For cheerleaders who get stage fright, hypnosis can be very helpful.  In my last post, I wrote about how to phrase your suggestions to use during your trance. (more…)

There are many reasons why you might want to use hypnosis. Some cheerleaders want to improve a specific skill while others may want to overcome a mental block or control excessive stage fright.  Let’s use the example of stage fright to illustrate how you would create your suggestions. (more…)

So far you’ve learned how to do a hypnotic induction and how to deepen your trance.  The deepening technique I suggested was the stairway technique in which you go deeper and deeper into a trance with each step you take downwards.  (more…)

It may seem odd to you that you can hypnotize yourself especially if you have seen people being hypnotized.  If you are a cheerleader who wants to improve your performance, it is possible to do it yourself as I have mentioned in previous posts.  (more…)

Once you have created your practice schedule for your hypnosis practice sessions, the next step is to figure out your goals for using hypnosis.  As a cheerleader, what do you want to change about your performance?  Be specific.  You can realistically work on one or two goals for each session. (more…)

Many athletes use hypnosis to improve their performance so why not cheerleaders?  Remember, a hypnotic state is a naturally occurring state – one we all have experienced whenever we are completely absorbed in some activity or thought process.  So, why not harness the power of what you already do and use it to work on your cheerleading performance?  (more…)

If you’ve seen a nightclub or stage hypnotist, you might think that a hypnotist can take control of your mind and make you do things that you would rather forget!    Well, that is not true.  You cannot be hypnotized unless you want to and you can’t be made to do anything that is normally objectionable to you. 

You night think that if you are hypnotized, you might reveal something that you would rather not.  This is also not true! (more…)

This site is filled with articles about the mental game of cheerleading.  As a mental game coach, I know that you can improve your performance through mental training techniques such as identifying and changing negative thinking; setting appropriate goals; arousal control; focusing and calming strategies; and imagery and visualization.  It makes sense that I would also advocate another mental approach and that is hypnosis.  (more…)

When a cheerleader experiences anxiety in relation to executing a specific skill, there is a tendency to avoid it.  This is pretty natural – we all tend to want to avoid something that makes us uncomfortable.  The problem with this is that it works – meaning that each time we avoid something, our anxiety diminishes and thus we reinforce that avoidance behavior.  (more…)

At a recent cheerleading coaches event, I posed the following question: What percentage of athletic success do you think can be attributed to physical/technical attributes and how much to mental/emotional factors?  (more…)