"Are You A Hypnotist?" - The Flaming Lips

Last Monday I had the opportunity to meet with a hypnotist.

A "performance hypnotist" .

Hypnotism has always intrigued me.  I love anything to do with the psyche.  I would have taken all psychology classes in college if I could have.

So why did I meet with John?

Am I lacking confidence?

Do I feel worried about my upcoming run? [Did I mention it's less than 7 days away?!]

I can truly say, "no" to both of the above.

I wanted him to help mentally guide me through the day of May 6th before it even happens. 

Anyone who has ever run a 1/2 marathon, marathon, ultra knows there are "peaks" and "valleys" in distance running.  We can feel amazing at 13, crash at 18 and feel like new again at 20.

While I would agree some of this can be due to fueling and hydrating --- I know for me 99.44% of it is mental.

When I get to mile 13 do I say, "Yay I'm half way through!"

or

"holy crap, I'm ONLY half way through?"

Was I skeptical of what this visit would truly "do" [if, anything] for me?

HECK
YES.

Do the comments from some people who hear about this May 6th event get to me some days?

Sometimes.  I am human. 

And so really NOT WonderWoman:

Thanks Laurie for the photo - did absolutely freaking love that.

For 1.4 seconds after I hear some sort of negative remark [ie, is that even healthy?, that's a really odd goal, there are better ways to raise money/awareness] I let myself feel like this:

Of course, of course, I know it's the smartest thing I may have ever signed up for.
but. we. all. have. our. moments.

So I enlisted John to help me create that event [a less than great point I may reach during my 24 hour endeavour] and mentally plan how I was going to "get through" it.

As athletes, we push our bodies almost daily to get in shape and actively try to push ourselves harder.

What I KNOW I've been missing is the calm/meditation/thinking/focusing part of training.

During my volleyball years, I had experienced the benefits of "visualization".  That is where we started, and I think this was the key for me to be able to put myself in a place where I could have a positive experience.

I sat there in complete calm.  complete quiet.  my foot wasn't bouncing back and forth.  I wasn't moving/scratching my arms.  my breathing was calm.  I wasn't thinking about what I  needed to do after this.  all the calls I need to return.  the items I need to ship for work.

and
that.......in and of itself.

Is. a. FREAKING. miracle.

I'm about as anxious of a person you will ever meet.

Sitting down - feels like a death sentence to me.

but for what turned out to be an hour and 15 minutes. . . . my world was calm.  My brain was focused.  amazing.  An amazing feeling.

Meditation and quiet time are essential, they are part of the training puzzle.

Hypnosis and self talk reprogram the mind.

If you know & believe that computers can be reprogrammed, then you understand that our bio-chemical computer can be reprogrammed too.

Thank you. John. 

If would like to contact John, feel free to do so:  480.273.8798

Have any of you ever worked with a "performance specialist", "sports hypnotist"?

Please share.