Welcome to the Flow State Performance Podcast.
Created for those committed to mastery and success.
Coming to you from Manly Australia,
We break down the science and philosophy of optimal performance.
So you can unleash your potential.
Hey guys,
Welcome to Flow Nuggets.
Today I'm going to talk about visualization.
Visualization is also known as mental rehearsal.
It's the practice of using all of our senses to create or recreate an image or a series of images in our mind.
So neuroscientists haven't exactly dialed in what happens,
What the mechanism is behind mental rehearsal and visualization.
But the basic idea is that by replaying or creating an image or a series of images,
We're basically laying down or activating a neural network or we're reinforcing a neural pathway that is connected to a certain physiological response.
So I'll tell you a quick story about visualization and I guess the opposite of positive visualization,
Which I think is worrying.
So basically I was out surfing with my buddy Steve and we were surfing a place called Kalkal,
Which is near Manly in Australia.
And the waves were really fast and you didn't have much opportunity to really set up.
You basically just paddled in and caught the wave and it was just really,
Really fast and steep.
And both of us just kept on stacking it.
We kept on wiping out.
Neither of us were making it down the face of the wave quickly enough.
And we had a quick chat and we realized that whilst we were paddling for the wave,
The whole time we had this sort of image of us wiping out because we knew that it was likely that we were going to wipe out such were the conditions.
And we realized that we were actually replaying this message,
This image over and over in our head.
And then sure enough,
What would happen is exactly what we had imaged,
We would wipe out.
So after our little chat,
We just decided to change the image and we were very intentional about it.
We decided what the desired outcome was,
Which is obviously riding the wave.
And we made sure that that was being played in our head before enduring the act of catching the wave.
And what happened was pretty unsurprisingly,
We started manifesting that reality.
We started catching the wave.
We started riding the wave,
Which was awesome.
So basically that little episode was just a nice little reminder that what we visualize,
What we spend time intentionally visualizing is more likely to happen,
Which is kind of an obvious statement.
But we don't exactly,
It's not taught to us at school,
Is it?
We don't spend time in the classroom learning visualization techniques,
Do we?
So I went on a little bit of a research project and just started studying things.
And I found all these awesome stories,
All these research projects,
Research projects that scientists had led into mental rehearsal and athletes.
For example,
There was one study in 2004 where they got this research group and they basically gave them a series of exercises just to do with their little finger.
So one group basically did exercises every day to strengthen their little finger.
And the other group did no exercises,
But they basically mentally rehearsed the exercises.
So they just did the exercises only in their mind.
So the first group that was actually doing the exercises,
They reported a 53% increase in little finger strength,
Not surprisingly.
But the group that did no physical exercise,
But only mental exercise,
Also reported a 35% increase in finger strength,
Which is pretty amazing.
Another cool way of looking at visualization or mental rehearsal is a way to program our subconscious.
We've got this thing in our brains called the reticular activating system or the RAS,
Which basically acts as a filter between our conscious and our subconscious.
Have you guys ever noticed when you want to buy a certain car or when there's a particular place you want to go on holiday,
Maybe you want to go to Hawaii or maybe you want to buy a Porsche or a Ferrari or a BMW,
And all of a sudden you start seeing that thing all over the place?
It's almost like something weird is happening.
You might think the universe is sending you a signal that you should go to Hawaii or you should buy whatever it is,
A car.
But what's happening is that you've programmed your filter,
Your RAS,
To basically identify that thing.
So that's why it's coming more into our consciousness.
It's being filtered into your consciousness as opposed to being filtered out of your consciousness and into your subconscious.
The cool thing about this in relation to flow states is that when we're actually in a flow state,
We're actually operating from what neuroscientists call our implicit system.
So we're actually acting subconsciously.
We're not using our cognitive processes to basically drive our action and our response.
Everything's being driven from our subconscious,
Which is a far more rapid system.
So if you think about how visualization can actually program your subconscious with the desired outcomes that you wish,
And that when we're in flow states,
We're operating from that subconscious,
You can see the powerful connection there.
It basically means that when you enter a flow state and you have deliberately programmed your subconscious through visualization or mental rehearsal techniques,
You're far more likely to do whatever it is that you've been visualizing.
So presumably you've been visualizing the success of some particular move.
It might be surfing.
It might be snowboarding.
It might be walking up to a girl at a bar or a boy at a restaurant.
It could be anything.
But if you've mentally rehearsed that thing and then you slip into a flow state,
Then you're basically drawing from programs or neural pathways that you've already placed there.
Cool.
So let's talk about how we can actually start to do this.
How do we visualize?
What's the best way?
Well,
When I speak to my clients and we talk about visualization,
We often move on to visualization after there's a solid meditation program down.
Meditation is not necessary to visualize,
Not at all.
But one of the key things about visualization is really being in a relaxed and a calm state of mind,
Being in an environment with minimal distractions.
And I really feel like meditation is the best way to ensure that you are in that state of calm.
Or focusing on your breath could also do the same thing.
So whatever it is,
Whether you're doing it after meditation or not,
Just be in a very quiet place where you can really just turn your attention inward.
Also,
Make sure that you're using all of your senses.
We have five senses,
But we also have our sixth sense.
So really just make sure that it's a full-on sensory experience when you're trying to visualize whatever it is you're trying to visualize.
Also,
Imagine when you're visualizing something,
Say doing a jump,
Going off a jump on a snowboard or a pair of skis,
Visualize it in first person.
So imagine you are going over the jump.
Often it's tempting to have some sort of drone or some sort of eagle-eye view of you doing this thing over the jump,
But it's going to be far more effective if you can actually visualize it in first person and also in real time as opposed to slow motion.
And finally,
Just make sure that this sensation,
This visualization,
Is as vivid as possible.
Really go deep into setting the scenes.
What are the smells?
What are the sounds?
What are the things that you can hear?
What are the sensations throughout your body?
This is really important because not everybody learns the same way.
I think in NLP they talk about people being primarily audio learners or visual learners or audio kinesthetic.
And kinesthetic,
I think there's four.
So basically audio is obvious.
You learn by sound.
Visual you learn predominantly by seeing things.
And kinesthetic you learn predominantly through the feel of things.
I've got a friend who tried visualizing himself surfing a wave,
And he just couldn't do it.
He just could not bring the image to his mind's eye.
But when it was suggested to him that he could feel the sensation of riding the wave,
He was off,
He was away,
He was deep into it.
And it was really helpful for him.
So basically just experiment.
Find out what sort of thing works for you,
And then just go from there.
Also another tip is start very basic.
So visualize something that's really familiar.
Say your partner's face or your own face or the view from your window.
Start with something very simple.
And over time you'll become better and more detailed at visualizing.
Cool guys,
So what's next?
Basically just practice.
Either practice first thing in the morning or at night when things are a bit calmer,
Less distractions in your life.
See if it goes well with your meditation practice.
And let me know in the comments how it goes for you.
Cool guys,
Hope you enjoyed this little Flow Nugget.
And I will catch you next time.
See ya.
Thanks for listening to the FlowState Performance Podcast.
Check us out at www.
Flowstateperformance.
Com for more inspiration to unleash your potential.
