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Sarasota Hypnosis Institute Library English Section |
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| SPORTS HYPNOSIS WELLNESS Managing Burnout...with Holistic Mindbody Tools The New Epidemic...Anxiety, Panic & Agoraphobia WEIGHT MANAGEMENT |
Winning....The Mind
Game! Elizabeth Bohorquez, R.N., SRN, CPH President & Program Developer Sarasota Hypnosis Institute "The Mind is it's own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven." I don't know if John Milton ever played competitive sports, but it sounds like he might have done so! In today's world it doesn't matter what your competitive arena, the levels of performance are increasing. Never before have so many records been surpassed. New technologies and equipment design, along with expert coaching invite the athlete to hit the ball further, harder and with increased accuracy. In the winter Olympics we observed world class skiers and skaters mastering their sport, completing moves which just a decade ago would have never been considered possible. This leaves us with the question of not only what makes a winner, but how does one win consistently? More and more the difference between winning and losing rests with psychological factors, or the "mind game." If you listen closely to sports commentators, you will hear many comments in this regard as they review athletic performance. "She has lost her focus." "That fall is going to cost her concentration." "He lost the match in the first set, when he lost his service game. He never came back." Certain athletes manage stress and pressure better than others, and many championships are lost in the mind, long before the final score has been recorded. For the weekend athlete, the same holds true with actual performance running behind skill and potential, sometimes as much as 90%. In other words, you may be capable of playing 90% better than you actually do, and the reason is all in the way you manage your mindbody connection. In reality one needs to develop two types of sports training programs, one for technique development in the chosen sport, and the other in psychological skill building. When these are employed together on a consistent basis, the athlete is able to access a focused mind state much more frequently. This is sometimes addressed as playing in "the zone." For many athletes, getting to this physiological/psychological state is a bit of a mystery. A consistent winner knows how to access this state at will. The following tools are the training tools for high level performance. The First Order of Business: Developing Focus and High Level Concentration Skills The above set of tools are learned, and practiced daily in and out of sports practice. While they don't take a lot of time, commitment to the process is absolutely a necessity. Just like a football player would not consider learning new plays in the middle of a game, neither should the athlete consider learning to manage the mindbody connection in a stressful situation. All skills are built away from the playing field, be it a golf course, tennis court, skating arena, or in the middle of the English Channel. However, they are practiced along with technique development, and certainly when new techniques are being presented by the coaching staff. When the body is experiencing stress reaction, the muscle tension is greatly increased. Most of us are completely oblivious to this tension, unless we begin to experience "screamers." Some popular ones are neck and back tension, headache, gastro-intestinal symptoms, tightness in the chest, and shallow breathing. These symptoms are often the triggers, causing an athlete to "choke." This is occurrence is similar to a "panic attack" in someone who is not playing sports. As the individual becomes keenly away of inner body sensations, and continues to focus in their direction, the body literally increases the amount of tension in all areas. For the athlete, the building of excess body tension interferes with all aspects of the game. The chemicals and hormones which are actively produced under these circumstances, not only affect the working of small and large muscle groups of the body, but also impair the ability to concentrate, retrieve necessary information from the subconscious mind needed to assess the situation, and adapt needed skills to meet it. Body Scanning, or mental biofeedback allows the brain to be retrained to release stress build-up at low levels. The participant instructs the mind to focus on small muscle groups, and observe them for sensations. Sensations are messages from the muscle groups, alerting one to the amount of tension being held captive there. Once the sensations are located, the mind is instructed through imagery to open the area, thereby releasing the stored tension. As the mind is directed to continue the scanning process, it re-learns the difference between stress and no apparent stress. When someone begins this practice of mental biofeedback, it is interesting to note that many areas which store tension appear to be tension-free. The reason for this is the inability of the person to focus well on the small muscle group. As the practice continues, one becomes a much better detective at spotting muscle tension. This is a very important point, because one cannot release what is not observed. Body scanning is also a valuable tool for increasing focus and flexibility. Training the mind to scan the body in a very relaxed state, transfers to the skill of being able to focus, release, and move on to another area of focus. As one begins to practice body scanning, their is an acute awareness of the inability to focus, and often times to be willing to leave