The Magic Of Mental Rehearsal

Visualization is a little known secret of the best performers on the planet. Are you leveraging this skill to achieve your goals? Learn why and how my latest post...

When I used to compete regularly in sports like cycling, tennis, golf, skiing, running, triathlon, and CrossFit, I’d always notice that watching the best professionals in the world compete on TV in the days before my event resulted in the most magical performances. As I watched athletes perform at the highest level, I could “feel” myself doing the same. It turns out that simply observing an expert engages and “lights up” mirror neurons in the brain as though you’re actually doing the activity at that level. What I didn’t know at the time was that it wasn’t magic at all! I was inadvertently leveraging the power of visualization at just the right time to gain skill, as well as an optimal outcome. I often had my best performances the day after watching my heroes perform.

Thanks to our new understanding of neuroscience, we now know that the brain can’t tell the difference between doing/experiencing an event and vividly visualizing that event. This is because both ignite the same brain circuits accurately enough that we see real skill acquisition in both conditions.  In many cases, the gains in visualizers can be the equivalent to those who are actually practicing/doing the activity. What’s so cool is that this effect applies to physical AND psychological skills. In fact we can leverage visualization as part of unlearning pain, anxiety, and just about any other life change you’re motivated to make. More on this in a bit. 

Top performers in sports, business, finance, art, and music have been using visualization for decades. You’ll see athletes using mental rehearsal in nearly every discipline from rock climbing (Adam Ondra flashed one of the hardest climbs ever - 5.15/9a - on his first try using mostly visualization with minimal contact with the rock) to Mixed Martial Arts (Connor McGregor took the title from the world champion in under 20 seconds by visualizing exactly what his strategy was - he even announced what he’d planned to do ahead of the fight). Multi-time world champion skiers like Mikaela Shiffrin visualize every run vividly before entering the start house. Tennis players like Rafael Nadal consistently dominate by rehearsing a confident mindset before even getting on the court.

I recently encouraged a friend to leverage the technique ahead of brain surgery where he’d have a tumor removed. He was justifiably nervous about the procedure and the anesthesia. So I told him a story about the history of anesthesia and how it’s kind of a miracle (listen to this Radio Lab podcast about it if you’re interested). I reinforced how surgeons are incredibly skilled at what they do, and his was no exception. Then, I encouraged him to practice gratitude for modern technology, the surgical team, and his amazing brain in the weeks leading up to the procedure. He practiced the outcome he wanted weeks before surgery. His surgery went super smooth and he walked out of the OR hours later (shocking the surgical team). He had an incredible outcome. Basically, we all have the opportunity to practice manifesting what we want rather than what we don’t want. People who do this are able to have the optimal experience ahead of the actual experience to ensure success when it matters most. 

Regardless of whether you’re an athlete or not, you might be missing out on an important skill that truly applies to any aspect of life success. Want to get better at public speaking, parenting, intimacy, your career, socializing, or art? Visualization and mental rehearsal can get you there. 

Novice musicians show similar brain changes and skill acquisition visualizing piano sequences over the course of a week as those actually practicing on the piano

Novice exercisers gain significant strength and keep it by visualizing lifting weights compared to matched controls who are actually lifting weights! 

Injured athletes preserve strength, flexibility, and movement ability by visualizing ongoing daily training as they heal compared to non-visualizing controls.

Visualization not only creates real brain changes, including the identical brain connections to those who are practicing, but it actually changes our biology, including our genes! This is why visualization is so powerful as a part of behavior change, including unlearning pain. So let’s talk about chronic symptoms.

Visualization and mental rehearsal have very real impacts on the brain, and thus the body. When you remember that all pain is constructed and experienced in the brain, and that the brain is very good at learning, once the brain learns a symptom, it can run that symptom on repeat. Essentially your brain creates a neural pathway for that symptom which can manifest in real or perceived body changes. This can happen with or without an injury and the brain can keep running that learned sensation long after healing is done; if there was an injury in the first place (which there often isn’t). Then, as long as you have fear about pain, you’ll essentially be practicing pain, further burning it into your brain’s neural circuitry.

