Sports Hypnosis For Performance And Confidence Enhancement
“Barry is a Magician with the human mind.”
Marianne Berglund Ph.D. Former World Champion 10 times National Champion
Two-time Olympic Cyclist
The Big Question! Will hypnosis work for me?
IT ABSOLUTELY CAN
Some people are more hypnotically gifted than others and Like any skill development, the process of hypnosis receptiveness is a personal journey.
It can have a profound effect in a very short period of time, but like any therapy there has to be a strong desire for a change and a belief in the process. Hypnosis is not a panacea, as medications are not to a physician. A hypnotherapist prescribes words, as every person is unique then it’s important that these words are succinct and relative.
The Role of Hypnosis in Sports Performance
It is now generally accepted (from the evidence of brain scans) that there is a measurable alteration to the brain when ‘hypnosis’ is present compared with when hypnosis is not present(1)(2).
Thus, the issue of whether there is (or is not) a thing called ‘hypnosis’ is currently settled.
A 2019 research article titled, Hypnosis In The Clutch(3), found that hypnosis-based intervention enhanced self-confidence by causing the participants to believe they could produce exceptional performances. This study is worth highlighting in training, because a wealth of evidence suggests self-confidence is one of the most important psychological variables associated with optimal performance in sports(4).
My Journey
Competing in the Ironman Triathlon in Hawaii initiated my awareness of the “altered state of mind ” that it took to participate in such events. Subsequently, in an EXTREME biathlon (vertical feet climbed 23,340; temperature 45C) from Death Valley to the peak of Mt Whitney, I experienced a 4-hour loss of time while racing. Fascinated by the experience of this trance state, I turned my studies to hypnosis.
I received my advanced clinical education in hypnosis through the University of California - San Diego. UCSD offered the course to physicians and health professionals as an adjunct to traditional medicine.
During the time of my participation in UCSD’s program, I was teaching/coaching at another University of California campus. I began integrating this knowledge into my coaching and also into my health education syllabus. Some of my students asked me to perform a comedy hypnosis show in the dorms. Within a couple of years, this first performance blossomed into a full-time profession of two hundred-plus shows and speaking engagements a year.
One of my favorite books is Malcolm Gladdwell’s book, Outliers, in which he looked at the Story of Success and what criteria one must meet to be an expert. He and others surmised that the number of hours for any master in a field of endeavor is at least 10,000. Because of Glaldwell’s book, I’ve worked out my own hours in the field of hypnosis: in 35+ years, I hypnotized well over 100,000 people. As a result, I have become acutely aware of the subtleties and nuances for successful outcomes in hypnotized subjects.
Research using fMRI suggests some individuals are more hypnotically gifted than others; however, OPENNESS and TRUST in the process paves the way for a successful outcome. There is an elegance in the simplicity of hypnosis and the profound changes it can make.
Laughter Is the Best Medicine
The stage has allowed me to deliver entertainment and education to a massive population that otherwise would never have realised the potential of hypnosis.
I have always adopted more of a Monty Python delivery where the silliness of the suggestion becomes the focus of laughter. Underlying the fun is the message that we have the means to alter our behaviour by our own volition.
Working with Barry
“Too bad you’re not on staff — Imagine? Thank you again for helping make our team one of the Nation’s best.” Lynn Rogers, Titan Gymnastics, California State University, Fullerton.
“Students definitely experienced a new level of consciousness and mental preparation for an intercollegiate volleyball match.” Teri McFarland, Palomar College Volleyball Coach.
“You were both informative and entertaining and captured the interest of the 100+ plus GGTC athletes who want to maximise their potential.” Todd Greenhalgh, Golden Gate Triathlon Club.
“Our coaching staff recognised a significant improvement in our players to play relaxed in pressure situations. Our free throw percentage went from 64.28 to 78.68.” R. Johnson, Palomar Basketball.
How Hypnosis Can Help Sports Performance
Reduce performance anxiety
Remove self-made limitations or blockages
Increase self-belief and confidence
Learn anger control
Facilitate better visualization and mental rehearsal
Positively reframe and release past negative experiences
Increase motivation
Remove any negative thoughts before, during, and after competition, and replace with positive thoughts
Improve specific skills by practicing mental rehearsal techniques
Improve healthy habits including nutrition, weight control, sleep, substance abuse, self-care/balance, etc.
