If it's good enough for Olympians?

It’s free, it feels good, ALL the Olympians are doing it…why aren’t you?
 
What’s holding you back? I mean, studies even show that it’s good for you!
 
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
 
Yes! Mental rehearsal, mental imagery, visualisation, guided meditation, hypnosis…it goes by many names. These are all terms to describe the process of vividly imagining an event and feeling the associated emotions, in advance of the act.
 
Your brilliant subconscious mind doesn’t know the difference between what is real and what is vividly imagined. When we imagine ourselves taking action, whether it’s running a race or giving a speech; we’re adding to our experience and priming ourselves for success.
 
Professional athletes know that their ‘mental game’ is pivotal and utilise their imaginations to break down each step of their performance and see and feel themselves executing every part with precision. Some spend hours doing this daily, on top of their physical preparations.
 
Dr. Joe Dispenza, in ‘The Placebo Effect,’ explains that when we mentally rehearse an action our thoughts stimulate that region of the brain and through repetition, we’re able to create physical changes to the brain. Further, he cites a Harvard study in which subjects who’d never played the piano previously were given a simple five finger exercise to visualise for two hours a day, over a five- day period. Astonishingly, they showed the same brain changes as the subjects who had actually practised on a piano!
 
Too often, we spend our time imagining the worst -case scenario, stimulating a release of stress hormones and strengthening suboptimal neural pathways. We create habits of thought, habits of feeling and habits of action that don’t serve us. Over time, these become our default way of showing up in the world, especially in response to life’s challenges.  
 
Given the right approach, these unhelpful subconscious programs that keep us stuck in loops of overthinking can be changed…often in a very short space of time. Awareness is the first step in learning to think like a winner.
 
If you’d like to uplevel your ‘mental game,’ reach out to schedule a free consultation.