Beyond the Power of Your Subconscious Mind by C. James Jensen Page B
Authors: C. James Jensen
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this day I consider him one of the greatest mentors/teachers in my life. He really taught me the inner game of performance in any area of my life for which he simply used tennis as a metaphor for such teachings and insights.
In 1976 Tim invited my wife, Jeri, and me to join him and a group at Copper Mountain, Colorado. With co-author Bob Kriegel, the Copper Mountain ski experience was to become the basis for Tim’s next book, Inner Skiing.
My wife and I have both been skiing since early childhood. I was on our high school ski team and raced competitively in pro-amateur events until the age of 50. Even as I write these words, my wife and I are enjoying the month skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho. My point being that I am not a stranger to skiing or conventional ski instruction.
Approximately 30 of us gathered together at Copper Mountain to experience a week of “inner skiing.” As those of you who are skiers know, conventional ski instruction is very linear where the instructor observes you for a couple of ski turns and then says, “bend zee knees,” or “put more weight on the downhill ski,” etc., etc. The whole process is very mechanical.
None of this occurred at Copper Mountain, and yet our skiing proficiency increased dramatically. We began each day by grouping together after breakfast in one of the hotel’s ballrooms where we were staying. We were in our ski attire and were invited to lie down on the carpet of the ballroom. We experienced a group deep relaxation exercise and then with our eyes closed we were asked to visualize ourselves skiing. We were given several different visual scenarios such as different terrains, moguls, smooth slopes, steep slopes and gentle slopes. In each scenario we were instructed to visualize ourselves skiing in that situation. We did this exercise for 30–45 minutes. We then adjourned and gathered with our respective groups, put on our skis and hit the slopes.
Once on the mountain, our instructor (really more a facilitator) would tell us he was going to go down the mountain making 10–15 turns, and then we were to follow and ski to him, one at a time. As each of us arrived, he only asked one question; “How was that compared to your visualization this morning?” The skier would respond, “I think I was bent over too far at the waist,” or, “I was using too much upper body movement,” etc. The instructor would simply say, “Good, just become more aware of your picture this morning.”
There was no agreeing or disagreeing with our own assessment. There was no correctional instruction—simply, “be aware of your mental picture this morning.”
Note: Very Important:
When you internally visualize yourself performing, you don’t see yourself making mistakes. In skiing you don’t visualize yourself falling, you see yourself skiing flawlessly. If you are visualizing your golf swing, you don’t see yourself hitting the ball out of bounds, you see yourself hitting the ball down the center of the fairway or hitting the ball on the green next to the pin. If you are visualizing yourself playing the piano, you don’t see yourself hitting the wrong keys. You see yourself playing the piece perfectly.
This is a very important fact associated with visualizing performance, as it becomes the subconscious recorded picture and instruction to your subconscious of how you are to perform.
As we skied our next 10–15 turns, once again the instructor would ask, “How was that?” We might answer by saying, “I wasn’t as bent over at the waist and my upper body movement was more centered.” The instructor wouldn’t say, “good” or” bad,” he would simply say, “Great, just continue to focus on your image during our visualization this morning.”
Throughout the day and the week our performance continued to improve with no instruction. We were our own “instructors.”
One very impressive exercise occurred one day when we stood at the top of a Double Diamond run.
In 1976 Tim invited my wife, Jeri, and me to join him and a group at Copper Mountain, Colorado. With co-author Bob Kriegel, the Copper Mountain ski experience was to become the basis for Tim’s next book, Inner Skiing.
My wife and I have both been skiing since early childhood. I was on our high school ski team and raced competitively in pro-amateur events until the age of 50. Even as I write these words, my wife and I are enjoying the month skiing in Sun Valley, Idaho. My point being that I am not a stranger to skiing or conventional ski instruction.
Approximately 30 of us gathered together at Copper Mountain to experience a week of “inner skiing.” As those of you who are skiers know, conventional ski instruction is very linear where the instructor observes you for a couple of ski turns and then says, “bend zee knees,” or “put more weight on the downhill ski,” etc., etc. The whole process is very mechanical.
None of this occurred at Copper Mountain, and yet our skiing proficiency increased dramatically. We began each day by grouping together after breakfast in one of the hotel’s ballrooms where we were staying. We were in our ski attire and were invited to lie down on the carpet of the ballroom. We experienced a group deep relaxation exercise and then with our eyes closed we were asked to visualize ourselves skiing. We were given several different visual scenarios such as different terrains, moguls, smooth slopes, steep slopes and gentle slopes. In each scenario we were instructed to visualize ourselves skiing in that situation. We did this exercise for 30–45 minutes. We then adjourned and gathered with our respective groups, put on our skis and hit the slopes.
Once on the mountain, our instructor (really more a facilitator) would tell us he was going to go down the mountain making 10–15 turns, and then we were to follow and ski to him, one at a time. As each of us arrived, he only asked one question; “How was that compared to your visualization this morning?” The skier would respond, “I think I was bent over too far at the waist,” or, “I was using too much upper body movement,” etc. The instructor would simply say, “Good, just become more aware of your picture this morning.”
There was no agreeing or disagreeing with our own assessment. There was no correctional instruction—simply, “be aware of your mental picture this morning.”
Note: Very Important:
When you internally visualize yourself performing, you don’t see yourself making mistakes. In skiing you don’t visualize yourself falling, you see yourself skiing flawlessly. If you are visualizing your golf swing, you don’t see yourself hitting the ball out of bounds, you see yourself hitting the ball down the center of the fairway or hitting the ball on the green next to the pin. If you are visualizing yourself playing the piano, you don’t see yourself hitting the wrong keys. You see yourself playing the piece perfectly.
This is a very important fact associated with visualizing performance, as it becomes the subconscious recorded picture and instruction to your subconscious of how you are to perform.
As we skied our next 10–15 turns, once again the instructor would ask, “How was that?” We might answer by saying, “I wasn’t as bent over at the waist and my upper body movement was more centered.” The instructor wouldn’t say, “good” or” bad,” he would simply say, “Great, just continue to focus on your image during our visualization this morning.”
Throughout the day and the week our performance continued to improve with no instruction. We were our own “instructors.”
One very impressive exercise occurred one day when we stood at the top of a Double Diamond run.
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