The Power of the Inner Mind

Hypnotherapy is used widely to improve performance in sports. Since the Russians dominated back at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, hypnosis has been a proven method in sport training. The Russian team took over 10 hypnotists to develop mental clarity and visualization. In the 1980 Olympics, 12 out of 20 Australian swimmers named, were using hypnosis tapes for two months beforehand.

 

Great athletes and the Mind Power of hypnosis

Golf is most likely the most popular sport that applies hypnosis techniques, although has been used with many other individual and team sports including football, tennis and baseball, basketball and even swimming.

Greg Louganis, of the 1988 Seoul Olympics would visualize himself doing the dive perfectly over and over before stepping on the diving board. When he tragically hit his head on the board while performing a complicated dive during the 3 meter final, he didn’t panic. While his head injury was being treated he put earphones on to listen to hypnosis tapes. Remarkably, Greg then went out to score a perfect dive the second time, enough to earn him the gold medal!

Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls used daily Self hypnosis to empower themselves to be an unbeatable team. They won 6 NBA Championships using mind power techniques to maintain their focus.

Jack Nicholas went beyond saying that golf is 90% mental. He said golf is a game that required 90% mental Preparation and 10% Skill to be the best. He was the first to describe how he visualized. Jack saw every putt going in, and every blade of grass the ball would land on before getting up to hit the shot. His preparation paved the way for his golf career to win time and time again.

 

Golf is the game that is 90% mental

Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and even Ernie Els have worked on their mind power through golf hypnosis. You’ll often hear Tiger say, “I trust my subconscious”. The reason you don’t hear many successful golfers talk about their mental training, is because they know how powerful it is! Yes, 90% of the winners on tour have worked at their golf mind power extensively. Now you can too.

I believe one of the greatest shots in golf was Tiger’s shot at the 2005 Masters he had hit over the 16^th green. It was an incredibly difficult shot that took 100% concentration and complete belief in his internal ability. Watching him take all the elements in, scoping the entire situation and executing with the precision of threading a needle, Tiger holed a shot that was heard around the world. I’m still impressed when I see it! (Watch Tiger in action to the left of this article.)

 

I’ve worked with golfers of all abilities, from the first lesson of first gripping the club and addressing the ball, to PGA Tour players of clearing their focus and finding their inner vision. Even though golf is 90% mental, most golfers only practice the physical aspect of the game. Hypnosis is an effective way to connect the mind and body so they work together and improve equally.

So if it is said that golf is 90% mental, then why do most amateur golfers only want to hit balls to improve their game? I’ll tell you why. They don’t know how to do anything else. Many golf instructors and most books don’t emphasize practicing mind power. The big picture is being lost in translation of the essence of the game.

Golf is not just about chasing a ball all over the course; it is profoundly much larger than that. Golf is life! (okay so that’s for another article) Like life, golf has many games within the game. And like life, there are ups and downs to the game. The better you manage the downs, the better you will likely score. Mind power and developing the mental game is a huge game within itself. All top athletes know this, most amateurs haven’t a clue. Here is why.

Look at the number of books published on the golf swing vs. on golf’s mental game.

If you search Amazon’s site you’ll find this:

• Golf swing - 3,827 books
• Golf’s mental game – 254 books

So it’s not your fault if you are not creating your mind power, so to speak. The resources for improving your mental golf game is out there, just not as abundant as the physical aspects of the golf swing. No more excuses, the secret is now out. For you to continue improving at golf, you must work on the mental aspect of golf, period!

Here is your starting point. You can start to work on your subconscious programming when you listen to my FREE “power nap”. I am giving it away, no strings attached. Follow this link to get you started. During your “nap” think about what it is you want to improve on. I guarantee the wheels will start to move in the direction of your thoughts! The key is to work on your golf physically and mentally in equal parts so you grow in body, mind power and spirit. Golf is a game of a lifetime. Enjoy every part of it!

 

Randy is an NSA Professional Member. She is a motivational, business golf and mind power speaker, that will leave you and your guests inspired beyond belief! Have Randy speak at your next business or golf function.

When you learn to get out of your own way, the world becomes an easier place. I believe when you go within, you won’t go without!

 

Hypnosis is a completely safe modality of therapy used frequently in sports (especially golf hypnosis) and personal development concepts. As a Motivational mind power speaker and Certified hypnotherpist, Randy knows how to help you get out of your own way. Here are some answers to questions that have arisen about gaining mind power through hypnosis.

 

1. What IS hypnosis?

Imagine a beautiful tropical beach in your mind, smell the salty ocean air, feel the warm breeze brush through your hair, see the gentle waves caress back and forth on the shore… this may be part of the induction used to bring you to a place of complete relaxation.

Hypnosis is NOT a “sleep” state even though a person in hypnosis may appear to be sleeping. Charles Tebbetts, a top teacher of hypnosis, defined hypnosis as, “There is no legal definition of hypnosis. Webster’s dictionary describes it incorrectly as an artificially induced sleep, but it is actually a natural state of mind and induced normally in everyday living much more often than it is induced artificially. Every time we become engrossed in a novel or a motion picture, we are in a natural hypnotic trance”.

As a Hypnotherapist I am more like a guide who facilitates the hypnotic process. My words guide the subject into a relaxed state of body and mind. Technically, a person experiencing hypnosis slows down their brain waves from BETA into ALPHA–and some people actually enter THETA during deep trance states. (THETA is normally the “dream” state we pass through on the way to and from DELTA–or deep sleep.) Interestingly enough, we all pass through ALPHA on the way to and from sleep, so in a sense all of us experience hypnosis at least twice daily.

