Sports hypnosis, as the name suggests, is simply hypnotism directed towards improving sports performance. It’s used by all levels of sportspeople, from amateurs to top level professionals, and it’s successfully used to get better results in just about every type of sport. But how does hypnosis, which is concerned with the mind, help with sport, which is all about the body?
The idea of mental factors being just as important as physical factors in sport is nothing new, and is probably as old as sport itself. In the 20th century, this idea was developed by the new science of psychology. The term “sports psychology” has been in use since at least the 1920s, and the Soviet Olympic squads of the 1950s famously employed teams of psychological coaches. Sports psychology began to be taught at universities, and it gradually became big business, as major league teams and players added sports psychologists to their staff. Sports hypnosis is part of this movement, and can be seen as a practical sports psychology tool.
The Concept of Mental Rehearsal or Visualization
Certain hypnotic principles make hypnosis particularly suited to sports improvement. First of all there is the concept of mental rehearsal or visualization. Any form of mental visualization is hypnotic, since it involves using the imagination to rehearse the future. This is something that we all do all of the time quite naturally; from imagining what we’re going to have for lunch to planning what we’re going to say at a forthcoming job interview.
Hypnosis provides a structure for this natural capacity, and sports hypnosis directs it towards improvements in a player’s game.
A tennis player, for example, might use sports hypnosis to vividly imagine returning their opponent’s serve. A golfer might hypnotically experience the perfect swing. Soccer players might use sports hypnosis to mentally rehearse taking penalties, or saving penalties if they’re the goalkeeper.
In all cases, mental rehearsal works in the same way. The mind cannot tell the difference between real and imagined events. The same neural pathways, muscles reactions and body chemistry are activated whether you imagine returning an opponent’s serve, or when you actually do so on the tennis court. Hypnotic mental rehearsal, then, is a way of getting in extra practice, with the added advantage that you can consistently rehearse success in your own imagination, which is not necessarily the case in real life practice.
Creating Positive Expectation
The second sports hypnosis principle, which follows on from mental rehearsal, is creating positive expectation. Expectation is a powerful force in human motivation and behavior. We’re all seeking to fulfill our expectations, good and bad, all of the time. For example, if you go into a meeting expecting it to be boring, it’s highly likely to be tedious beyond belief. If you go into the same meeting expecting to hear information that will be useful to you, you’ll probably find it more interesting. Expectation is like a picture frame that we’re constantly trying to fill with the right picture.
This has a significant physical effect, too. If you’ve ever been getting ready for a night out, only for it to be cancelled at the last minute, you’ll know just how physically uncomfortable and irritating it can feel. Expectation releases dopamine, the motivating hormone, and fulfilling that expectation releases serotonin, the satisfaction hormone. In sports terms, dopamine gets you running from midfield towards goal, and serotonin is the feeling you get when you score.
Sports hypnosis, then, is all about creating the right sort of expectation and channeling all of that dopamine in the right direction. For example, a sports player might use hypnosis to build expectation of doing well in a forthcoming tournament. The release of dopamine creates a mental and physical urge to seek satisfaction and completion, making them far more likely to live up to their own expectation and do well in the tournament.
The third sports hypnosis principle addresses the downside of the first two. It is, of course, quite possible to mentally rehearse failure and to build negative expectations! This might come about as the result of a bad experience, or it might be something that’s become established over time. This can become a vicious circle. Players perform badly because they expect to perform badly, which just reinforces their expectation of bad performance. Hypnosis is an effective way of breaking this vicious circle, because it deals directly with the part of the mind that keeps the unhelpful habit in place.
The Principle of the Mind-Body Connection
Finally, sports hypnosis works on the principle of the mind-body connection. Although Western science and thought has tended to treat the mind and body as two separate entities, advances in neuroscience and neuropsychology have shown that the two are inextricably linked. Mind and body are in constant communication, with a flow of neurotransmitters from the brain to the cells of the body and back again. The mind tells the body how to behave, but the body can tell the mind how to think and feel too.
