Law of Attraction

Sport Psychology: The Power of Visualisation

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What is Visualisation?

Think of visualisation as a form of mental rehearsal. The goal is to produce a specific outcome with our mental energy, by focusing on what we would like to experience. Evidence demonstrates that our mind plays a vital role in creating our experience, making visualisation exercises a way to program the mind for a better experience. Subconsciously, we naturally practice visualisation in our general day to day thought patterns, however the process is now being practiced and directed for those that would like to channel their consciousness towards a particular result.

Who Uses Visualisation Techniques?

According to the Telegraph, Wayne Rooney, Mohammed Ali, Andy Murray, Jessica Ennis-Hill and Jonny Wilkinson actively visualised their success before experiencing it.

For Wayne Rooney, the practice of visualising his sporting success was something he did naturally and has honed in on since he was a kid.

“For Rooney, this use of imagery – the act of creating and ‘rehearsing’ a positive mental experience in order to enhance your ability to achieve a successful outcome in real life – is an instinctive method honed since childhood” – Telegraph.

Rooney

Rooney claimed “I lie in bed the night before the game and visualise myself scoring goals or doing well,” he once revealed. “You’re trying to put yourself in that moment and trying to prepare yourself, to have a ‘memory’ before the game. I don’t know if you’d call it visualising or dreaming, but I’ve always done it, my whole life”.

MMA fighter Conor McGregor, an open believer in the concept of the Law of Attraction, and an athlete that oozes complete confidence in his athleticism, states that his ability to envision his success and focus on the positive, especially in times of struggle, is what drives him forward. McGregor stated in an interview: “If you have a clear picture in your head that something is going to happen and a clear belief that it will happen no matter what then nothing can stop it. It is destined to happen. It’s perfect”.

Conor Mc

By his own admission, McGregor uses the concept of Law of Attration for winning, and describes himself as like a kid in regards to how he uses his imagination. McGregor, who has had a sports psychologist work with him since 2009, added in an interview “I see myself as the champ already. I visualise everything; I visualise this conversation, I visualise the walk out, I have the shots picked out. If you see it in your head, you see it before your eyes”. To watch highlights of interviews with McGregor, click the link here.

Is It Effective?

Through visualisation, true belief in your ability to succeed can be created. Without that underlying belief in place, true success won’t be achieved or maintained, as experience is created within the mind first. If we can imagine our desired outcome as a true possibility within or mind, then this can unconsciously (or consciously) influence our action towards achieving this result.

The effects of visualisation are psychological, neurological and physiological. The Huffington Post states that: “according to research using brain imagery, visualization works because neurons in our brains, those electrically excitable cells that transmit information, interpret imagery as equivalent to a real-life action. When we visualize an act, the brain generates an impulse that tells our neurons to “perform” the movement. This creates a new neural pathway — clusters of cells in our brain that work together to create memories or learned behaviors — that primes our body to act in a way consistent to what we imagined”.

Evidence demonstrates that there is a strong connection between the mind and body, with studies on brain imagery demonstrating that visualising an exercise lights up many of the same regions of the brain that are employed when the body engages in that exercise. According to Psychology Today: “a study looking at brain patterns in weightlifters found that the patterns activated when a weightlifter lifted hundreds of pounds were similarly activated when they only imagined lifting”. The article also referenced a study using two control groups, one of which would weight lift at the gym whilst the other would practice mental exercises. The gym group had a 30% increase in muscle mass, whilst the mental imagery group had an increase of 13.5%. This means that both a physical and mental practice would increase the likelihood of athletic success, rather than rely solely on one method, the two would compliment one another.

How Do You Practice

  • Think of the brain as a muscle, that gets stronger with practice. Using mental imagery effectively is a skill in its own right, which gets better with training.
  • Visualise content that meets your needs in some way. For instance, if you find that nerves and anxiety influences your performance, then visualise yourself performing with a smooth, effortless and natural confidence. If you need to improve your ability to tackle effectively, then imagine yourself successfully winning tackles. If there are certain moves or exercises you need to improve, imagine yourself performing what ever it is, with natural efficiency and success.
  • Make your imagery as vivid as possible, using all of your senses, visual, auditory, touch, etc. Imagine all the little details, such as the set up of the environment, the energy of the crowd, the cheers, the colour of your sports uniform and that of your opponent or opponents team, and so forth.
  • Begin your mental imagery practice by visualising high quality images for short periods of time, then gradually start to build upon the time and detail in your visualisation practice.
  • Get into the habit of practicing mental visualisation/rehearsal regularly. Even if you only catch a couple minutes whilst on a train, in a queue or whilst driving somewhere. Direct your thoughts towards a positive mental focus.
  • There are two ways to practice visualisation. The first is outcome visualisation, which involves you visualising your achievement of a goal. The second type is process visualisation, which involves you envisioning all the different actions you’d need to take, to achieve the overall goal. Practice both.

