Have you ever experienced the ability to get in the zone to avoid similar distractions? What distractions, internal or external were present? What did you experience while you were in the zone? What did you experience when you came out of the zone?
Example:
I have experiences the “in the zone” feeling many times to filter out distractions and to get full focus on what I was about to do. Most of the activities I would use this action are before and during basketball games, studying for a test, working on an assignment, chores around the house, errands, or when I have a deadline for something. There were multiple internal and external distractions around me and I knew if I did not focus all my attention on the activity, it would not be completed on time or my performance would be off.
During competition, the external distractions were the crowd, the announcers, coaches, the different noises in every direction, and the referee watching my every move. The internal distractions that I would create are my nerves that I might not be playing well, hoping I do not have a cough attack if I have a cold, might be stressed over a test I have the next day, and might feel tired from not getting enough sleep.
With both of these type of distractions, it can be very difficult to have complete attention and focus on competition, making optimal performance challenging. To block these types of distractions out, I would get “in the zone” so I was able to perform to my best ability. When I was “in the zone”, I felt like my vision became very narrow, making me focus only on one action at a time. I would focus on the present moment like my form when I shot the ball, hustling back on defense, rebounding the ball, and reacting to my opponent I was guarding.
I knew if I got out of this self-hypnosis, my performance would be hindered and I would lose all focus. When I would leave the self-hypnosis, I noticed my vision would not be narrow anymore, I would feel off, hear the crowd, and see all the distractions again. My mom would always be cheering in the stands, and I would never hear her when I was focused. When I heard her, I knew that I needed to get myself back into the zone before the ball was back into play. If I could not refocus, I noticed that I would start making little mistakes, resulting in sitting on the bench until my coach thought I was ready to go in again.
There are many similarities and differences between hypnosis and other therapeutic techniques (meditation, relaxation, Autogenic Training, etc.). Some athletes get nervous because they think something is going to jump out at them or make them do odd things. Even if you became nervous, would you consider doing a therapeutic technique again?
Hypnosis and the therapeutic techniques are used for complete relaxation, relieving tension or stress, and become completely calm so one can focus on clearly the mind and body. Hypnosis and the therapeutic techniques (meditation, relaxation, Autogenic Training) all have many benefits: reduce anxiety, headaches, nerves, chronic pain, insomnia, etc.
Each method has a different technique to achieve these benefits, one must find which technique works for them the best. Each technique also has a different body position, listening to different words from self or other sounds, and have different time lines on how long it will take to master.
During hypnosis or meditation, the person is still conscious where relaxation, it is okay if you fall asleep. I have noticed that mediation and self-hypnosis are techniques that can be completed while accomplishing something else, eating or walking. The other techniques need to either be sitting or lying down to get the full affect.
A Self-Hypnosis video to try: Hypnosis: Confidence, Tenacious, Winning Mindset, the Lion, the Champion Mind Programming
Example of how I felt after listening to the video:
During the video, I noticed that I wanted to close my eyes so I could focus on what was being said, but at the same time I wanted to watch the video for some reason. I kept trying to keep my eyes closed, but for some reason I always ended up reopening them within a couple of minutes. I think I was doing this because I was sitting at my desk trying to relax. It was very hard for me to relax at my desk because I am usually stressed when I sit here trying to complete all of my work. I did notice that my shoulders were tense because of typing on my computer. Listening to him made me realize I put unnecessary tension throughout my body. I think I will try to do listen to the video again while in my bed, where I know I can always become relaxed at.
When I went into my bed and shut the lights off, I was able to relax a lot more. I started to focus better, loose all tension, and feel refreshed. It was hard to not fall asleep because of how relaxed I was. I ended up falling asleep after awhile but I woke up ready for the next day. I am not a morning person, so this was a big change for me. Before games, I would listen to this video during my down time. I never been so ready to play a game before. I was, in the zone and ready to take on anything.
Written by:
Sarah Grippi
Director of Basketball Mindset