This has profound implications for sports performance, of course, as hypnosis can be used to encourage the right sort of messages to be transmitted from the mind to the body – a more relaxed stance when taking a golf swing, for example, or an extra degree of determination that helps you overcome physical resistance in an athletics event.
The main theme of these sports hypnosis principles is that they all work with the unconscious mind. This is why hypnosis is so well suited to sport, which is all about unconscious, instinctive reactions. Indeed, it could be argued that sport itself is a hypnotic activity, since it fixes the players’ attention and lets the unconscious mind take control at least when it’s being played well. By improving the quality of unconscious responses, hypnosis provides sports players with an invaluable “secret weapon” that can dramatically improve performance.
SportsHypnosis.org
Many people have a fear of flying. While it is unclear whether this issue is truly a phobia or simply a reaction to certain events, it can be paralyzing and limiting to the person suffering from it. This article will outline methods to overcome a fear of flying.
Adjust the Mindset
Those who have a fear of flying most likely suffer from generalized anxiety that allows imagined scenarios to become bigger than reality. From a physical standpoint, anxiety increases the body’s production of oxytocin, which floods the amygdala of the brain and produces reactions of phobia and panic. To change this process, a person must learn to think of flying as a non-threatening situation.
Reduce Anxiety
There are a number of effective coping strategies that can be used to make flying less stressful. The Anxiety and Depression Association of America recommends taking the following steps on the day of a flight.
Stay focused on the destination. Anxiety is reduced when a person thinks of friends or loved ones waiting for them at the end point.
Meditate or practice yoga before boarding the plane. This provides an opportunity to replace negativity and fear with positive and calming thought patterns.
Avoid caffeine and alcohol. These beverages make anxiety worse. It is best to drink plenty of water and maintain healthy hydration.
Have a sense of humor and be willing to give up control. There is very little in life that is completely under human control, and flying is one of those things. Talking and joking with the flight crew will keep things in perspective.
In the long term, a person who fears flying can address their anxiety by identifying triggers, getting educated about aviation safety and joining groups of other nervous flyers in order to not feel alone. Those who are dealing with PTSD or other more serious psychiatric issues will benefit from talking to a mental health professional who can help them overcome their fear.
Take a Flying Course
Both European and American airports offer courses to assist people in overcoming a fear of flying. Run by airline staff and cabin crews, the courses help people understand how flying works, explain misconceptions and introduce relaxation techniques to deal with turbulence and other in-flight situations.
No one has to be grounded because of a fear of flying. Education and therapy can help to alleviate anxiety and open the door to travel and fun.
By: Miami Helicopter
Meditation is not a mysterious other worldly experience only achieved by Tibetan monks, but rather a simple technique enabling us to visit the same peaceful state of mind we all naturally slide in and out of every day.
Think of meditation as a daydream-on-demand.
A daydream moment is when the subconscious stretches its legs, becoming a bit more active. Common everyday examples would be when we become engrossed in a good movie or zoning out during a long drive.
Meditation reduces stress, improves sleep quality and overall health, slows aging process, balances emotions, enhances our mood and makes us happier. My clients learn that hypnosis is goal-oriented meditation. Once guided into meditation they receive suggestions supporting positive change.
5 Steps to meditation:
- Sit comfortably in a quiet location
- Eyes closed take 6 deep breaths and focus on chest expanding and relaxing
- Then breathe normally and imagine inhaling relaxation for 6 more breaths
- For the next 6 breaths imagine the inhaled relaxation starts to accumulate
- Now with 6 exhaled breaths imagine releasing all stress, worry or concern
Once you have established this peaceful moment you can calmly plan out your day, work out challenging situations or simply enjoy the moment. People who routinely meditate are consistently more relaxed, grounded and less affected by the pace of day-to-day life.
By: Paul Gustafson RN CH
In a research study done with 60 college student volunteers (Spring of 2004 at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona), using hypnosis with ego-enhancement suggestions showed “significantly dramatic effects” in brain-wave patterns, subjective sense of self-confidence, and test scores.