Enhance healing from injury and promote return with intact confidence
Presentation of material can be done in a group setting followed by one-on-one sessions. I will be available for the full day and will be glad to do an evening show as a fundraiser/charity event at no additional cost.
References
The Winning Combination—— Physical and Mental Conditioning
There is NO substitute for extraordinary fitness in competitive team sports. Of course skill work is imperative, but once your fitness level deteriorates so does your skill.
If an athlete does not have the fitness or skill necessary for a sport, no amount of hypnosis will help them. Hypnosis is not a panacea or an easy way out.
Most of the athletes I work with have a supreme level of fitness and skill; their minds, however, CAN lack in mental conditioning. This is by no means a negative connotation, it is merely a lack of experiential coping mechanisms.
Having said this, I also see hardened veterans who lack confidence. There is a myriad of physiological reasons why an athlete has performance blues, and that is why no hypnosis session can be treated in the same way.
Every person has the ability to experience hypnosis. When I facilitate the process, it is still self-hypnosis and cannot happen unless the individual wants to participate.
All Hypnosis is Self Hypnosis
Talking with England 7s Captain Ben Gollings
England Rugby 7s squad experiencing hypnosis
Of all the players I met in my life, Ben Gollings was the most fascinated by self-development. His leadership and influence on his team was profound in the 2009 World Rugby 7s Championships. New Zealand had never beaten at home. England, down by 20 points at halftime with a capacity crowd watching in Wellington, rose to the occasion led by Ben’s confidence went on to win.
I asked some of the other players about what was said at halftime. By their accounts, Ben Gollings was SO sure they were going to win the game that every player was persuaded to his conviction. They told me they never doubted him, it was as if it was a given.
Your sense of self and your emotional balance can have a profound effect on others. Considerable amounts of time are given to skills and fitness training, how much of your time is allocated to mental conditioning?
Using Hypnosis, Imagery And Autogenic Training To Enhance Gymnastic Performance (Go to Blog for more information)
A number of years ago I worked with a Gymnastics club that has turned out numerous Olympiads. I was asked to work with the women's team on their most difficult apparatus, the balance beam. Using a process of hypnosis and visualization, I had them perform an inward imagined exercise of their performance. Highly trained athletes are typically very motivated to participate. They love the feeling of letting go, but still being in control! The faces of the gymnasts displayed emotional expressions during the hypnosis. Only one face remained relaxed, and her expression was one of serenity. Afterward, reviewing the first part of the exercise, they were asked to describe their performance. Every gymnast, except one, stated they fell off the beam. Our "lady of serenity" had performed her routine perfectly. I was unsurprised to learn that, of all the girls, she was slated for the Olympics. When I led them in the same exercise again, I told the athletes that there would be no mistakes in their routine. Now I observed many more peaceful expressions with the new instruction. In the discussion after, only one athlete stated that she could not complete her exercise without falling off the beam.
The Gymnastic Mind Game---Facebook Site
I was always told that "Practice Makes Perfect" - we have to be careful when we throw around these words of wisdom. Because we can also practice something incorrectly; then our practice becomes perfectly incorrect! If those athletes continued to see themselves falling off the beam in their routine, then in all likelihood, this would have a realistic transfer to their physical performance. Hypnosis is such a remarkably powerful self-help technique. It allows us to create an emotional and physical experience as though we are actually physically experiencing it. When carefully instructed in utilizing all senses during the inner exercise, our minds experience the imagery as though it occurred in live-time.
Using Self Hypnosis to Improve Stroke Technique
Correct streamlined body position for freestyle
Do you remember the idiom, ‘Practice makes perfect?’ Like many athletes, I recognised that I had been taught/coached incorrectly. My incorrect motor patterns became entrenched in my memory banks. I am not saying that you cannot change them… but the longer you spend practicing anything incorrectly, the harder it is going to be for you to undo those mistakes.
One of my many problems was a flat body position and nothing like the picture above! Technically this was due to lack of rotation around my central axis, which led to a myriad of other mechanical problems. I powered my way through the water to make up for it.
Without realising the inefficiency of my stroke, I opted for ‘practice makes perfect’ by putting in many perfectly incorrect miles. I developed great muscular and cardiovascular endurance. Unfortunately, the incorrect technique was counterproductive; contributing to further muscle imbalance.
