Golf_ The Mind Game - Marlin M. Mackenzie [51]
Experiencing Self-hypnosis
If, after reading about the reactions to the Betty Erickson Technique, you feel comfortable and can see yourself doing it, then go back to this page and reread the steps in the process. Memorize them, and go to a quiet place where you won’t be disturbed to experience the technique.
I encourage you to practice it every few days for several weeks until you can put yourself into an altered state within a few minutes. Each time you use it, decide on the amount of time you want to remain in an altered state so you can return to your normal activities when you want to. Your unconscious mind has its own timer, and I think you’ll be surprised to find that you’ll “come back” within a minute or two of the time you have established for yourself.
It’s important to carefully monitor your state of consciousness after you return to the here-and-now. Determine exactly how long it takes you to return completely to your normal state of functioning. Most people come back to “normal” in a matter of moments; a few take up to an hour. It’s possible to injure yourself if you engage in a potentially harmful activity before you’re back to your normal state.
Applying Self-hypnosis
Self-hypnosis can be used in many ways to achieve worthwhile outcomes pertaining directly to golf or to your general well-being.
For General Weil-Being and Health
An older, active, recreational athlete I knew used self-hypnosis to stop smoking cigarettes after smoking a pack a day for almost forty years. Smoking was interfering with his breathing when he played squash, and he knew it wasn’t healthful.
Just before using self-hypnosis he instructed his unconscious mind to activate all the resources within himself that would make his heart and lungs function effectively, and to make his lungs clean and healthy. He also told his unconscious mind to do its work in its own way, in its own time. He followed the steps of the Betty Erickson Technique, remaining in an altered state for about twenty minutes.
He told me he didn’t recall having any special images, memories, or sounds during that altered state. It was deep and relaxed. Nothing happened for about three weeks, and he continued to smoke. So he repeated the process.
A week or so later he woke up with a bad head cold. Because he didn’t get much pleasure from smoking when he had a cold, his unconscious mind apparently chose that time to go to work. After several days of suffering from the miserable cold, he realized that he hadn’t smoked for two days. He didn’t deliberately stop; he just didn’t smoke and wasn’t aware that he had stopped, because he had no withdrawal symptoms. Almost ten years later he still doesn’t smoke.
Several years ago I worked with an athlete who was an insomniac. She wanted to sleep six hours a night instead of her usual two or three. While in bed before going to sleep Sandy always reviewed in her mind what she wanted to do the next day. She’d worry so much about what had to be done the next day that she couldn’t get to sleep.
During self-hypnosis an image of a piece of paper containing a list of chores flashed in her mind. From that image she decided to make a list of all the things she wanted to do before she went to bed. By making a list before bedtime she was more relaxed and overcame her insomnia.
Improving Athletic Skills
I also recall a high jumper who wasn’t jumping as well as he had been. He experimented with modifying several parts of his performance, but without success. He decided to try self-hypnosis, instructing his unconscious mind to attend to the task of improving his