Hypnosis is the heightened state of awareness where the conscious mind is bypassed, and the subconscious mind is brought into focus. When the subconscious mind is alert, positive suggestions are made for changes to take place.

Simply put, hypnosis is a deeply relaxed state of mind, where suggestions are made to effect a desired change. It can also be thought of as “guided meditation.”

 

2. Does a hypnotized person lose control?

I hear this quite often and actually, it teaches you how to gain your mind power control. Remember the last time you watched a movie and you actually felt emotion? You were literally in a hypnotic trance, although you still have the power to come out from that state if you so desired. Your mind may be guided by a movie, TV show, self-hypnosis audio program, or Hypnotherapist, but YOU still have the power to resist.

 

Some people who seem to partially give up control of their minds (like in Stage Hypnosis), is because of a misunderstanding of who has the power. One can be TRICKED into believing that they have “given up control” in some forms of stage hypnosis. Always remember, “ALL HYPNOSIS IS SELF-HYPNOSIS.” You have the control of letting your conscious mind get into a deeply relaxed state. It’s important to realize the real power is–within OUR OWN MINDS! That is what MIND POWER is all about, learning to gain control of your thoughts.

Hypnosis is like a massage for the brain!

 

3. What does hypnosis feel like?

Since hypnosis is a natural state of mind, clients are often surprised that they hear every word. You may have a feeling of calm, and light (or weightless), or very heavy as if sinking into the chair. In a really deep state, the feeling may be euphoric for some, or almost like being intoxicated without the side effects. In the first session some only go into only a light state of trance, and may believe that he or she was not hypnotized. With progressive sessions, and trust is built, students usually let go and do go to deeper levels of trance, which can be more beneficial.

Certain abilities may be enhanced during the hypnotic process itself:

§ The ability to IMAGINE

§ The ability to REMEMBER

§ CREATIVE abilities

§ Receptiveness to SUGGESTIONS

 

The last ability creates the appeal of hypnosis as well as the fear of hypnosis to others. There is nothing to fear with a trusted professional. Here lies the real advantage in hypnotherapy. It is the capacity for the subconscious mind to accept suggestions while in a relaxed trance state that makes hypnosis so effective. It’s the reason top athletes, actors and politicians make use of it.

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God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.

Have you used one to say “thank you? ~William Arthur Ward

November is the “Thank You month”. In the United States most of us say a special “thank you” once a year. Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks.

 

Brief history of the “Thank you” holiday:

The Plymouth settlers (or “Pilgrims”) set apart a holiday immediately after their first harvest in 1621. They held an autumn celebration of food, feasting, and praising God.

In 1789 Washington designated a national thanksgiving holiday for the newly ratified Constitution, specifically so that the people may thank God for “affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness” and for having “been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national One now lately instituted, for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed… “

President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a Federal holiday as a “prayerful day of Thanksgiving” on the last Thursday in November. Since then every U.S. President has always made an official Thanksgiving Proclamation on behalf of the nation.

 

Traditional Thanksgiving celebration

Growing up as a kid in the United States, I always loved Thanksgiving. It meant a time to get together with family, eat really good food, and of course, no school! Thanksgiving has always been a four day weekend which usually means schools and colleges have a break, and banks and post offices are closed. It’s a time when friends and family get together for a reunion, a day of thanks, and a festive meal.

Thanksgiving meals are usually family gatherings where certain kinds of food are served. Turkey is featured in most Thanksgiving meals (so much so that Thanksgiving is also known as “Turkey Day”).

At our house we’d have the biggest turkey mom could find (got to have left-over for sandwiches), stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, sweet potatoes casserole with apples and marshmallows, string bean casserole (my favorite), cranberry sauce, corn, pumpkin pie and apple pie. Thanksgiving guests may bring dishes of food or help with cooking as part of a happy, shared and grateful meal.

In keeping with the holiday theme of giving thanks, during the meal, people talk about what they are thankful for or tell about experiences during the past year which have caused them to feel grateful.

 

What does it all mean?

Why do most people only give thanks once a year?

Mind power awareness of gratitude, appreciation and giving “thanks” beyond Thanksgiving day is what truly works!

1. Say “Thank You” every day for the life you have

2. Acknowledge and praise the love you feel in your heart, and share it with others

3. Tell people in your life that you appreciate them, while you can

 

Thank You Business

§ Say thank you to your co-workers (especially the one’s that don’t notice you). Their reaction might surprise you.

§ Be grateful for the job you have (even if it’s not the exact one you want). Opportunities open when your heart is open.

§ Remind your self how blessed you are to love what you do. Find something pleasing about your job, or consider your options.

 

Thank you GOLF

§ Let your current shot be your best shot. Appreciate the ability you currently have to play an amazing game, and allow your gratitude to flow.

§ “I love these greens, they are perfect” vs. “I hate slow greens”. Appreciate what is presently in front of you, just be thankful.

§ Tell your partners know how much you appreciate playing with them. Your round will start and end more agreeable and fun.

 

Thank you LIFE

§ Tell your husband or wife, mother or father, sister or brother, “I love you” when they least expect it.

§ Hold open a door, tell a stranger “good day”, and thank your postman for delivering your mail.

§ Get your morning “GLO”. Wake up saying, “what a fantastic day to feel Gratitude, Love and Opportunity!”

 

Today is your day to be thankful. Every day you have a new opportunity to think, say and do something good. It starts with being thankful, grateful and appreciating your life. November is the “thank you” month. See what happens when make gratitude a daily practice! It’s a mind power with the strength to move mountains for you.

 

“In body, mind power and spirit”
Randy