Counting how many strokes it took for me to swim one length, was one of my coach’s earliest lessons. The number wasn’t impressive! After just one coaching session, that included exhausting drills, I reduced that number by a third. Quite a dramatic change but I could only do it for one length. The signals from my brain to my muscle were getting confused. “Wait a minute now. We spent hours and hours doing it this way and now you want us to CHANGE?” my unhappy motor nerves complained.
Making them happy meant changing deeply embedded motor signals. Now, this is where self-hypnosis/visualisation comes into play.
During self-hypnosis, you can replicate the mechanics of the movement BY VISUALIZING THE DRILLS. In turn, this ‘practice’ re-educates the muscles at an accelerated rate …without even getting in the water. Sounds too good to be true, but all hypnosis does is create a point of focus. Imagine how a magnifying glass focuses the sun’s rays to intensify its heat. Your attention is focused on physically intensifying the new behaviour into your neuronal pathways.
For review, or for greater understanding, see the links below.
A Review of the Development of Sport Hypnosis as a Performance Enhancement Method for Athletes
Improving Sports Performance using Hypnosis, Mental Imagery and Self-talk
Like any skill development, the process of self-hypnosis receptiveness is a personal journey. Some people must work a little harder than others, but everybody can experience profound accelerated change with practice.
The Use of Hypnosis To Enhance Sports Performance. A Review of Scientific Articles.
Hypnosis in The Clutch
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of a hypnosis-based intervention on golf performance and a mental state called the ‘Clutch’ see Swann et al. [1]. The participants in this study were three elite European Tour golfers. The golf performance data was analyzed using an idiosyncratic AB single-subject, multiple baseline, across individual design. The Clutch state data was analyzed using a procedure that monitored the participants internal experience Wollman et al. [2]. The results of the performance data indicated that all three participants mean stroke average decreased from baseline to intervention. For participant 2 and 3 there was only one overlapping data point between baseline and intervention conditions. For participant 1 there were no overlapping data points between baseline and intervention. Finally, each participant reported they had felt the intervention had increased sensations they associated with Clutch states. These results support the hypothesis that a hypnosis-based intervention can improve golf performance and increase feelings and cognitions that are associated with Clutch states. The positive results suggest the intervention strategy has great potential for training elite golfers. Consultancy guidelines for the use of hypnosis within the sport are discussed. In conclusion, the results of the study suggest that hypnosis-based interventions are an effective way of preparing elite golfers for significant competitions. This discovery supports the work of Unestahl [10,39] who explicitly indicated that elite athletic populations should be trained using hypnosis-based techniques. However, in order to improve the external validity of these results, this experiment needs to be replicated using quantitative measures of clutch states and different athletic populations. Large-scale controlled randomized designs are also needed to support the study’s findings [40-45]. Based on the positive results of this study the researcher has a number of suggestions for the sport psychology community. First, attitudes and opinions regarding how to train elite athletic populations need to be changed within the applied sports psychology community. Second, sports psychologists need to be familiarized and skilled in using hypnosis techniques. Third, scientific and professional societies in sport should consider training for individuals in the use of hypnosis intervention strategies [46-53].
Pates, J. (2019). Hypnosis in the Clutch. Biomedical journal of Scientific and Technical Research, 23(2). https://doi.org/10.26717/BJSTR.2019.23.003863
A Review of the Development of Sports Hypnosis as a Performance Enhancement Method for Athletes.
Abstract
The purpose of this review was to trace the historical milestones in the emergence of sport hypnosis from its earliest beginnings to the present time. The authors reviewed some important definitional conceptualizations of hypnosis from the work of Braid, Bernheim, Freud, Hull and Erickson. Erickson laid the groundwork for the modern definitions of hypnosis and eventually of sport hypnosis. Clinical sport hypnosis was defined as: “helping athletes overcome a variety of psychological symptoms and problems” [1] Attention was given to both research and conceptual literature on the role of hypnosis in sport. Contributions of leading sport psychologists, e.g., Bruce Ogilvie, Lars-Eric Uneståhl, Terry Orlick, Ken Ravizza, Brent Rushall, Robert Nideffer, Kay Porter, Maxwell Maltz, whose work in mental training, laid the foundation for sport hypnosis were presented. Finally, the future of sport hypnosis was explored as an empirically demonstrated methodology for expanding the range of mental skills training.