 

Understanding The Law of Attraction: How Your Thoughts Create Your Reality

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Written by Lydia Lacey

The theory behind the law of attraction (loa) is that your thought patterns attract certain experiences into your life, and that like attracts like, i.e. positive or negative thoughts will create positive or negative experiences. Sounds oversimplified, right? Consider this: there is a wealth of research, particularly within the scope of quantum physics that proves that thoughts and the experience of reality are interconnected.

How Your Thoughts Create Reality

“Consciousness Creates Reality” – Physicists Admit The Universe Is Immaterial, Mental & Spiritual – R.C. Henry, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University,“The Mental Universe”

Our current state of being, our inner self that produces thoughts, attitudes and feelings resonates us to a certain vibrational frequency. When these thoughts/attitudes change, so does our vibrational frequency (which is the energy we give out). So for example, fear has a certain frequency, when we experience fear we resonate the energy around us to this fearful vibration. This energy we put out (created by our thoughts/attitudes) then draws towards it, a reflection of itself, other energy fields, other people, situations, which then form experiences. What we are internally, we manifest externally.

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To change what we experience externally, we need to look at ourselves internally to understand what it is about our belief system that attracts certain experiences. If the energy we put out doesn’t change, then what comes back won’t change, so we end up repeating certain cycles in life. This can be in the form of dysfunctional relationships, financial instability, career dissatisfaction, and so forth. Think about people you know that continuously end up in the same scenarios – that’s no coincidence.

Let’s use the hypothetical example of a woman that continuously forms relationships with partners that are emotionally abusive. Let’s say hypothetically, at the core of her inner being is a low sense of self worth, which manifests itself into a feeling of incompleteness, a hole. This underpinning sense of incompleteness translates into a behavioral pattern, one that may tolerate, excuse or ignore disrespectful behavior from a partner. Meaning this sense of low self worth has unconsciously attracted an individual that treats their partner as worthless. The energy of one another matches and resonates with another, thereby drawing upon this experience. Ultimately, the situation will continue to repeat itself unless the woman changes her perception about herself.

To break out of such a circle, we need to reflect on our inner psychology and understand how we are responsible for the experiences we create. When we blame external forces and play the victim (bad partners, situations, timing, etc), we are merely blaming the reflection of what our inner self attracts. Playing the victim only serves to disempower the person from actually changing their reality.

If This Is True, Why Don’t More People Know About It?

Now, let’s be realistic here – society as we know it is a complete sham, not just nationally, but globally. We have poverty, war, inequality and even in the West, where safety and survival is not so much a cause for concern, people more often than not, are still distinctly unhappy. This is no accident by the way, it is a top down process intentionally designed to lock people into these lower energy fields.

We are socially conditioned to blame outside sources for our unhappiness, to blame the reflection instead of what manifests it. A society locked into unhappiness and fear is easier to control, people aren’t going to take the steps necessary to change their situation if deep down they don’t believe they are able to do so. It’s easier to push products and a consumerist culture onto people when individuals feel that they are lacking in some way, that they are in some way incomplete. It’s common knowledge now, that the system is not only broken, but completely corrupt. But people are still oblivious to the extent of which this failed system actually impacts upon their lives or how it alters and limits their perception of reality.

If such information became common knowledge, it would empower a mass number of people. This distinctly works against the interest of those in power. The more people that awaken to the fact that they are in control of the direction they lead their life in, the more this gradually chips away at the system of control, the more empowered you become. This is exactly what it means, to become “awake” in a society where the majority of people are “asleep”.

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How Do We Start?

Start by monitoring your thoughts, and drawing the connections between your expectations and what you experience. Evaluate whether your thoughts are either positive or negative, then ask yourself, is this thought serving me in any way? Be brutally honest with yourself, and be forgiving, because there is nothing to achieve from guilt tripping or shaming yourself. Set the intention of taking control over your mind and your thoughts.

To develop the ultimate level of self-awareness, I would strongly recommend meditation. If you’re not sure how to start, click here for my other blog “Dealing With Anxiety Through Meditation” then scroll down to the section titled Taking Control of Your Breath. Meditation is a fantastic practice to cultivate self-awareness and regulate positive emotion, so anyone can reap the benefits. People often have the common misconception that meditation requires no thinking – which is inaccurate. Instead, allow your thoughts to flow, whilst you become the detached observer, reserving any judgement or feeling towards your thoughts. Where the mind goes, energy flows, so from this neutral plane you can then evaluate whether certain thoughts do or do not serve you, allowing you to make the distinction to where you should direct your mental energy to.