As regular readers of this blog will know, I love working with sportsmen and women to help them to enhance their performance, remove psychological obstacles and limiting beliefs and achieve great results. 

Maybe this is because I used to study ballet. Between the ages of three and fifteen, my dream was to become a prima ballerina. Ballet is one of those areas where performance and consistency are key to success and I know lots about the temptation to drive yourself towards a goal whilst ignoring physical signs that you should really be paying more attention to... like my poor old tendons, for example... :-)

I wish I had known back then what I know now about using hypnotherapy and hypnosis to train your mind for success as well as your body.

Roadcyclinguk.com has a great article here about using hypnotherapy to achieve peak performance and great results. The article states:

Sports Psychology utilising Hypnotherapy has been developing since the 1950s when, in the 1956 Melbourne Games, the Russian Olympic team employed the services of no less than 11 hypnotherapists to greatly enhance both the team and individual performances, with excellent results. They finished first in the medal rankings.

I didn't know that. Did you?

It goes on to say:

'You don't need to look too far in any sport though, to find champions using hypnotic techniques to improve performance. The reason most of them don't like to talk about it is because of the age-old myth that hypnosis is a magical power to make you do strange things. This is a misconception, in that nobody can be made to do anything against his or her will. The people we see on stage shows are pre-selected and vetted for willingness to co-operate. (If you really want to walk and squawk like a chicken, nobody is stopping you). Being in a hypnotic trance is simply like being in the Flow state, and you will recognise it immediately.'

Ha! Brilliant! A great bit of myth-busting. 

The article looks at the particular challenges facing cyclists and how hypnotherapy can help. It suggests that 'every sports person has different issues that need to be addressed, so a custom approach is always preferable to a ''cover all eventualities” scheme'.

A great article with sensible advice to cyclists and athletes everywhere. The photo accompanying the article did make me giggle though. Go and have a look!