The Super Mental Training Book Read Online Free

prerequisites."[10]
    Similarities Between Self-hypnosis and Meditation
    I have referred to self-hypnosis and meditation in the same breath so far because basically they are the same thing. Self-hypnosis and meditation produce similar physiologic effects on the body. This was confirmed by Larry C. Walrath and David W. Hamilton, whose experiments showed that "autohypnosis and meditation produce similar effects on autonomic arousal."[11] Some of these similar effects included a lower heart rate and lower breathing rate. Interestingly, a control group who did not use self-hypnosis or meditation but instead was just told to relax, also experienced a lower heart and breathing rate. This led the experimenters to state that "the effects of meditation can be replicated by simple instruction." [12]
    Self-hypnosis and meditation, if they can be said to differ at all, do so mainly in the frame of mind they provide. In meditation you ordinarily clear your mind of all thoughts, and emerge from the session experiencing a general sense of well-being. You can do the same thing with self-hypnosis, but self-hypnosis practitioners usually strive for more than just relaxation. Athletes who use self-hypnosis often give themselves hypnotic suggestions which intensify their competitiveness and aggressiveness—for example, "Today, I will play as hard as I can. I will totally dominate my opponent and win!" These types of suggestions are somewhat strong, but by and large they are effective; athletes into self-hypnosis do not hesitate implanting their subconscious with such thoughts. Along these lines, Dr. Warren R. Johnson notes that "athletes seem happy with the idea of suggestions which would encourage them to be more aggressive in a sportsmanlike way."[13] This is not surprising, for serious athletes thrive on putting out; they are not in sports to surrender to their opponent, or walk away knowing they could have done better.
    Just as self-hypnosis and meditation are pretty much the same thing, so too are other mental techniques favored by certain athletes—techniques such as visualization, imagery, biofeedback, and yoga. Visualization, a mental discipline currently popular with Olympic athletes and sports psychologists, calls for you to: (1) picture in your mind the way you want to perform an action, and/or (2) feel yourself performing the desired action. For best results, you generally practice visualization while in a relaxed state and with your eyes closed (the same holds true for self-hypnosis and meditation). Imagery is the same thing as visualization; it is a term sports psychologists operating at the college level seem to prefer. We shall investigate visualization, biofeedback, and yoga in greater detail in later chapters. For now it is sufficient to note that there is one highly important physiologic benefit any mental rehearsal technique can provide the athlete: the lowering of the lactic acid level in the muscles and blood. Lactic acid, the "fatigue acid," is the waste product created by the muscles during exertion. If you exercise hard enough and long enough, lactic acid accumulates in your tissues and blood to such an extent that you finally experience fatigue. The high lactic acid level in your body inhibits or prevents your muscles from contracting. A lactic acid level concentration in your muscle fibers of about 0.3% makes further physical activity virtually impossible.
    However, you can significantly reduce the accumulation of lactic acid in your body during competition. Herbert Benson points out in his informative book, The Relaxation Response (1975),
    Introduction
    that "blood-lactate levels fall rapidly during the first ten minutes of meditation." Ordinarily, after hard exercise the lactic acid level in your body takes an hour or longer to return to normal. This is too long a time period, though, to help you during a game. But, keep in mind that you can meditate during halftime, time outs, or breaks. In this fashion you can