Training your brain to win: NLP and Hypnotherapy for sports performance

Results in sport depend crucially on your ability to use your mind effectively.

When Jess Ennis won Olympic gold in 2012, it was the culmination of a dream that began when she was 8 years old. A huge goal for a little girl but one that kept her motivated for 18 years. It's a visualisation that enabled her to stay motivated, sharpen her concentration and build her confidence through the years of hard training, through the the ups and downs on route to something truly inspiring. In NLP terms it's what we call “chunking up”. So “Dare to dream”. You may never be an Olympic athlete, but you may want to do a marathon or perhaps get off the couch and do your local park run. Whatever you want to do, every dream starts with a vision. Do you have a dream?

My dream is to compete at the Hawaii Ironman. It's possible I've done Ironman races, so I know the distance is doable, but I have to qualify for Hawaii and that means taking my training to a whole new level. NLP is helping me to focus on what's important. I was in real danger on grinding myself into the ground, churning out more and more miles. What I really need to do is use my brain a little bit more and NLP is helping me to train smarter. All things are possible if you have a dream. We have the most powerful resources at our disposal – the human mind. Accessing these inner resources and putting them to work is often the advantage successful athletes have.

NLP (non-linguistic programming) is how to use the language of the mind to achieve our specific goals and improve our results. With our physical training, coaches often say “if it's not working, change what you are doing”. Now setting a new program and putting in the work physically is simple enough, but if you don't change your mindset, you will never be 100% behind a new routine. You need to “change your mind”, you need to train your mind to win.

For some people the use of daily affirmations can help focus their mind and put them in a positive state. NLP uses visualisation techniques, re-framing and anchoring to make this more powerful. The most famous example was Mohammed Ali's “Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee!”, a phrase that he used for years before becoming world champion. He didn't call it NLP at the time but he used to visualise his fights, going through every stage, visualising what he would see, what he would hear and how he would feel. Right down to the round when he would knock out his opponent.

With NLP it is also possible to break negative states. You have probably heard of Pavlov's dogs. Pavlov was a physiologist that used to work with dogs. He used to ring a bell when he fed them. The dogs became so accustomed to hearing the bell when they were fed, that eventually they would salivate on just hearing the bell. In NLP terms this is analogous to what we call setting an anchor.

Try this..............think of a time when you were confident. It doesn't have to be connected with sport, it could be a time from any aspect of your life. Close your eyes and imagine what you saw, feel what you were feeling, hear what you were hearing. Now, amplify that feeling, turn it up. The colours should become brighter, the sounds crisper. Amplify it ten times more. When it is at a peak, set an anchor. This may be saying a word to yourself or a physical anchor such as pressing your thumb and finger together. Now clear your mind. Repeat this process five times. What you are doing is anchoring that positive state. You can use the anchor any time you need to be reminded of that positive state. In sport this could be used at the low point in a race or any time the Mind Monkeys set in.

NLP can be used to help with any aspect of training or racing. It can also help with other aspects of an athlete’s life e.g. situations causing them stress can impact on training. NLP and/or hypnotherapy can help athletes to:

improve their confidence and self belief

remove negative thoughts or beliefs

increase motivation and dedication

use deep relaxation and concentration to improve success

Maintain composure and overcome distractions.

To achieve your dreams you need to think of the big picture, leaving no stone unturned. Dare to dream! If you would like some help in achieving your dreams, give me a call on 01886 884029. I have clinics in Malvern, Worcester and Herefordshire, but have had some great success working via Skype, so I can work with you anywhere in the world.

www.dianewynnehypnotherapy.com

Skype Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy Worcester

Hypnotherapy Malvern

Hypnotherapy Herefordshire

#skypehypnotherapy #sportsperformance #nlp #hypnotherapyhereford #hypnotherapyledbury #hypnotherapymalvern #hypnotherapytenbury #hypnotherapytenburywells #hypnotherapyworcester