In an ongoing pilot study being done by University of Florida counseling psychologist Paul Schauble, preliminary results show hypnotized patients with hypertension are more easily able to make lifestyle improvements that can lower blood pressure.
Faymonville ME. Mambourg PH. Joris J. Vrijens B. Fissette J. Albert A. Lamy M. Psychological approaches during conscious sedation. Hypnosis versus stress reducing strategies. 1997; 73(3): 361-7. This study suggests that hypnosis provides better perioperative pain and anxiety relief, allows for significant reductions in alfentanil and midazolam requirements, and improves patient satisfaction and surgical conditions as compared with conventional stress reducing strategies support in patients receiving conscious sedation for plastic surgery.
Stanton HE Overcoming fear of public speaking with the diagnostic trance Australian Journal of Clinical & Experimental Hypnosis 1991 May; 19(1): 41-7. Subjects in both the experimental group of the 1st stage and the control group of the 2nd stage were able to reduce their fear of public speaking level significantly through use of the diagnostic trance procedure. Three months later, this improvement had been maintained.
Stanton HE Self-hypnosis: one path to reduced test anxiety Contemporary Hypnosis 1994; 11(1): 14-8. Results indicate a significant reduction of TASC scores in the experimental group, maintained over a 6-mo period, which was not matched by the control group.
Hammarstrand G. Berggren U. Hakeberg M. Psychophysiological therapy vs. hypnotherapy in the treatment of patients with dental phobia. European Journal of Oral Sciences 1995; 103(6): 399-404. The PP group reported a statistically significant decrease in dental fear as well as a rise in mood during dental situations, as opposed to the HT group. Treatments, became less fearful of dental care and were able to manage conventional dental care, including changing dentist.
Taylor DN. Effects of a behavioral stress-management program on anxiety, mood, self-esteem, and T-cell count in HIV positive men. Analysis showed that compared with the no-treatment group, the treatment group showed significant improvement on all the dependent measures, which was maintained at a 1-mo. follow-up. Since stress is known to compromise the immune system, these results suggest that stress management to reduce arousal of the nervous system and anxiety would be an appropriate component of a treatment regimen for HIV infection. Psychological Reports. 1995; 76(2): 451-7.
90.6% Success Rate Using Hypnosis Of 43 consecutive patients undergoing this treatment protocol, 39 reported remaining abstinent at follow-up (6 months to 3 years post-treatment). This represents a 90.6% success rate using hypnosis. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2001 Jul;49(3):257-66. Barber J.
95% Success Rate Using Hypnosis with NLP A comparison of hypnosis to quit smoking and hypnosis combined with NLP reported a 95% success rate using hypnosis combined with NLP and 51% using hypnosis alone. Smoke Free International http://www.smokefreeinternational.com/report.php
90% Success Rate with Hypnosis Authors report a success rate in smoking abstinence of over 90% with hypnosis. MMW Fortschr Med. 2004 May 13;146(20):16.
87% Reported Abstinence Using Hypnosis A field study of 93 male and 93 female CMHC outpatients examined the facilitation of smoking cessation by using hypnosis. At 3-mo. follow-up, 86% of men and 87% of women reported continued abstinence using hypnosis. Psychol Rep. 1994 Oct;75(2):851-7. PMID: 7862796
81% Reported They Had Stopped Smoking Thirty smokers enrolled in an HMO were referred by their primary physician for treatment. Twenty-one patients returned after an initial consultation and received hypnosis for smoking cessation. At the end of treatment, 81% of those patients reported that they had stopped smoking, and 48% reported abstinence at 12 months post-treatment. Int J Clin Exp Hypn. 2004 Jan;52(1):73-81.
Hypnosis Patients Twice As Likely To Quit Study of 71 smokers showed that after a two-year follow up, patients that quit with hypnosis were twice as likely to still be smoke-free than those who quit on their own. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 2005; 37:3, pages 245-250.
