Visualization (or 'visualisation' for my UK-English-speaking friends) has long been a tool of athletes around the world to perform better. I've read a lot about it as I enlightened my body, but have also had much experience playing with it myself. I've started using it a wider range of settings, so I thought it would be a good topic to discuss a bit. Let's take a look at the two approaches - the carrot (positive visualization) and the stick (negative visualization).
The Carrot
This is how most people experience visualization, and what I personally use, prefer and recommend. It's about seeing yourself be successful in whatever goal you're looking at, big or small. Envision yourself thin, crossing the finish line, being handed a diploma, etc.
My first real experience with it was with testing maximum weights I could lift in high school. My coach would have me sit on the bench, close my eyes, and, while breathing in deeply I would imagine the weight coming down, and then with a forceful exhale and thrusting of my arms, send the weight up. I'd do this several times (10-15) while he set the weight so I wouldn't know what was coming. This way, I couldn't latch on to a number fear or doubt, but instead only focus on putting up the weight I was seeing in my mind's eye. On the last imaginary set, I'd get into position, and go right into the lift. I'd always put up more weight than I would have chosen for myself, and likely than I could have done without the mental warm up, so to speak.
The other way I have been using it is when I run on the treadmill. There's no escaping the monotony of treadmill running versus a great outdoor setting on a nice day. I was going to do a 30 minute run, and was really dreading how long it would feel like it was taking. So, I said to myself that I'd stop focusing on that, and just recall my runs along the River Thames in London that I was lucky enough to do recently. I really pictured the Thames Path - each turn, bridge, staircase, landmark, etc. I actually ended up getting totally lost in it. I looked down, and half the run was already done. It blew me away.
I was talking to someone about this, and how you can use it for the non-physical, too. If you're sick, you can either focus on every ache and pain, or see yourself better, and focus on that. Being happy and hopeful releases chemicals that make you feel happy and ultimately better since the immune system does better when stress is reduced (see "Stress: Portrait of a Killer" from National Geographic).
The Stick
Two authors I recommend for a health journey are AJ Jacobs (Drop Dead Healthy) and Tim Ferriss (The Four Hour Body), both of whom suggest visualization. The thing is, they are using it opposite to how most people think of it - to prod you away from the wrong path rather than draw you to the right one.
Ferriss is pretty explicit here, and the visualization is aided by a picture. He recommends you have a 'before' picture prominently displayed somewhere you'll see it every day, and preferably somewhere around where you're trying to get or stay healthy, such as on the mirror you get changed in front of when putting on workout clothes, or on the fridge so you don't pick bad things inside. It works, but I think you can get there by focusing on who you want to be more than what you're afraid of going back to or staying. It's the same game, but taking the positive side of the equation rather than the side engulfed in fear, negativity and guilt.
Jacobs uses an iPhone app to take a picture of himself before embarking on his fitness journey and age it. He looks at the picture of his future self, and talks about wanting to do better for him and not let him down. The thing is, it's really about disappointment and the image of himself aged from the wrong starting place. I tried it. The results were scary, and more like I got wrinkles painted on my face for some summer camp play in which I played a grandfather. And then they threw flour in my face and hair. It was freaky. It's not a stick as explicitly as what Tim Ferriss does, but it's not positive, either. While he talks about owing it to your future self, it's really about guilting you into being healthy.
Guilt and fear can work and work well, but my concern is that they are not going to help you with moving to a mentally positive place overall with your attitude. You should do what works for you, but be open to positive visualization as a motivator as the more positive things you use to get to your goals, the stronger a person you will be and the more likely you will be to stay on the right path. Ultimately, that's what matters - you are trying to get and stay healthy. That takes some serious personal strength, and that strength comes from empowerment and positivity, not from fear or guilt. Since when do people associate fear and guilt with empowerment and strength? Enlighten.your.body.
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