Straub WF, Bowman JJ (2016) A Review of the Development of Sport Hypnosis as a Performance Enhancement Method for Athletes. J Psychol Clin Psychiatry 6(6): 00378. DOI: DOI: 10.15406/jpcpy.2016.06.00378
Does motor imagery enhance stretching and flexibility?
Abstract
Although several studies have demonstrated that motor imagery can enhance learning processes and improve motor performance, little is known about its effect on stretching and flexibility. The increased active and passive range of motion reported in preliminary research has not been shown to be elicited by motor imagery training alone. We thus compared flexibility scores in 21 synchronized swimmers before and after a 5-week mental practice program that included five stretching exercises in active and passive conditions. The imagery training program resulted in selective increased flexibility, independently of the stretching method. Overall, the improvement in flexibility was greater in the imagery group than in the control group for the front split (F(1,18) = 4.9, P = 0.04), the hamstrings (F(1,18) = 5.2, P = 0.035), and the ankle stretching exercises (F(1,18) = 5.6, P = 0.03). There was no difference in shoulders and side-split flexibility (F(1,18) = 0.1, P = 0.73 and F(1,18) = 3.3, P = 0.08 respectively). Finally, there was no correlation between individual imagery ability and improvement in flexibility. Psychological and physiological effects of motor imagery could explain the increase in range of motion, suggesting that imagery enhances joint flexibility during both active and passive stretching.
Aymeric Guillot, Coralie Tolleron & Christian Collet (2010) Does motor imagery enhance stretching and flexibility?, Journal of Sports Sciences, 28:3, 291-298, DOI: 10.1080/02640410903473828
Enhancing Performance in Sport: The Use of Hypnosis and Other Psychological Techniques in the 1950s and 1960.
In the sport of swimming it was reported that elite Australian athletes were using hypnosis in their training methods under Forbes Carlisle (“ Australian Swimmers Get Hypnotism and Physiology during their training “, 1955; Sharks on Tail Make Aussies Sail”, 1956}. - - - - -The use of hypnotism was not only reported in the United States. It was reported in the New York Times that Russia was conducting studies on the use of Hypnosis and autosuggestion to help athletes improve their performance.
Green, C.D., & Benjamin, L.T. (2009). Psychology Gets in the Game: Sport, Mind, and Behavior, 1880-1960. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Imagery Use by Injured Athletes.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to expand our knowledge and increase our understanding of imagery use by athletes in sport-injury rehabilitation using a qualitative approach. The participants were 10 injured athletes who were receiving physiotherapy at the time they were interviewed. During the interviews, the athletes provided extensive information about their use of imagery during injury rehabilitation and it was clear that they believed imagery served cognitive, motivational and healing purposes in effectively rehabilitating an injury. Cognitive imagery was used to learn and properly perform the rehabilitation exercises. They employed motivational imagery for goal setting (e.g. imagined being fully recovered) and to enhance mental toughness, help maintain concentration and foster a positive attitude. Imagery was used to manage pain. The methods they employed for controlling pain included using imagery to practice dealing with expected pain, using imagery as a distraction, imagining the pain dispersing, and using imagery to block the pain. With respect to what they imaged (i.e. the content of their imagery), they employed both visual and kinesthetic imagery and their images tended to be positive and accurate. It was concluded that the implementation of imagery alongside physical rehabilitation should enhance the rehabilitation experience and, therefore, facilitate the recovery rates of injured athletes. Moreover, it was recommended that those responsible for the treatment of injured athletes (e.g. medical doctors, physiotherapists) should understand the benefits of imagery in athletic injury rehabilitation since it is these practitioners who are in the best position to encourage injured athletes to use imagery.
Driediger, M., Hall, C., & Callow, N. (2006). Imagery use by injured athletes: a qualitative analysis. Journal of sports sciences, 24(3), 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/02640410500128221
The Use of Relaxation, Hypnosis, and Imagery in Sport Psychiatry
Abstract
Hypnosis is a procedure during which a mental health professional suggests that a patient experience changes in sensations, perceptions, thoughts, or behavior. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the use of various methods of relaxation, hypnosis, and imagery techniques available to enhance athletic performance. The characteristics that these techniques have in common include relaxation, suggestibility, concentration, imaginative ability, reality testing, brain function, autonomic control, and placebo effect. Case studies are provided for illustration.
