Hypnotherapy to improve sporting performance
For decades sporting professionals have been using hypnotherapy to mentally prepare themselves before a major sporting event. When the difference between placing first and second can be so minuscule, having the correct mindset before, during, and after the event becomes increasingly important. Winners have realized that to repeatedly perform at their peak it’s necessary to be both physically and mentally prepared. Using hypnotherapy to improve your sporting performance can help to give you the edge over your competition, helping you to perform to the best of your capability each time you compete.
There are so many variables when it comes to sporting performance, it’s not possible to control them all. Sports hypnosis works by helping you to ‘ignore the noise’ and focus on achieving a positive mindset. It helps you to focus on the things that you have control over and ignore those that don’t.
Quickly reframe your thoughts
A lack of confidence can have a detrimental effect on any sporting performance. If this is not successfully addressed it has the potential for damaging negative thoughts to keep playing out in our minds. Our once positive self-talk can quite quickly become negative, our thoughts now working against us. When combined with methods from Neuro-Linguistic Programming sports hypnotherapy can help you to quickly calm your mind and take your mind back to a time when you felt confident and in control. By positively reframing your thoughts we help to increase levels of self-confidence which can have a beneficial effect on performance.
Get in the zone and gain the winning edge
Our brains have been evolved to be more negatively biased than positively. Throughout our evolution, we spent a lot of our time looking out for danger and as a result, we developed an unconscious threat-based stress response. In times of stress, we release hormones that increase our heart rate and breathing rate give us the best chance to fight or run from danger.
A little stress can be beneficial for sporting performance it can help you to focus, increase your alertness and have a positive effect on your cardiovascular and respiratory systems.
It’s very easy though for stress and anxiety to build up gradually over time and reach a stage where it has a negative effect on your performance. When we have high levels of stress we can only think reactionary and emotionally. Our body goes into fight/flight survival mode. The part of our brain that thinks with logic and reason is shut down. When we have high anxiety levels we are more likely to negatively react to the pressures of competition, stopping us from thinking clearly.
High levels of stress and anxiety will also stop you from entering the ‘zone’ where there is a state of fluidity between your mind and body. In this state you don’t have to think about your movement, all mental chatter is silenced and you are immersed at the moment. Your movement flows and it’s almost as if things are happening without your control. This mental state can be hugely beneficial for our sporting performance.
Visualise your way to success
When we perform a skill over and over again we build up new neural pathways in the brain. In effect, the movement becomes a habit that can easily be repeated when needed.
Numerous research papers and scientific studies have proven that your mind can’t tell the difference between imagination and reality. In essence, this means that if you visualise yourself doing a particular skill then you will build up the same neural pathways as if you’re physically practising it. With visualisation, you can practise the techniques far more often than if doing it physically as there are greater opportunities for repetition.
You can actually help to programme your subconscious mind by visualising yourselves on the podium, playing the winning shot or by sinking the winning putt. By visualising these events you help your mind to believe that they are all achievable. You can only achieve what you believe.
Remove the block and release your potential
Many performers will often have a mental block; this becomes a barrier to success as it can become a negative focus. It’s a self-limiting belief. When you face this opponent or situation again you will have already have negatively forecast the future. These mental blocks lie within the subconscious mind in parts of your brain, that you are not able to access just by telling yourselves ‘forget about it, ‘move on’ or ‘put it out of your mind’.
Mental blocks can safely be removed by using a Neuro-Linguistic Programming technique. Together we are able to remove your negative experience and replace it with a positive one that details how you would want to think and act in the future. The fear of repeated failure can be totally removed, allowing you to now forecast the future with positivity.
How Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can help to improve your performance
Solution Focused Hypnotherapy can be used to quickly bring about positive change. It is based on neuroscience and utilises your brain’s natural ability to reduce anxiety. By lowering anxiety levels, you will be in a better position to ‘keep your head’ when faced with increased pressure while competing and less likely to react to intense pressure with negative emotion. You will also increase your chances of entering the flow state, where you are ‘in the zone where your mind and body are completely immersed in your performance.
When combined with techniques from Neuro-Linguistic Programming, hypnotherapy can be used to both increase your confidence and remove damaging mental blocks. I am able to help you reframe your thoughts helping you to develop a positive winning mindset, increasing your chances of sporting success.
How can I find out more about using hypnotherapy to improve my sporting performance?
If you would like to find out more about how I can use hypnotherapy online to help you improve your sporting performance, then please get in touch using this email link. I look forward to helping you to perform at your best.
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