The Power of Mental Imagery

The Power of Mental Imagery

There is power in practicing mental imagery! Take a few moments and use your imagination to create a compelling vision for yourself. It is always a good idea to be as specific as possible, but even a general vision is a good start.

Remember as you read the following suggestions, that it is not the current state of your life that you are envisioning here. The purpose of this exercise is to allow you to envision and feel what an idealized experience of what your life could and can be, would (and will) feel like.

I realize that some people who read this may be facing dire circumstances in one or more areas of their lives, and so to picture things in an ideal state may be impossible for you at this point in time. Just do the best you can, and the more that you can let the imagery inspire you, and create within you a desire for it to be that way, and develop an abiding faith that it can be that way, the more you will benefit from the exercise.

See yourself and feel yourself happy because of how well all of the areas of your life are going. Just imagine the feeling of everything being great in your life. Picture yourself at peace because of the wonderful life you are experiencing.

Think and picture all of the ways you work to make your life better, and how new ideas flow into your mind for you to make it even better.

Imagine yourself inspired by life and by God (if that is part of your beliefs). Picture yourself as a person of great faith, who believes in yourself and your God given gifts and talents. Feel and see yourself in moments of complete peace and bliss, soaking in the Divine love and joy of the grace that pours into you, as you meditate on the love of God surrounding you and holding you, and gently filling you. As you picture this, feel and know that you have great mental abilities such as the imagination which you are using now to motivate yourself to take action to make things happen in your life, and draw the people and circumstances to you that allow for great success in everything you do.

Imagine yourself in great physical condition and vibrant health. Feel yourself becoming even more motivated to do the things that bring that into fuller realization. Picture yourself making better choices in the foods that you eat, enjoying the wonderful flavor and variety, and see yourself energetically exercising and feeling great doing it.

See yourself interacting positively and lovingly with the ones in your life who you love so dearly (if you do not have that in your life right now, picture it being so). Imagine having friendly, positive interactions with all who you meet and interact with on a daily basis.

Imagine yourself joyously participating in work that you love. See and feel how it feels to be making a positive difference in the lives of others by doing the work that you do. Imagine the feeling of the security that comes with having an abundance of material wealth that allows you to live comfortably and have the things that allow you to enjoy your life; and feel how good it feels to be able to share that abundance with others.

Picture yourself living in a community and world where people get along and care for one another (this may be your biggest stretch, but just imagine what that would feel like). Imagine yourself as a person who contribute to this better community and world through the thoughts that you think, the things that you say, and the things that you do. Imagine this beautiful earth in all its glory, and picture yourself out in the glory of nature soaking in the beauty and the peace; and feeling good because you do things that help to protect it and sustain it for generations to come.

The more you can create a feeling of desire for your vision to become a reality, and feel a faith within yourself that it can be so, the more power you will add to your imagery.

Take a few moments every day to imagine things like the above suggestions. Throughout the day, allow a generalized image to remain at the back of your mind of you experiencing a good life, and doing the things that make that happen.

Posted on January 14, 2012 by Scott Beardsley 

Mental Imagery

Mental Imagery

Mental imagery involves the athlete imagining themselves in an environment performing a specific activity using all of their senses (sight, hear, feel and smell). The images should have the athlete performing successfully and feeling satisfied with their performance.  

What can mental imagery be used for?

Mental Imagery can be used to:

·         Familiarise the athlete with a competition site, a race course, a complex play pattern or routine etc.

·         Motivate the athlete by recalling images of their goals for that session, or of success in a past competition or beating a competitor in competition

·        

Perfect skills or skill sequences the athlete is learning or refining

·         Reduce negative thoughts by focusing on positive outcomes

·         Refocus the athlete when the need arises e.g. if performance is feeling sluggish, imagery of a previous best performance or previous best event focus can help get things back on track

·         See success where the athlete sees themselves performing skills correctly and the desired outcomes

·         Set the stage for performance with a complete mental run through of the key elements of their performance to set the athlete's desired pre-competition feelings and focus.

Mental imagery should not focus on the outcome but on the actions to achieve the desired outcome.

How do I apply mental imagery?

