Visualisation (Mental Rehearsal) - A to Z of Hypnotherapy

Visualisation can be incredibly powerful, you see the mind can’t tell the difference between what is real and what is imagined. This can work for us when we use it in a positive way to think about something going well and the event being a pleasurable experience, or against us, if we let our anxiety visualise events and play them out in the worst possible scenario.

However we visualise things, good or bad, it creates an experience in the hippocampus, the part of the brain that stores our behaviour patterns and experiences every time that you role play an event in your mind. This then becomes your reference point of the situation next time that you are faced with it, or something that the brain perceives to be similar. Is it any wonder then that when you suffer from Anxiety, you build up a huge list of things that cause you stress and worry?

You can use this to your advantage though, and in a trance or daydream state, you can practice or create your ideal version of an event by visualising it with everything going well in it. One thing that it’s worth remembering here, you need to keep things in the realms of reality for the brain to believe it, so you might want to stay away from things like developing superpowers, instead just focus on the best version of yourself.

One example of how effective visualisation is came in a study from an exercise psychologist called Guang Yue at the Cleveland clinic foundation. He studied two groups, one that went to the gym and worked out, and one that just imagined working out. The first group’s muscles and strength grew on average by 30%, but what was really incredible, was that the group that only visualised going to the gym also grew in muscle mass and strength by 13.5% without lifting a thing. So we can see that the brain and body can make huge changes just by the power of visualisation.

Another great example is a friend of mine, who was a world champion boxer called Glenn Catley. He openly states that he was never the strongest, or most technical boxer, but he used visualisation techniques to see himself winning the fight and when he stepped into the ring, his confidence was so high that he was unstoppable (you can see it in the video below).

In my sessions I use the power of visualisation both in and out of trance to help you create your preferred future and come up with the small, but achievable steps that you can take to move towards it.

Get in touch for a free no-obligation consultation or to find out more about how I could help you.

Call/Text: 07557 157084

Email: info@hypnotherapychangeworks.co.uk