Golf_ The Mind Game - Marlin M. Mackenzie [56]
Gail’s eyes defocused as she uttered a rather feeble “Ow.”
“Open your throat, Gail, and let that sound come out freely and strongly,” I told her.
This time Gail wailed loudly, “Oooowwww!”
“That’s right. Keep your throat open and adjust the sound so that it matches your pain.”
After listening to her wail for about ten seconds, I interrupted her, saying, “Stop the sound for a few seconds. In your peripheral vision project another image on the wall, an image of a place of pleasure where you’ve been in the past. Put that picture on the right edge of your vision, and keep the football image of your pain in the center.”
“Okay, I’ve got the two pictures,” she said.
I told her to start making the sound that matched her pain again, and to keep it going. Then I instructed her to imagine a wind blowing from right to left across her pictures. “Let the image of the pain vaporize and be blown away by the wind,” I said, “as the picture of your place of pleasure moves to the center of your vision.”
After about a minute Gail seemed to relax. Her posture slumped as her mouth opened and her chin dropped. “On a scale of zero to ten what’s the intensity of your pain now?”
She paused for a few seconds and then said, “Two. The headache’s almost gone. That’s amazing. Can I use that process for other headaches and other pains?”
I told her it can be used for any kind of pain anytime, but she should check out her headaches and other persistent pains with her doctor.
INSIDE OUT
Identify the precise location of your pain and rate its severity on a scale from zero to ten.
Project a clear image of the pain on a nearby surface. Identify its size, shape, density, weight, thickness, surface texture, and color.
Holding that image in view, make a sound that matches its intensity. The sound should express exactly how the pain feels. If it’s inconvenient to utter the sound aloud, “hear” it loud and clear in your mind. Vary its pitch, tone, and volume until it matches the feeling and intensity of your pain.
In your peripheral vision to the right, project an image of a remembered place of pleasure.
Again focus on the projected image of pain, express what it feels like vocally or silently, and pretend that the pain image is vaporizing. As it disappears, gradually lower the sound and let the image of the place of pleasure move to the center of your vision.
Rate the severity of pain that remains on a scale from zero to ten. Compare it with the original rating in Step 1.
The Inside Out technique usually reduces pain considerably, or eliminates it altogether. Metaphorically, you move the pain from inside your body to the outside; thus the title “Inside Out.” The technique can be used almost anytime, and it’s especially useful during a round of golf. Just project an image of your pain on a tree trunk, water cooler, or on an imaginary screen, following the instructions above.
“Swish”
“Swish,” previously described on this page, can also be used to reduce or eliminate pain. An image of the painful state can be the large projected image that is used in the “swish” process; it should be one color. A very small image representing the healed or painless state should be created and projected on top of the large image of pain at the seven-o’clock position. The smaller, second image should be another color.
To complete the “swish” process shrink the larger image until it fades away; at the same time increase the size of the small image until it’s the only one remaining. Quickly repeat the “swish” process five times, letting your mind go blank after each “swish. ”
Self-hypnosis
I learned a process of alleviating pain with self-hypnosis from a twelve-year-old girl who suffered from sickle-cell anemia. It consists of imagining a dial with a control knob located on your mental screen. The dial indicates the intensity of a particular pain that you may have in a specific part of your body. The knob is used to regulate the intensity of the pain on the dial. As the needle on the dial registers the degree of pain,