Positive Imagery
Positive Imagery and the Mind-Body Connection
Read our blog on SMART GOALS first, if you can. This will help you apply positive imagery.
Positive Imagery and the Imagination
“The soul is the essence of man and the imagination as the expression of it.”
Our imagination remains the manifestation of the conceptual soul.
Interpretation of the imagination is not a new or contemporary practice.
Recognizing the importance of the imagination is not a new practice, and has been traced back to Ancient Egypt and Greece, and in the Ayurvedic practices of India, traditional Chinese Medicine, and Indigenous Healing Practices.
The human imagination is pretty powerful. In historical texts, there is a direct relationship between the imagination and healing.
By constructing powerful images we are able to alter our experience towards our own health and performance.
Positive Imagery is not new within the context of movement, regeneration, and overall performance.
The imagination has a direct impact on how we think, how we sense, and how we react to the world.
A shift in how we think, our fundamental beliefs, and how we imagine the world, can lead to significant changes in our reality (bear with me, trust me it gets good).
Positive Imagery and the Mind-Body Connection
Positive Imagery is one of the first elements we can discuss when it comes to the mind-body connection.
Benefits of Imaginative Thinking:
- Increased Problem Solving
- Facilitates Decision Making
- Improved Creativity
In other words, you are unstoppable.
There is neuropsychological evidence to support that when you construct an image, the brain recognizes this image as if it is seeing it in reality. The response our brain elicits is identical to either imagination or reality.
The imagination also has an impact on your immune system and cardiovascular system. One word: peptides (use google on this one ).
Imagination is a great tool to help those who are hesitant to change their behavior and engage in a physical setting.
By using your own imagination and your own sense, you are able to to take control of the situation. You reduce your own anxiety of the environment. You are able to understand the extent of your control and extent of your being.
The human mind is complex shit, the way we process information and emotion instantaneously travel at the same time.
Imagery to Enhance Your Fitness
So, how are we going to use all this to get the most out of our fitness?
1: Before stepping foot into the gym, write down the goals and objectives of that work out session, training session, or whatever it is. The goal or objective can be anything but make sure you have one.
IMAGINE WHAT YOU WISH TO ACCOMPLISH!
2: Regulate your breathing and focus on your breathing patterns. Breathing has a direct impact on how you perform and exert movement.
Proper breathing techniques will allow you to reset the diaphragm, which is critical to proper health and fitness.
3: Allow the image to emerge and understand which of your senses produced and reacted to this image
- What do you smell?
- What do you hear?
- What do you see?
- What do you feel?
Focus on your breath.
Imagine what, how, and why you want to move before moving. Envision the movement.
Imagine your purpose.
Your body will respond.
Aim to think positive.
Thoughts Matter.
Stay tuned for other mental tools.
