Golf_ The Mind Game - Marlin M. Mackenzie [55]
As I watch the cell ignite into an orange flame (chemicals in the cell combine to create energy), the larger picture of myself is changing. I see many pockets of flame multiply first in my legs and then spread to all parts of my body. As my workout gets heavier, I see millions of flaming cells igniting. I also see my legs puffing up with energy, and the image of myself becomes superwoman.
As I watch myself working I notice a milky white substance (a buffering agent) mix with streams of yellow fluid (lactic acid) flowing from the flaming cells; this causes the yellow to fade away. Throughout the metaphor I imagine that I have more energy.
Kristin and I developed another metaphor which she uses for aerobics. She also recounts it to clients in her fitness classes. This metaphor is one that takes her back to her childhood. The idea of the metaphor is to get her to work smoothly, strongly, and in a balanced way when she’s faced with increased activity. It involves eating fudge.
If you’re a chocolate freak or have a weight problem, you might want to skip this one. If you decide to read on, eat fudge, and gain weight, you can blame it all on me.
When I was a little girl, my mother used to make fudge and shared it with a neighbor. I’d be outside playing and I could smell that fudge. I’d go inside and watch her stir it until it got creamy, smooth, and thick. Then she’d pour it into a big pan. After waiting until it hardened she’d cut it all up into nice bite sizes so some of it could be delivered to a neighbor.
Then I’d get on my bike with the fudge in my basket. As I pedaled up the hill to our neighbor’s house, I could still smell the fudge. I looked forward to getting a piece of it when I got there.
Kristin interprets the metaphor in this way. The fudge represents her muscles—smooth, relaxed, and warm—being exercised (in riding up the hill on her bike, which required balance and strength). The memory of her mother’s fudge motivates her to work out in a smooth, relaxed, and balanced way. The good feeling of taking a gift to a neighbor generates a just-right state for her.
Pain Control
When pain is present, the appropriate action is to consult medical specialists to identify its causes and provide appropriate treatment and medication. You can learn how to reduce it while still undergoing medical treatment. Let’s consider three pain-reducing techniques.
Inside Out
Inside Out is a technique that effectively reduces pain resulting from emotional stress, injury, or surgery. I’ve used it with hundreds of people. It’s a very simple six-step process, as illustrated by the work I did with Gail, who complained of having a severe headache with no apparent cause.
“On a scale from zero to ten,” I said, “rate the severity of the pain that you’re experiencing right now.”
“It’s a doozy,” she replied. “Ten!”
“What I want you to do,” I instructed her, “is to imagine what that pain looks like. Describe it to me as if you were looking at it on the wall over there. In fact, project the image of your pain on the wall and tell me precisely what it looks like.”
“What it looks like?” she asked, looking puzzled.
“Sure. Tell me its shape and how big it is.”
Gail paused, stared at the wall, and then said, “It’s shaped like a small football. It’s expanding and contracting, as if it were being squeezed. That’s the way it feels here in the back of my head.”
“Fine description,” I said. “Tell me about its color, texture, and density.”
“It’s glowing red. It’s really heavy and seems to be filled with thick pieces of rubber. It’s very smooth, like plastic.”
“Can you see that smooth, pulsating, glowing red football filled with rubber, on the wall right now?”
Gail nodded as her eyes focused and defocused on the wall.
“Hold that image there while doing something that may sound strange to you,” I said. “Make a sound, either out loud or privately to yourself, that exactly matches the way your headache feels. Open your throat