover ship a which looked a bit like the Titanic (see Dominic’s picture below) on board his ship he had capsules of cooling gel which was gold in colour and armies of men that he could deploy from the ship in there own capsules to go and destroy all the eczema cells, Dominic was in charge the Captain of the ship and would order the troupes to go to different parts of his body to rid him of any ‘Aliens’ as he called the eczema.
Once we had discussed what he found the best way for him to rid himself of the problem a session of guided visualisation was administered while at the same time a recording onto CD of the guided visualisation was made for him to listen to between sessions.
Remarkably the next session the eczema was almost completely gone.
Here’s another example of visualisation from the world of entertainment. Two years before filming The Mask, Jim Carrey was just another actor looking to get a big break. It seems crazy now to think that he would not be famous but for every Jim Carrey there are thousands of other funny people out there who had a dream and then gave up. They didn’t believe in themselves so in the end they were bound to prove themselves right and fail.
Jim Carrey believed with every bone in his body that he was destined to be a world famous actor. He lived in a small bed-sit at the time but he was so sure… so sure that he would be famous that he wrote out a cheque to himself for $4 million dated 18 months in the future. He pinned this cheque to his wardrobe so that every day when he woke up he had to see with his own eyes A REAL BANK CHEQUE PAYING HIM 4 MILLION DOLLARS ! Every day he could let his mind take him there…what would he do with that sort of money….what MUST be happening in his life for him to have a cheque like that. The subconscious mind senses everything so Jim’s subconscious started to believe he must be rich and famous being able to write out cheques for such large amounts of money. The rest is history although Jim still talks about this story to this day.
So what can ‘Visualisation’ be used for?
Visualisation or Mental Imagery can be used:
- To see and feel success. Many athletes "see" themselves achieving their goals on a regular basis, both performing skills at a high level and seeing the desired performance outcomes together with the feeling of success that it brings.
- To motivate. Before or during training sessions, you are able to bring into mind images of your goals for that session, also to imagine or visualise past or future successes or competitor/team that can serve as a motivational purpose. This technique clarifies your aim, thus resulting in increased intensity in training.
- To perfect skills. Visualisation is often used to facilitate the learning and refinement of skills or skill sequences. The best athletes "see" and "feel" themselves performing perfect skills, programs, routines, or plays on a very regular basis.
- To familiarise. Visualisation can be effectively used to familiarize yourself with all kinds of things, such as a competition site, a race course, a complex play pattern or routine, a pre-competition plan, an event focus plan, a media interview plan, a refocusing plan, or the strategy you plan to follow
- To set the stage for performance. Visualisation is often an integral part of the pre-competition, play, game, which helps set the mental stage for a successful outcome. Athletes visualise the key elements of their performance prior to any game, competition etc, which helps draw out their ultimate focus and enhances their skills. It also helps eliminate negative thoughts, preventing them from interfering with a positive pre-game focus.
- To refocus. Visualisation can be useful in helping you to re focus when the need arises. For example, if a warm-up is feeling sluggish, imagery of a previous best performance or previous best event enhances focus and puts you back on track. You can also use visualisation as a means of refocusing during the event by visualising your next positive action what you should focus on and feeling that focus.
Mental imagery should not focus on the outcome but on the enhancing your skills to achieve the desired outcome.
How do I Apply Visualisation?
Golfing great Jack Nicklaus used mental imagery. In describing how he images his performance, he wrote:
"I never hit a shot even in practice without having a sharp in-focus picture of it in my head. It's like a colour movie. First, I "see" the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I "see" the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there's a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality only at the end of this short private Hollywood spectacular do I select a club and step up to the ball."
When should Visualisation be used?
To become highly proficient at the constructive use of visualisation, you have to use it ever day, on your way to training, during training, after training, and in the evenings before sleeping. If you want to perfect and use mental imagery to your fullest advantage, you can start by doing three things.
1. You can use the visualisation CD’ from our sports package or if you want something specific to your needs then to the shop on this page click here. You will find at the top of the page ‘specially prepared CD’ when you order this you first need to email kathleenfreeman@nolimits-consulting.com with your challenges and the skills you need to perfect, Kathleen will liaise with you to collect information that she can use to help you, after which on receiving payment a DC will be specially devised for your personal visualisation.
2. Practice visualising every day when you wake up, before you go to bed and prior to any event, also use visualisation whenever any negative may enter into your mind, by quickly replacing the negative with positive.
3. Before you execute any skill or combination of skills, first use visualisation as perfectly and precisely as possible. See, feel, and experience yourself moving through the actions in your mind, as you would like them to unfold. Use this prior to competitions, before the event starts, visualise your successful, event focus and plan significant plays, skills, movements, reactions, or feelings that you want to carry into the event.
How can I stay focused?
I expect you have seen an athlete become angry at their performance (throw a tantrum, throw the racket on the floor, argue with the judge etc.). The problem here is that the athlete is focusing on the mistake (the past), something than cannot be changed, and not on the future (the next point). In young athletes, this can be hard to overcome not only because they are inexperienced but also because of peer pressure or the fear of losing.
In sports psychology "pattern breaking" routines are used to help prevent the athlete falling into this negative attitude. A "pattern breaker" can be a word or phrase shouted within the brain (not vocally) or something physical (pinging an elastic band on the wrist). The coach can use the "pattern breaker" in training or competition to refocus the athlete. This approach may not be suitable for a young athlete as it is specialised and will take time for them to master.
Many young athletes have their idol (role model) who they would like to emulate. You may see the athlete attempt to assume the identity and hallmarks of the role model when they perform. This is beneficial provided the role model is a suitable one. Watching the role model in action (video, television, live) will help the athlete see how their idol stays focused and how they react to their mistakes. The role model's name could become the "pattern breaker" phrase for the coach to use when their young protégée falls into the negative thoughts trap. On hearing their role model's name the athlete will shift their focus to how their role model would react and assume a positive (calm, composed and motivated) approach.
What are the Benefits?
Visualisation itself can be useful in a number of circumstances including:
- Developing self confidence
- Developing self esteem
- Developing pre-competition and competition strategies which teach athletes to cope with new situations before they actually encounter them
- Helping the athlete to focus his/her attention or concentrate on a particular skill he/she is trying to learn or develop. This can take place both in or away from the training session
- The competition situation When combined with relaxation it is useful in:
- The promotion of rest, recovery and recuperation
- The removal of stress related reactions, e.g. increased muscular tension, etc.
- The establishing of a physical and mental state which has an increased receptivity to positive mental imagery
- The establishing of a set level of physical and mental arousal prior to warming up for competition
Psychologist Jeff Simons developed a routine that would allow an athlete to achieve an appropriate mental arousal in the last 30 seconds before a competition. The "Quick Set" routine, which involves physical, emotional and focus cues, can also be used as a means of refocusing quickly following a distraction.
An example of this routine for a sprinter could be:
- Close your eyes, clear your mind and maintain deep rhythmical breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth (physical cue)
- Imagine a previous race win, see yourself crossing the line in first place and recreate those emotional feelings of success (emotional cue)
- Return your focus to the sprint start, think of blasting off on the 'B' of the bang with the appropriate limb action (focus cue)
"You only achieve what you believe"
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