running free n 23
PERFORMANCE
regularly.This will allow you to dramatically
extend the time you spend in hypnosis and
help you to enter a deeper level of trance.'
To use hypnosis to improve your
performance (or help you head outdoors
when it's cold and raining outside) you
need to follow the steps below to take you
into a trance. Once you're there, you can
employ the techniques suggested by some
of the world's leading sports
hypnotherapists to help you run better,
faster and further.
Manage Your Moods
If you feel there's a reason that you're not
training as regularly as you'd like you need
to ask yourself why this is the case, says
clinical hypnotist Barry Thain (www.
mindsci-clinic.com).`Your instinctive
answer comes from your unconscious mind
and you can use it to formulate suggestions
to give yourself during self-hypnosis. So,
for example, if you believe you'll get bored
while going out on long training runs, tell
yourself what you want to believe
instead, such as:``I'm always
enthusiastic when I'm training
and every day, in every way, I
run a little better.'' In
hypnosis your reality is what
you say it is, so in this way
you can rewire your brain to
become more positive.' As
clinical hypnotherapist Dave
Mackinnon (www.bsch.org.uk)
puts it,`In the end your mind will
accept what you're saying to be true and
your body will follow suit.'
"skull Practise"
In order for you to be able to run a mile (or
a marathon) you first have to believe you
can do it.`I always tell my patients the story
of how Roger Bannister broke the four-
minute-mile barrier,' says Mackinnon.`The
most interesting thing about his
achievement was that although athletes had
been trying to run a sub-four-minute-mile
for years previously, within just six weeks
his record had been broken � and by 2004,
at least 2,000 other runners had done a
sub-four-minute mile, too!" Bannister had
shown the other athletes what was possible,
it wasn't until they'd seen him do it that they
really came to believe it was possible.
Once they believed it, they could do it.
Part of Bannister's training involved
visualising each lap and what time he
needed to do it in over and over again.'This
visualisation, or `skull practise' as clinical
hypnotherapist Paul Hide (www.
hypnotherapyeastsussex.co.uk) calls it, is a
key self-hypnosis technique.`If you practise
doing well in your head, when you finally
end up in the situation part of your brain
believes you've done it before and so
you're able to relax more during the actual
race,' he says.When using visualisation
during a trance,`see yourself running well
in a training run, crossing that finish line,
beating your rival,' says Eastburn.`All the
Olympic athletes I work with have
visualised standing on that podium and
being awarded a gold medal millions of
times before. Imagining positive outcomes
ingrains them in your unconscious mind
and makes them more
likely to become a reality.'
Performance coach Jon
Ford (www.
fordsportspsychology.co.uk)
agrees that visualisation is
crucial.`During self-hypnosis,
imagine yourself before,
during and after a run or race
you've really enjoyed. Go
through all the training you've
done beforehand, see yourself
running well and enjoying the race and
celebrating afterwards.' Use all your senses
when doing this: see what you saw, hear the
sounds of the crowd and your footfall or
breathing, recapture those feelings of
success and confidence.
flow and go
The holy grail in running is to experience
`being in the zone' � when you're really
wrapped up in what you're doing and
running feels effortless.This is a state that
psychology Professor Mihaly
Csikszentmihalyi calls `flow'.`There are
several key elements involved in the flow
state,' says psychotherapist and clinical
hypnotherapist Andy Flack (020 8291
3209).`You have a very clear goal, you
perceive what you're doing to be a
challenge, you lose track of time, you tend
to focus on the task at hand and not the
outcome and you have an increased sense
of control.These elements are all beneficial
when you're running.'
One way to increase your chances of
experiencing flow when running is to use
an anchor � a word or gesture that sums up
how you'd like to feel during a run or race.
To install an anchor you can relive a time
Quick Tip
rehearse
Your race!
Before a race put
yourself into a
trance and imagine
yourself running
the perfect
race.
how to Practise
self-hypnosis
n find a quiet place and make
yourself comfortable. close your
eyes and then start counting
down from ten to one, silently
saying each number on every
second or third out breath. with
each out breath, notice the
unnecessary nervous tension
flowing out of your body.
n when you reach one, you
should imagine yourself in your
favourite Place of relaxation �
imagine it in the greatest possible
detail, using all your senses.
n now use one or several of the
techniques mentioned below.
when you feel you've spent
enough time doing this, you can
wake yourself up. if you're doing
self-hypnosis last thing at night,
there's no need to wake up, you
can simply allow yourself to drift
off to sleep.
n to awaken from the trance, start
counting from one to ten, silently
saying each number as you
breathe in and opening your eyes
when you reach ten.
n ideally, you should practise
self-hypnosis twice daily - in the
morning and just before going
to sleep.
"When using
visualisation during a
trance,`see yourself
running well in a
training run, crossing
that finish line,
beating your rival.
"
hypnotherapy is completely different.The
hypnotherapist speaks to you in a soothing
voice to help you go into a trance, which is
an altered state of consciousness similar to
day-dreaming. In this state your body is
deeply relaxed while your unconscious
mind is alert and very receptive to the
suggestions you're given. Once the trance
has ended, your unconscious mind sets
about implementing these suggestions.
Many top athletes employ the services of
clinical hypnotherapists in order to get an
edge on the oppostion, and although it's
recommended that you consult a
hypnotherapist specialising in sports
performance, you can use self-hypnosis to
get similar results.
Denver-based board certified
hypnotherapist Drake Eastburn (www.
hypnodenver.com), works with Tour de
France and Olympic cyclists. He
recommends keeping your initial self-
hypnosis sessions short to stop your mind
from wandering.`I suggest no longer than
10 minutes to start with,' he says.`I also
think it's useful to make a recording of
positive suggestions in the areas where you
need help and to play that to yourself

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