Atonetimeoranother,we'vebeenconfusedabouthowtodosomethingrequiringphysicalskillandhavereliedonanother,moreexperienced,persontohelpusout.However,whentheyexplainhowtodosomething,wejustdon'tgetit!

　　Forexample,whenIbegansnowboardingIjustcouldn'tpickupatoeedgeturn.Otherswouldattempttogivemeadviceonraisingmyheelsandcenteringmybalancebuttonoavail.Theonlyremedywaspracticeandjust"feelingit."Ihadtofigureoutawayofmyown.Now,whenpeopleaskmeaboutsnowboardingI,too,trytoexplainbutenduptellingthepersonthatit'snotreallysomethingthatcanbeexplained--youjusthavetokeepexperimenting.

　　Thesamegoesforhorsebackriding.Youcaninstructpeopleallyouwant,butintheendallthatmattersisfeelingonewiththehorseinawaythatcan'tbeputintospecificdirections.Everypersonisdifferent,andeverycaseisdifferent.Whatmakesonepersonsuccessfulwillnotmakeanother.

　　SomethingIlearnedinmyhighschooltrackandfielddayswasatypeofmeditationcalledmentalimagery.Thedaybeforeameet,mycoachwouldhavetheteamspreadoutinthegymandturnthelightsoffassheproceededtoreadtousexercisesthatwouldcalmusandprepareus.

　　Mentalimageryisaperceptualexperience.Youmayvisualizeyourselfinthepastorfuture.Thethoughtprocessesthatoccurarefunctionsofthememory.Whenmentalimageryisappliedtosports,thentheathletemayenvisionhimorherselfexcellingatacertainfeatinthedesiredmanner,thenheorshecanrecallthiswhenactuallyperforming.Thesameeffectcanbeusedforotherpurposes,suchassuccesssociallyandintheworkplace.

　　Ifnothingelse,positivementalimageryiscalmingandrelaxing,allowingapersontode-stress.Makesurewhendoingthis,youareinacomfortable,quietplacewithlowornolighting.

　　Mentalimagerycanbeusedtogreatlyreducestressandtensioninthebody.Oneformhastheparticipantcontractalloftheirmusclegroups,hold,thenreleaseasthepersoncreatesastateinwhichthey"see"andfeelallofthetensionleavingtheirbody.

　　Manybelievethatthemindholdsthekeytoevenphysicalaspectsofthebody.Withenoughconcentration,themindcanpreventthebodyfromfeelingpain.We'vealsoallheardaboutpeoplewhocanmoveinanimateobjectswiththepowerofthemind.Thesetalentstakemuch,muchpractice,dedicationandconcentration--morethanIormostpeopleIknowwouldbewillingtodo.Butstill,theseareexamplesofthecapabilitiesofthemind.

　　Also,trynottoletfearholdyoubackinyourendeavorsinwhichyouarestruggling,especiallysports.Iunderstandthatthiscanbedifficult.Whensnowboarding,Istillslowmyselfdownsometimesandthispreventsmefromdoingmoreadvancedmoves.ThoughwhenIvisualizegoingdowntheslopeperfectly,withnofear,Ifindthatthiseasesmeabit.

　　Nowgofindacomfortableplacetolaydown(orgetinanothercomfortableormeditatingposition),andgetvisualizing...goodluck!