Self Help Recovery Tools
Difficulty: Easy
Duration: A couple of minutes
Other requirements: Just your imagination
Mental rehearsal is a fantastic tool for tapping into the power of our imagination and it is so simple to do. It can be especially useful to prepare ourselves for difficult situations in the not to distant future i.e eating out with friends, the office party or stress at work.
It works on the simple principle that the nervous system cannot tell the difference between a real or vividly imagined thought. Therefore by using mental rehearsal you are actually training your mind to more effectively handle difficult situations.
Public speakers will use the mental rehearsal technique before any big speech. They will repeatedly imagine feeling calm and confident and delivering the speech perfectly. By the time it comes to the real thing they have no problems because it already feels like they have done it a hundred times before (and to the nervous system they already have).
All the top athletes use the power of mental rehearsal. Before any event they will visualize themselves performing to their best ability, they imagine themselves winning the race over and over in their mind. When it comes to the big day their subconscious mind is already programmed to win the race and they are much more likely to succeed.
The power of what you can imagine and visualize has profound effects on your ability to do something. Everyone thought that breaking the 4 minute mile was an impossible task until Roger Banister did so in 1954. An amazing thing happened as soon as everyone realized that it was actually possible to beat the 4 minute mile people started to do so on a regular basis and within 18 months another 45 athletes managed to break the record. As soon as they realized it was possible they began to imagine they could do it.
Henry Ford once said "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're probably right!"
The power of mental rehearsal can be applied to bulimia. It can be used to help combat binge cravings, enable you to feel much more relaxed and comfortable around food. and to manage a binge trigger situation more effectively.
It works on the simple principle that your nervous system cannot tell the difference between a real or vividly imagined thought. When you imagine performing a situation perfectly you are training your brain to perform this way in real life. This process isn't intended to build unrealistic expectations, or to use magic, it is simply designed to improve your readiness for the real situation.
This exercise is based on visualization which is very simple and is something everyone has the ability to do. For example imagine what the earth would look like from space, how big is it?, what color is it?. To be able to answer those questions you had to visualize an image of earth within your imagination.
Choose the situation in which you want to perform better. It could be shopping for food, eating dinner, dealing with stress at work. or any situation that would normally cause you to go on a food binge.
Once you have selected the situation, next ask yourself what would I like to happen?, what would be the perfect result?
What would be the ideal way for this situation to turn out?
Ask yourself, "What would be the ideal feeling state to help me deal with this situation?"
What feeling state will allow me to be more effective?
Is it stability? A feeling of being centered?, relaxed?, in control?
Take a few moments to decide what feeling state would be ideal for you?
Are there any words or phrases that come to mind?
Have you ever felt that feeling state or something similar before?
Take a few minutes to imagine you are watching a movie of the situation. Make the image vivid and bright,
What does your posture look like?,
How do you move?,
What are you saying?,
Are there any smells or tastes?
What is your feeling state?
Try to enhance the feeling state, make it more real
What is the outcome of this event?
What does success look like?
Note: If you have any resistance or it feels uncomfortable, just rewind the movie a bit and change it to something that makes you more comfortable. Allow your intuition to guide you. Remember each time you do this exercise you can change the movie a little until you get it just right.
Once you are comfortable with the movie and happy with the outcome replay it but this time I want you to go into the movie and see everything from your point of view. Notice what you see, notice what you hear, feel how you feel.
Spends a few moments absorbing the feeling state
Spend time in the movie, enjoy the movie, make as much detail as you wish, relax and let imagination carry you away…
Repetition is the key to success here. Try to do this once a day and encode the positive feelings into your neurology. Stick with it, try it everyday for a month and see how you feel. It only takes a few moments but it can have profound effects.
Keep on refining your vision of success and deepening your understanding of the feeling states involved. You may be surprised about how much you learn about the ideal feeling state. As the vision matures so will the ideal feeling state.