 |
Home
About Dr. JoAnn
Free Newsletter
Free Articles
Book & Audio Programs
Personal Coaching
• For sports
• For Business
Health,
and Life
Nutrition Tips
Stress Management
Speaking / Training
TeleSeminars
Press Room
TV-Video Clips
Olympian Interviews
Top 10 Training Tips
Special Reports
Self-Assessment
Success Stories
Resources and Links
FAQ's
Contact Us
|
Your Performing Edge
JoAnn Dahlkoetter, Ph.D.
The Virtual Workout: Using Positive Imagery
(Excerpt from the book, Your Performing Edge)
Close your eyes, open your mind, and imagine
One powerful resource for channeling your performance energies more
efficiently is through the use of visualization or mental imagery.
In the recent Olympics in Sydney we heard from a wide range of elite
athletes who successfully used visualization in their training to
improve performance. Regardless of your ability level, practicing
mental imagery can make all the difference in how you experience your
workouts and races.
Imagery Defined
Images are the mental representations of our experience. While verbal
language is our most common means for communicating with the external
world, images are a powerful means for internal communication. Using
imagery or visualization you can create, in vivid detail, a replay
of one of your best performances in the past, or you can mentally
rehearse an upcoming event, and you can learn to see yourself doing
it right. Imagery guides much of an athlete’s experience because
it is a more efficient, complete language than self-talk. Try to describe
to someone how to execute the perfect running style, in detail, using
words; you could write a book. Now show the same running form through
a video replay of a top Kenyan doing hill training. You convey the
exact message you want in a few seconds.
Incorporate Imagery Into Your Training
Most of us daydream and re-experience situations in our minds in a
haphazard way. The fact that we can remember previous experiences
in detailed fashion is why visualization works so well for athletes.
Most good athletes have discovered this technique on their own and
may use it occasionally to improve learning and performance. For maximum
results, you need to control your imagery, and practice it on a regular
basis rather than just letting thoughts pass in and out. Through your
imagery you can re-create the past in great detail, and transform
it to fit any situation you may encounter.
Imagery is not wishful thinking, or daydreaming about the great athlete
you would like to be. It is a learned skill that requires effort,
concentration, discipline, and regular practice to gain the maximum
benefits. Here are the key principles for doing effective mental imagery:
Do’s and Don’ts for Effective Imagery
1) Do use imagery most any time, at home, or before, during, or after
training and racing. In the learning phases imagery is easier to do
in a quiet, non-distracting environment. Imagery is most effective
when the mind is calm and the body is relaxed.
2) Don’t begin your session without a few minutes of deep abdominal
breathing. Put one hand on your stomach about two inches below the
belly button, and feel your hand rise and fall with each breath. Imagine
that with each inhale you are filling up a balloon inside the stomach;
as you exhale, the balloon collapses back down.
3) Create an image in your mind as vividly as possible of what you
want to achieve in your sport. Just let distracting thoughts and feelings
float away as you refocus on your image.
4) Bring in all five of your senses so you can see, hear, and feel
what it’s like to have a great training run or race. Sight, hearing,
and touch are the most powerful senses for incorporating day-today
imagery into your training. Bring the scene into the present tense
so you are totally focused on the task at hand.
5) Don’t replay the mistakes. You want to remove the memory of
errors. If you see yourself doing something incorrectly, edit the
film in your mind and replay it exactly as you wish it to happen.
Imagine that you’re performance is equal to or better than your
previous best.
6) Mentally rehearse your training at the same rhythm and pace that
you want in actual execution to establish the appropriate neurological
pattern within the brain.
7) Use visual models. Before going to sleep at night try watching
a video of a superior performance (e.g. get out your recordings from
the last Olympics). Then visualize yourself moving just as fluidly
and powerfully as perhaps Haile Gabrelsalasse or Tecla Laroupe.
Now we’ll use these principles in an imagery session designed
to help you be more adaptable and resilient as an athlete.
Visualization for Receptivity: Reflection on the Lake
Find a quiet place, close your eyes and begin to breathe deeply. Picture
in your mind a calm mountain lake, a serene body of water held in
a receptive basin by the earth itself. The lake you see may be deep
or shallow, small or large. Note in your mind’s eye that the
lake seeks its own level; it asks to be enclosed and held. Sunlight
sparkles in the lake’s ripples and dances on the waves.
Notice that when the lake is calm it reflects clouds, trees, and rocks;
it mirrors everything in itself temporarily. As the wind stirs up
waves on the lake, the reflections disappear. When the sun sets, the
moon appears to dance on the lake along with the outline of trees
and mountain shadows.
Now, let yourself become part of this quiet mountain lake. Allow your
energies to be held by your awareness, in the same way as the lake
waters are held by the accepting hands of the earth. As a tiny wave
rolls up on the shore, take a deep breath in. As the wave moves back
out, exhale fully. Allow the pattern of the waves to match the rhythm
of your heart.
Allow your mind, body, and spirit to be open and receptive to whatever
comes near. Feel the absolute stillness when both the reflection and
the water are clear. Notice the difference when the surface is disturbed
and choppy. Reflections can drift away for minutes or even hours.
As you continue to breathe deeply and meditate, enjoy the play of
different energies of your mind and body. Experience the momentary
thoughts, images, and feelings, which come and go just like the ripples
and waves of the lake. Notice what effect or value they might have
on your state of mind.
Examine the range of energies moving on the lake—the reflections
of shadows and light, the wind and waves, the colors of the sun and
moon. Do your feelings and thoughts disturb the surface of your mind?
How do they affect you? How does disappointment or losing an event
cause a rippling of your spirit? Can you see a choppy, uneven surface
as a crucial, fundamental part of being a lake?
Let your awareness now take you beneath the lake’s surface. You
can become the stillness below the surface as well. Notice that now
you feel only a gentle rocking, even when the top of the lake encounters
a powerful storm. Likewise, can you appreciate not only the substance
of your thoughts and ideas, but also the enormous pool of awareness
below the surface of the mind?
Now as you look in the mirror of the lake, view your own reflection.
Make it your intention to acknowledge all of the qualities of the
body, mind, and spirit, accepting both the wins and the losses of
life, just as the lake is supported and contained by the earth, reflecting
the sun, moon, stars, birds, and trees. The lake is content to accept
the passing of the seasons, which bring out its vitality. Nature continually
offers repair and preservation. You can become one with the lake,
being reflective, maintaining total awareness and attention, and having
the courage to be with what is.
JoAnn Dahlkoetter, Ph.D., author of YOUR PERFORMING EDGE, is an internationally
recognized sports psychologist, past winner of the San Francisco Marathon
and 2nd in Hawaii Ironman Triathlon. For your FREE NEWSLETTER with
valuable TRAINING TIPS and helpful articles, or for your AUTOGRAPHED
BOOK, click YOUR PERFORMING
EDGE: www.YourPerformingEdge.com.
Dr. Dahlkoetter provides coaching by phone for optimal mind-body performance.
For information, Email info@sports-psych.com,
or call 650-654-5500.
|
|
|
Thank
you for visiting, Please bookmark this page and come back soon. 