Newmark, T. S., & Bogacki, D. F. (2005). The use of relaxation, hypnosis, and imagery in sport psychiatry. Clinics in sports medicine, 24(4), 973-977.
The Hypnotic Belay in Alpine Mountaineering: the Use of Self-hypnosis for the Resolution of Sports Injuries and for Performance Enhancement.
Abstract
The author, an experienced alpine mountaineer, sustained several traumatic climbing injuries over a two-year period. This article describes her multiple uses of self-hypnosis to deal with several challenges related to her returning to successful mountain climbing. She used self-hypnosis for physical healing and to enhance her motivation to resume climbing. While training for her next expedition, she successfully utilized self-hypnotic techniques to deal with acute stress and later post-traumatic symptoms that had emerged related to her climbing injuries. She describes her use of hypnotic ego- strengthening, mental rehearsal, age progression, and “Inner Strength” as well as active-alert trance states. Her successful summitting of Ecuador’s Cotopaxi at 19,380 feet was facilitated by “The Hypnotic Belay” which permitted her to secure herself by self-hypnosis in addition to the rope used to secure climbers. In 1994, the author returned to the Cascade Mountains where she had been injured three years earlier and reached the summit of Mount Shuksan. This time she was secured by “The Hypnotic Belay.”
Morton P. A. (2003). The hypnotic belay in alpine mountaineering: the use of self-hypnosis for the resolution of sports injuries and for performance enhancement. The American journal of clinical hypnosis, 46(1), 45–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2003.10403564
The Effects of Hypnosis on Flow States and Performance.
Abstract
This study examined the effects of hypnosis on flow states and short-serve badminton performance in 4 competitive female players. The investigation utilized an idiographic single-subject multiple baselines across subjects design combined with a procedure that monitors the internal experience of the participants (Wollman, 1986). The method of intervention utilized in this study involved hypnotic induction, hypnotic regression and trigger control procedures.
The results indicated that all 4 participants increased their mean short-serve performance from baseline to intervention. Three of the 4 participants also increased their mean flow scores and indicated that during the intervention phase they had felt more relaxed, calm, determined, happy and focused when compared to the baseline phase.
Pates, J., & Palmi, J. (2002). The effects of hypnosis on flow states and performance. Journal of Excellence, 6, 48-62.
Hypnosis, the Brain, and Sports: Salient Findings July 2002
Abstract
Three particularly noteworthy articles addressing hypnosis have been published during the early portion of 2002. All, to a degree, address biological aspects of hypnotic response. One of these articles is a thoughtful summary and synthesis of neuroscience/hypnosis research to date, describing how neuroimaging techniques offer new opportunities to use hypnosis as a manipulation and to provide a means of studying hypnosis itself. A second article focuses on the physiology of sports and the usefulness of hypnosis in the practice of sport and exercise psychology. Finally, the third article describes a study of brain activation during actual and imagined handgrip during hypnosis.
Nash M. R. (2002). Hypnosis, the brain, and sports: Salient Findings July 2002. The International journal of clinical and experimental hypnosis, 50(3), 282–285. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207140208410104
Enhancing Imagery Through Hypnosis: a Performance Aid for Athletes.
Abstract
This value of imagery in sports is widely acknowledged. The contribution of hypnosis to enhancing athletes’ performance is also recognized, but the value of hypnosis in enhancing imagery has little recognition. The reason for this neglect is explored. The study used Martens’ Sport Imagery Questionnaire, which asked the participants to image 4 different situations in their own sport–practicing alone, practicing in front of others, watching a teammate, and competing. Participants reported their subjective impression of vividness on four dimensions–visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and affective. The 14 athletes participating imaged each situation in and out of hypnosis–half of the time the imagery in hypnosis came first and half after. The participants reported that the imagery under hypnosis was more intense for each dimension and more intense for each situation. Whether the imagery was done under hypnosis first or after was not significant. The findings suggest that hypnosis substantially enhances imagery intensity and effectiveness.
Liggett D. R. (2000). Enhancing imagery through hypnosis: a performance aid for athletes. The American journal of clinical hypnosis, 43(2), 149–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.2000.10404267
A Case Study of Improved Performance in Archery Using Hypnosis
Abstract
Active-alert hypnosis and traditional hypnosis procedures can be combined and applied in sport following the lines of an isomorphic model. A case study of improved shooting performance in an adult expert archer after 20 weeks of mental training is reported.