Golfer Jack Nicklaus used mental imagery for every shot. In describing how he imagines his performance, he wrote:

"I never hit a shot even in practice without having a sharp in-focus picture of it in my head. It's like a colour movie. First, I "see" the ball where I want it to finish, nice and white and sitting up high on the bright green grass. Then the scene quickly changes, and I "see" the ball going there: its path, trajectory, and shape, even its behaviour on landing. Then there's a sort of fade-out, and the next scene shows me making the kind of swing that will turn the previous images into reality and only at the end of this short private Hollywood spectacular do I select a club and step up to the ball."

When should mental imagery be used?

To become proficient in the use of imagery you have to use it ever day: on your way to training, during training and after training. In every training session, before you execute any skill or combination of skills, first do it in imagery. See, feel, and experience yourself moving through the actions in your mind, as you would like them actually to unfold. In the competition situation use imagery before the start of the event and see your self performing successfully/winning.

How can I stay focused?

You have probably seen an athlete become angry at their performance. The situation here is that the athlete is focusing on the mistake (negative attitude), something that cannot be changed, and not on how to improve their performance (positive attitude).

In sports psychology "pattern breaking" routines are used to help prevent the athlete falling into this negative attitude. A "pattern breaker" can be a word or phrase used by the coach in training or competition to move the athlete from a negative attitude to a positive one. Many athletes have a role model who they try to emulate. Providing the role model is suitable then their name could become the "pattern breaker" phrase for the coach to use when the athlete takes on a negative attitude to a task. On hearing their role model's name the athlete will shift their focus to how their role model would react and assume a positive attitude to the task. Overtime the athlete will begin to recognise when they are focusing on negative thoughts and use the "pattern breaking" word or phrase (repeating it in their head) to get themselves to switch off the negative thoughts and get back into a positive attitude.

What are the benefits?

Mental Imagery itself can be useful in a number of circumstances including:

·         developing self confidence,    developing pre-competition and competition strategies which teach athletes to cope with new situations before they actually encounter them

·         helping the athlete to focus his/her attention or concentrate on a particular skill he/she is trying to learn or develop   the competition situation

When combined with relaxation it is useful in:

·         the promotion of rest, recovery and recuperation

·         the removal of stress related reactions e.g. muscular tension

·         establishing a physical and mental state which has an increased receptivity to positive mental imagery

·         establishing an appropriate level of physical and mental arousal prior to competition

The "Quick Set" routine

Psychologist Jeff Simons developed a routine that would allow an athlete to achieve an appropriate mental arousal in the last 30 seconds before a competition. The "Quick Set" routine, which involves physical, emotional and focus cues, can also be used as a means of refocusing quickly following a distraction.

An example of this "Quick set" routine for a sprinter could be:

·         Close your eyes, clear your mind and maintain deep rhythmical breathing, in through your nose and out through your mouth (physical cue)

·         Imagine a previous race win, see yourself crossing the line in first place and recreate those emotional feelings of success (emotional cue)

·         Return your focus to the sprint start, think of blasting off on the 'B' of the bang with the appropriate limb action (focus cue)

"You only achieve what you believe"

I use this quotation when I hear an athlete make a negative statement about their ability and to focus their attention when assisting them to develop mental imagery skills.

The way forward

The benefits of mental imagery have been outlined and I have found that when an athlete is in a fully relaxed state, they are particularly receptive to mental imagery. The next stage is the creation of scripts to help in developing and apply mental imagery skills.

Page Reference

The reference for this page is:

·         MACKENZIE, B. (2002) Mental Imagery [WWW] Available from: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/mental.htm [Accessed 14/8/2013]

Additional Sources of Information

For further information on this topic see the following:

·         BEASHEL, P. & TAYLOR, J. (1996) Advanced Studies in Physical Education and Sport. UK: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.

·         DAVIS, B. et al. (2000) Physical Education and the Study of Sport. UK: Harcourt Publishers Ltd.

·         McARDLE, W. et al. (2000) Essentials of Exercise Physiology. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins

·         BEASHEL, P. & TAYLOR, J. (1997) The World of Sport Examined. UK: Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd.

·         GALLIGAN, F. et al. (2000) Advanced PE for Edexcel. Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers

·         BIZLEY, K. (1994) Examining Physical Education. Oxford; Heinemann Educational Publishers

·         VILE, A. & BIGGS, J. (2004) Grace Under Pressure. UK; Lulu Press

·         ORLICK, T. (1986) Psyching for Sport. USA; Human Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

·         HALE, B. (1998) Imagery Training. UK; The National Coach Foundation