Much of what I refer to here today derives from some inspiration that I got from Christopher McDougall’s TED Talks presentation entitled “Are We Born To Run” within which he talks about many things to do with the psychology of running, but highlights that our perception of our self as a runner and our belief in our self as a runner alters our ability to keep running. He also states that we are far more capable than we feel when it comes to running. We can run for longer, we can run faster and gives a number of real-life illustrations of this idea.
At the other end of the intelligence spectrum… I have been watching the Chawner family on Sky Bio once again. Apart from being driven mad by the parents and the way they communicate, I watched the recent episode with interest due to the way they all responded to walking for a while.
They went on a fitness walk around some beautiful scenery and hills, but after a while convinced themselves and each other that they were all far too tired to carry on. Note I say ‘convinced themselves.’ They absolutely could have carried on for hours and hours if they had to.
The youngest of them Emma Chawner was given the chance to work at a gym and throughout her personal training from the instructor, kept insisting that she could not go on and could not possibly keep on – she insisted on it and despite the protestations and the energy displayed by the instructor, her own belief that she was too tired prevailed.
Shame.
They are not alone with this type of behaviour. I have found that during marathons or other races, particularly in the embryonic days of my running ‘career’ I have felt tired at mile 10, doubted myself and got weaker, but when I started to dispute that and drive myself on, or got some encouragement from the crowd, or thought about my wife etc. I have overcome that wave of seeming fatigue and run for another 16 miles with more gusto than the first 10.
We are all far more capable of going on for longer when it comes to exercise and physical activity. I was so certain of this, that I adapted an idea using self-hypnosis that I use for all my long runs but can be applied to any physical activity or sporting endeavour.
You just need to be able to imagine an old school graphic equaliser that used to be on stereos. The youth of today may not know what I mean, but it was a panel on the stereo front that showed you how the sound was divided and what the sound levels were like while music played:
You could turn them up and down to affect the sound and you could get a visual interpretation of how loud certain parts of the music were.
So, my initial point today is that sometimes people think they are using all their effort when running and have used all their energy and simply cannot go on… This may not be the case, but just be your psychological response to how your body is responding.
Yet you always see good athletes pushing themselves to do more and alter their own perception of what they are capable of. Those ripped guys in the gym always squeeze out another rep on the weights and other athletes put in that little bit extra throughout their schedule – it makes a great deal of difference.
We keep things safe and do not want to go injuring ourselves or harming ourselves and you do sometimes hear tales of people doing too much too soon within a training schedule and being unable to carry on. But when you are well within your limits, or at a crucial point in a race then using your mind effectively could make a huge difference to your running performance.
We all recognise a certain level within ourselves that we reach, but we are often able to go much further than that. Todays self-hypnosis technique is designed to help you run further and literally go that extra mile, get your mind focused and believing that you can do more or run faster or stay running for a while longer.
Six Steps To Use Hypnosis And Run Further:
Step One: Induce Hypnosis. You can do so by any means you desire or know of. You can use the process in my self-hypnosis book, use the free audio at this website to practice or have a look at the following articles as and when you need them; they are basic processes to help you simply open the door of your mind:
Using eye fixation for self-hypnosis.
The Betty Erickson Self-Hypnosis Method video clip.
Using Magnetic Hands for Self-Hypnosis.
Once you have induced hypnosis, move on to step two.
Step Two: Imagine a graphic equaliser or a visual measurement gauge of some kind in front of you.
Each breath that you breathe, the gauge pushes up to show the amount of effort and energy that you are using.
Take a few moments and just watch the lights going higher, brighter and longer with each breath that you breathe and then dissipates between in breath, so it is going up and down in time with your breathing.
As the gauge moves up, notice that if you breathe out really, fast and hard, the colours move and just touch upon the red zone. As you breathe usually, it stays green, barely turning amber or orange, but a hard breath gets into the red zone and the lights reach red for a brief moment.
Spend some time to get it absolutely synchronised with your breathing. As you watch it moving in time with your breathing, rising and falling, tell yourself that you are going deeper and deeper inside of your mind.
When you feel as though you have spent enough time deepening your experience in this way, move on to the next step.
Step Three: Keep the colourful gauge reflecting your breathing while you now imagine that you are running. Imagine yourself running and as you run for longer and breathe heavier, notice how this effects your gauge, it starts to go up and move towards that maximum level. The colours start to encroach upon the maximum level, the red zone that indicates the upper levels are being reached.
In your mind start to slide the gauge controller downwards and imagine yourself feeling fitter, stronger and more energised with each step you run, at a healthy and safe level of course.
Bring the colourful indicator graphics downwards using the sliding switch and notice it coming back down into the safe and comfortable zone.
Step Four: Start to notice that you are able to keep the levels of exertion and effort being displayed on your gauge at a constant easier, comfortable level even as you run harder and for longer.
Imagine that you are now reaching a point of a run and level of exertion that is the most you would do and the time that you’d then choose to stop in the past. This time however, you keep the graphics of your gauge at a comfortable level, and you start to affirm your belief in yourself to run for longer or you run faster.
Affirm to yourself in your mind, in time with your breathing, something that resonates well with you, for example:
I feel more and more capable of going on for longer.
I am healthier and healthier, fitter and fitter.
This is easier and easier.
My body loves this exertion more and more with every step I take.
I am running stronger and stronger.
Choose whatever resonates best within your mind and that you like the sound of most. As you say those words to yourself, keeping the graphic gauge at the right levels., your breathing responds well, your muscles respond accordingly and you feel wonderful.
Keep imagining this happening in your mind for a while, get tuned into it, so that when you are actually out running, it works powerfully and effectively just as you are imagining it will.
Once you have spent a while on this step, then move on to the next step.
Step Five: Start to tell yourself that you can use this process when you are actually running too and that it starts to have the same effect as you imagine it having now.
Spend some time and get it absolutely synchronised for you, get the control absolutely as you want it and can affect it, then bring this session to an end with the final step.
Step Six: Exit hypnosis by taking a deep breath, wiggling your fingers and toes, opening your eyes.
Practice this process. The more you practice it in your mind, the better it becomes and the more useable is in your running schedule and competition activity. Allowing you to alter your perception of how you feel in response to running and also helping you to run and remain active for longer.
Use the psychological technique daily for a week, then start applying it when running or partaking in any physical activity and make sure you really do go that extra mile.