Robazza, C., & Bortoli, L. (1995). A case study of improved performance in archery using hypnosis. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 81(3_suppl), 1364-1366.
Therapeutic Imagery Enhanced by Hypnosis.
Abstract
This paper has reviewed the history of using imagery as a powerful change and healing agent in humans. It has been a rather underused technique in the practice of Western medicine and psychiatry. I hope that the specific examples and techniques described herein will stimulate and motivate the reader to adopt them in their clinical practice and creatively develop new strategies and techniques applicable in other fields such as sports, the arts, education, and the human life cycle.
Torem, M. S. (1992). Therapeutic imagery enhanced by hypnosis. Psychiatric Medicine, 10(4), 1-12.
Hypnotic Susceptibility, Cognitive Dissociation, and Runner’s High in a Sample of Marathon Runners.
Abstract
I studied the hypnotic ability of marathon runners as it relates to cognitive dissociation while running and to runner’s high. Dissociating runners use a cognitive style in which they cut themselves off from the sensory feedback they would normally receive from their body. Marathon runners demonstrated high hypnotic susceptibility scores. Additionally, use of dissociation as a running strategy during the marathon was positively related to susceptibility, and runners who dissociated in training had higher susceptibility scores than did other runners. Runner’s high was not related to hypnotic susceptibility; however, it was positively related to dissociation. The most common description of runner’s high was general relaxation, whereas the least used description was total euphoria. Surprisingly some runners defined runner’s high in ambivalent or negative terms. These results were related to the processes of self-hypnosis and to the positive mental health benefits of running.
Masters K. S. (1992). Hypnotic susceptibility, cognitive dissociation, and runner's high in a sample of marathon runners. The American journal of clinical hypnosis, 34(3), 193–201. https://doi.org/10.1080/00029157.1992.10402844
Effects of a cognitive intervention package on the free-throw performance of varsity basketball players during practice and competition.
Abstract
To examine the effects of a cognitive intervention package on the free-throw shooting performance of basketball players, with 3 Canadian male university-caliber basketball players ages 20, 22, and 24 years, during practice and in competition single-subject multiple-baseline design was implemented. Each subject was introduced to the imagery-rehearsal intervention at different times during the 14-week competitive basketball season. Free-throw data were collected during 50 practice sessions and 32 games. Data from both practice and competitive situations were examined using a comparison of graphed means. In the practice condition an increase in free-throw performance for all three subjects occurred during the post-treatment intervention. In the game condition, Subjects A and B showed post-treatment improvement. The cognitive intervention package consisting of visualization and relaxation can be an effective strategy for improving free-throw performance of some basketball players. Further research should involve control-group examination using a larger sample across a variety of tasks.
Kearns, D. W., & Crossman, J. (1992). Effects of a cognitive intervention package on the free-throw performance of varsity basketball players during practice and competition. Perceptual and motor skills, 75(3 Pt 2), 1243–1253. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1992.75.3f.1243
The main usefulness of the hypnotic state is the increased effectiveness of suggestion and access to mind/body links or unconscious processing. Hypnosis in itself is not a therapy, but it can be a tool that facilitates the delivery of therapy in the same way as a syringe delivers drugs. Hypnosis does not make the impossible possible but can help athletes believe and experience what might be possible for them to achieve.
The brain has two cerebral hemispheres, and while in our normal waking state, the left brain tends to be more dominant and could be likened to our ‘conscious mind’. This communicates verbally and is the more intellectual, conscious and rational part of ourselves. When we relax or become deeply involved in some activity, our right brain becomes more dominant. The right brain could be seen to be the more emotional, creative part of ourselves that communicates with symbols and images, and could be seen as our ‘unconscious mind’. There is always a difficulty in telling ourselves not to be upset or anxious because words are not the language of the right brain. But one can paint a word picture using guided imagery or metaphor.
The science of imagery is called the psychoneuromuscular theory An athlete practices actions in their mind, imagines the movements without performing them, and the brain interprets it as if the athlete is performing them. This generates similar impulses in the brain and in the muscles as if they were physically doing it. Small impulses fire from your brain to your muscles with the exactness that you are imagining them. Hypnosis accentuates these experiences and expedites the imagery process.