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| Photo courtesy of Microsoft Tune out all negative discussion and comments about things that have already happened. Focus on what you are doing now. |
On Saturday night, I watched the United States Ladies’ figure-skating
championship. This was the big night for these women, because the outcome of
this competition would (could) determine who would be on the U.S. Olympic team
in Sochi, Russia, next month. One of the skaters—a “favorite” to win the
championship—had apparently been repeating some very costly mistakes in her
recent skating competitions and had fallen a few times, too. A reporter
mentioned that this woman had apparently just missed being selected to compete
in the Winter Olympics in 2010, so she was probably putting even more pressure
on herself to make the 2014 team. He went on to describe the extra hours of
training she had put in and then listed all of the previous skating “faults”
that had kept her off the podium in recent championships. The pressure was on, and I tried to think
positive, confidence-boosting thoughts for her as she started her program. This
is what I would like to have said to her and some guided imagery that I would have provided, to help increase her confidence so she would feel comfortable to go out and skate her best:
·
Tune out all of the negative discussion, comments
and analysis about your previous events that you may overhear around you. These
things have already happened. They are over, and it is time to focus on the
program you will be skating now.
·
Take a minute to relive how confident and
enthusiastic and joyful you felt when you won your last championship. When you
have a good image of this experience, draw a deep breath and feel the power,
excitement and confidence that you have when you have skated well. Then release
any lingering negativity or doubt as you exhale that breath.
·
Allow your body to do what it already knows how to do. You have done each of these jumps, spins, arabesques,
etc. thousands of times in practice and in other competitions. Your body knows
how to do each of these things, so keep your mind/thoughts out if your body’s
way.
·
As you smile during your performance, notice how
this smile is building and boosting your confidence exponentially. The more you
smile, the more confident you feel. The more confident you feel, the bigger
your smile becomes, and so on.
·
As you skate, enjoy how you feel as you glide, spin
and leap over the ice. Skate for the love of skating and how good it makes you feel.
·
You are already a champion many times over! You are
competing at this national championship because you earned the right to be
there, through the various competitions you have won in the past year.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy®
and to set up an appointment, please
visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