Through visualization and mental rehearsal, you can start practicing a new outcome. A new response to your pain. A new pattern of behavior despite pain. A new outcome with feared or avoided activities. You can rehearse any new reality you’d like to achieve in day-to-day life to create change. For instance, once you make a connection between your pain and how it’s caused by some stress in your life (ie. symptoms get worse when you’re at work), you can visualize how you might respond differently to that stressful situation in the future. Ponder how you might visualize a different experience with a boss you hate, a challenging relationship, a big life change, or an overwhelming trip. Where you put your attention, there goes your energy. Doesn’t putting most of your energy toward your ideal outcome make sense? Regardless of whether you're trying to overcome your fear of pain, or the fear of other things in your life, practicing the future you want will always net a better outcome than the future you don’t want. 

I’ve been sharing this short Mastery Blueprint video with my clients to help them understand the 8 important scientific benefits of visualization. Check it out.

So HOW do you use visualization to prepare for a sports competition, some important life event, and/or to overcome pain?

First, decide what scenario you’ll likely face, and what skills you’ll need.

Then use an 80/20 rule. Practice 20% of the time overcoming negative scenarios (challenges, common mistakes, and anticipated fears). Think of how you’ll react, for instance, when your pain flares up. Plan how you’ll respond in the best way possible. Can you let go quickly when things go sideways? How will that feel? Work on your self-talk and how you’ll successfully react when things don’t go your way. Rehearse going back to the evidence that your brain is in charge of pain and that your body is ok. Rehearse a mantra or some affirmation and how you’ll reassure yourself in the presence of increased symptoms.

Then spend 80% of your time practicing positive outcomes. Add as much detail as possible. The more vivid the visualization and the more emotion you bring into the visualization the better. Emotion is the most powerful carrier of any change, so don’t skip that part. For instance, the more emotion I feel as I watch Mattieu Van der poel win Paris Roubaix, the more that feeling will translate into a strong ride the next day. Similarly, practice the pain-free run, ride, or tennis match you’d like to play. Revisit a memory of when that activity was painless and you were in a flow state. Or simply rehearse your ideal outcome. Remember, your brain doesn’t know the difference between visualization and real life. This effect goes both ways so practice what you want rather than what you don’t want.

Start with your breath to calm your mind and allow distracting thoughts to pass. Then add detail to your visualization by using the acronym PETTEP to make it feel more vivid and real:

Physical Sensations - How will it feel in your body to perform in the best way?

Environment - Picture every detail about the physical setting in which you’ll be.

Task - Practice the exact skills that will be required for that task.

Timing - Do it at normal speed, slow, or extra fast depending on what the task requires.

Emotion - Visualize how you want to feel. Are you excited, nervous, calm, confident? As you practice the hard emotions, use calming breaths to overcome these difficult feelings in your visualization. Then shift to the emotions you’d like to manifest. Remember, your brain doesn’t know the difference between visualizing those feeling and actually having them. You’re priming your nervous system to have the feelings that connect with the best performance.

Perspective - Rehearse your performance in 1st and/or 3rd person, depending on the task.

Add positive self-talk, affirmations, and mantras to strengthen the effect, especially if you can carry those into the event or challenging scenarios. 

To learn more, watch Part 2 of the Mastery Blueprint video for a “how to” example of how visualization looks in practice. 

If you’d like to learn more about mental rehearsal and visualization to overcome pain and perform better in sports and in life, reach out to book an appointment. Like my friend who had brain surgery, visualization always works better when it’s coached specifically in your context. Or better yet, join my next cohort “Unlearning Pain For Athletes” starting this week (and then again in early July) to learn more about how these skills apply to pain and performance as well as loads of other life-changing skills. Are you ready to become version 2.0 of yourself as a performer in sport and in life. Visualization is one way you can connect with that person you’re meant to be. I look forward to working with you.