Mindset Coaching and Hypnosis
Mindset Coaching
If you can perceive it, you can achieve it. That’s our mantra and it’s something we’ve seen proven time and time again thanks to the clarity and focus achieved in a sports hypnotherapy session.
After nearly a decade of offering hypnotherapy to aspiring, semi-pro and professional athletes we’ve seen firsthand the powerful impact it can have. If you’re struggling to extract your maximum potential, or if you’ve seen your performance decay, a sports hypnotherapy session might be exactly what you need.
What is hypnosis?
The word hypnosis comes from the Greek word ‘hypnos’ meaning sleep. While hypnosis is often described as a sleep-like state, in reality, it is better expressed as a relaxed state of mind where the participant has focused attention and heightened suggestibility.
In this relaxed state, a skilled hypnotherapist can access your subconscious mind to encode instructions and strategies with complete clarity, the details of which are remembered and embedded afterwards.
Hypnosis is not some magic trick, and it’s not smoke-and-mirrors either. Genuine hypnosis is a co-operative interaction in which the participant responds to the suggestions of the hypnotherapist, while being fully aware of their surroundings and actions at all times.
Stage performers have popularised hypnosis by prompting people to do unusual or ridiculous acts. Clucking like a chicken or professing your love to a beach ball is highly entertaining, but there is a far more serious and therapeutic side to hypnosis than you’re likely aware of.
Clinical hypnosis bears little resemblance to what you would see on stage. In reality, hypnotherapy is a two-way street where the hypnotherapist is like a coach helping the participant to become hypnotised.
Why Sports Hypnosis?
Hypnosis has proven medical and therapeutic benefits, most notably in treating pain and anxiety but also in unlocking performance potential by removing mental clutter and providing clarity of thought – both crucial aspects of athletic performance under pressure.
Assuming you’re injury-free and physically capable, in many cases the final ten percent of performance comes down to mental application, a seemingly simply concept but near impossible to execute in the presence of anxiety, confusion, or in a crisis of confidence.
Athletes are excellent candidates for successful outcomes from hypnosis because they are very good, through hours of practice, at receiving instructions. After ‘going under’, as we often refer to it, the participant will receive a precise and rehearsed set of instructions relating to a particular performance problem.
While hypnotised, the participant can benefit from specific techniques such as direct and indirect suggestion, hypno-analysis, visualisation, regression and metaphor which can resolve anything from life-long issues to short-term performance deficits.
In most cases, athletes already hold the answers to their performance problems in their own mind. Sports hypnosis sessions help to solidify these answers, using the relaxed state of being ‘under’ to clear the mind of clutter and distractions and focus on the specific steps required to achieve a goal.
What Can I Expect With Hypnosis?
When you see a hypnotherapist, all you need to do is relax and open your mind to the possibility of changing your behaviour. Your mindset holds the key to your success in the session – if you believe that nothing will change, then nothing will. But if you open your mind and think positively, the experience will be extremely rewarding.
Not everyone responds the same to hypnosis, so it can be difficult to describe what it is like, but there are some commonalities:
- You will sit in a room with your hypnotherapist, where you will feel calm and safe
- You will feel very relaxed and peaceful
- You will always be in complete control
- You can bring yourself out of the hypnosis whenever you want
- You may feel extremely invigorated
- When you come out of hypnosis, you will remember everything
You may have several sessions with your hypnotherapist, each lasting about one hour. It’s important to note too, that the actual act of hypnosis is often just a small component near the end of your session. Much of your time will be spent talking to your hypnotherapist, ensuring there is complete understanding of your performance problem and possible remedies.