an area of focus and move on to the next. This lack of flexibility is noticed when a player cannot release and move on to the next point, or play. It takes about thirty days to retrain the mind in this way, and even after that time it is good practice to continue body scanning several times a week, and if the athlete is preparing for competition these exercises should be practiced at least daily, with the same commitment as the practical aspects of the sport. When working to improve focus and concentration, one works closely with the body sensations. Fractionation, or periodization is the process of bringing these tools into the daily life, and practicing in small increments during the day. As this is a new skill, it is often necessary to set up little reminders. I suggest using something simple like a small note tacked in strategic places, by the phone, desk, refrigerator, car radio or other frequented area. Many times during the day one observes the body sensations by doing a quick body scan. This takes less than a minute. As the tension areas are observed, and opened using the mind, the stress chemicals are released, and the mindbody is left to function at a higher level. As the mind gets used to this practice, it will literally take over. One begins to notice that there is less stress build up during the day, and this translates into many advantages, not the least being a more focused mind state, and better sleep. There are many other focus tools which work well. Unfortunately, as space limited here we will move on to the very important issue of thought and emotional management. The Second Order of Business: Managing the Thoughts and Emotions Self-Awareness is key to optimum performance. Just as the sports coach brings attention to the technical problems of the athlete, the "inner coach" must bring the same quality of attention to the thought processes and emotional states. Without these abilities one often works from the position of "overload." This sets the mind up for confusion, and difficulty in making quick, spontaneous, and right decision. This is where a good portion of the previously discussed 90% is lost. When the focus is narrow and inward, the subconscious mind can not function. Stress chemicals are being produced at high levels, muscle tension is mounting, metabolism changes, and the brain is not well oxygenated. As the athlete learns to become aware and observe the mind processes, the ability to release is developed. Again, one cannot release what one does not see or observe. The winning athlete knows himself well, and is on the alert for emotional states which are not skillful for him/her at that time. Emotional states can be high charged chemical concoctions, interfering with all mindbody functioning. Those athletes looking to get and stay at the top must be willing to face and work with the truth. If they frequently house an emotional state which is detrimental to their sport, awareness of this and immediate release is a vital part of practice. The better one is trained in managing thoughts and emotional states, the more consistent one becomes in winning. Skill building in this arena is known as "awareness meditation" and precedes "interactive self-hypnosis", or the ability to program the mind for improved consistent performance. Often times these steps are excluded, and the individual becomes critical of the use of hypnosis. The problem, in my experience, is not with the hypnosis, but with missing very important parts of the inner work, that of releasing muscle tension, managing thoughts and certainly emotional states. The Third Order of Business: Programming the Mind for Success Self-hypnosis is an extremely valuable tool for athletes at all levels. If the mind is playing negative pictures, the results will be the same. What ever the mind perceives as true, becomes true. We image all the time, whether we plan to or not. As we learn to respect the workings of the mind, and become aware of the connection to the body, we can utilize this powerful mechanism to improve any and all areas of our life. There are often self-imposed roadblocks, old beliefs, thought patterns, and automated emotional responses which keep the athlete side-lined, and off the path leading towards the goals. Once it is made clear that all is ready to move through the blocks, not only will this occur, but the subconscious mind will assist in making suggestions and plans. In hypnosis, the hypnotist will work to help re-frame and re-program the inner library for success. When the athlete is trained and practices self-hypnosis, it is relatively easy to reassess a situation in the moment, and program the change right then and there. One also has the ability to request suggestions from the subconscious mind, as to possibilities for management of a situation. It is tantamount to having a powerful "inner coach" right there, in every moment, moving the individual towards the planned goal, whether it be hitting the ball straight, choosing the right shot or angle, or maneuvering the entire self done a patch of icy slope. Whatever the situation, the answer is at hand. Unfortunately many athletes program for what they don't want, and this is exactly what they get. As you develop awareness techniques, start listening to "casual mindtalk" of others, pick out the negative programming, and observe what happens. Many people looking for magic. They dream of a quick results without putting in the work required. Those who achieve excellence know that the way to the top, and the way to stay there is through consistent work and commitment. The Mind Game is not different, and for those who do commit, the benefits are pure gold! Copyright 1999 All rights reserved. |