Mental Training: Mental Rehearsal by Lynn Seiser
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I do not always believe that simply by training my body to move in a
certain way my mind will eventually change too. In counseling and
psychotherapy, I see too many people who go through the motions
temporarily to appease someone, even themselves, but eventually go
back to old patterns of behavior, especially when under stress,
because they have not changed the way they think about things.
While mental training will never replace physical training to learn a
physical behavior skill, there are ways to assist the physical
training with mental training. This is very common in the work of
sports and performance psychology, hypnosis, and neuro-linguistic
programming. I am fond of saying that, "wherever the head goes the
body tends to follow." This applies to learning any new skill in the
context of martial or spiritual arts, psychotherapy or counseling. One
of the easiest, and most used, aids or techniques of mental training
is mental rehearsal.
Mental rehearsal is more than simply going over something in your
head. Mental rehearsal is a specific procedure of how you go over it
in your head to decrease the likelihood of making mistakes again and
increasing the likelihood that you will perform differently and better
next time.
Take a deep breathe, let it out, and relax.
Think of a technique you are trying to learn. It is often easy to
remember that last time you did it wrong. Unfortunately, going over it
mentally pointing out mistakes, only makes it easier to make those
mistakes again. You want to learn from your mistakes, not repeat
them. Step outside yourself and watch the performance from a spectator
or coaching position. When noting mistakes, note what the correct
movement is. The body cannot execute a negative request about what you
do not want. The body can only respond to the information it is
given. Garbage in and garbage out.
Once you have seen enough, rewind the performance to the very
beginning. Stop the tape. Make it a small black and white still and in
your mind move it over to your left (this is the usual position of the
past on your mental time-line).
Begin the performance again, this time practicing the behavior you do
want. From that spectator/coaching position, notice any needed
corrections. When you have made the correction, step inside your body
and feel the performance as if you are actually doing the
technique. Keep running the tape of the performance through your mind
until you can actually feel your body naturally slightly move with the
thoughts. The body will respond to vivid visualization with subtle
neuro and energetic responses that help habituate pathways. Continue
to practice it mentally, from the inside, as if it is the hundredth or
thousandth time.
Think of the next time you will have the opportunity to physically
execute this technique. See what stimulus triggers the responding
technique. Let the stimulus and response naturally connect and
associate. Find another time in the future and mentally rehearse the
natural and spontaneous response. In addition, find another, and
another. Mentally rehearse until the association between stimulus and
response becomes automated and natural.
Take a deep breath, let it out, and relax.
This was just your first training session. If you are like me, we will
have to physically practice and mentally rehearse many times before
you will get it right. We then continue to make more subtle
corrections and keep polishing the mental and physical mirror that
reflects our lives.
Thanks for listening, for the opportunity to be of service, and for
sharing the journey. Now get back to training. KWATZ!
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