Ehance your mental game with hypnosis
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.
The beauty of hypnosis is that it enhances the impact of all of the sport psychology techniques. Focus is deeper and more profound; imagery is more vivid, etc.
Hypnosis is used to good effect for many situations. I have used hypnosis with 2 friends who were going through chemotherapy for breast cancer treatment.. The hypnosis helped to reduce the fatigue and nausea associated with the chemo. I have also used hypnosis to treat clients with a whole range of challenges – from anxiety to chronic pain.
Other uses for hypnosis include: insomnia, pregnancy “morning sickness,” child birth, asthma, quitting smoking, weight loss management, anxiety, phobias of all kinds, pain management, anesthesia, learning new skills, and much more.
Hypnosis is a way for you to harness the power of your own mind. As I’ve said many times, the body does what the brain thinks…change how the brain thinks and processes information and you will be able to change your performance. Remember, hypnosis is simply a state of concentration and focused attention.
A way to think about hypnosis is to think about what happens when you use a magnifying glass in the sunlight. When you hold a magnifying glass in front of a piece of paper and allow the sun’s rays to shine through it, the sun’s rays become more powerful. When they are concentrated, they can burn a hole through the paper or even start a fire!
Similarly, when you are able to focus your attention, you can use your mind in a more powerful way.
Unfortunately, many of us use spontaneous trance states in a negative manner! An example of this would be if you have a competition coming up and you continually see yourself making a mistake, causing yourself to feel anxious. Whenever you are preoccupied and internally focused, it is a type of trance state. Can you see how this might program you to perform in a particular way?
Wise athletes use all of the strategies offered by sport psychologists including hypnosis. Stay tuned for more!
Tags: Cheerleading, Hypnosis, mental game
September 2nd, 2010 at 4:22 pm
I’d like to share my experience with hypnosis. Through a therapist, I went through a series of hypnosis sessions to alleviate anxiety. During these experiences, I was completely aware of what was going on and wholly relaxed and at peace. It helped me a great deal. I came to believe what I knew (but knowing and believing are two different things)… that if my mind could create the anxiety, it certainly was capable of taking it away!
September 3rd, 2010 at 2:51 pm
Thanks Julie – well said! When I went to my first hypnosis training session I was highly skeptical but that disappeared quickly when I experienced first-hand what you described. I was able to see how quickly hypnosis can help people with a variey of challenges.