In the world of the Alexander Technique, mentally rehearsing an action before performing it is paramount in ensuring that action is not performed in a habitual (and therefore most likely inefficient) way. Try it now, turn your head to the left as far as you comfortably can, keeping your shoulders facing forwards. Return to forward position, and now instead of moving right away, first mentally rehearse the movement you are to make, imagine yourself turning your head to the left with grace and ease, then do it. Feel lighter and easier that time? Good. This is a particularly good exercise to use before any action (though few people are truly willing to practice enough to inhibit their first habitual tendencies and take those few seconds to rehearse before moving). However, one place I think you can all get behind is that of exercising, working out and doing weight-lifting, for example. Practicing the techniques and movements mentally first will ensure your form is as good as it can be, which will make your movements more efficient and less injury prone. It’s tempting to think that kind of rehearsal is pointless, as you’re only imagining it and not acting, but it pays huge dividends.

This technique isn’t limited to just movements, however. It can be used equally well for events. Athletes mentally rehease their races, not only to improve their technique, but also to get a feel for what winning would be like. If you can feel it, you can better believe it, and so are more likely to make it happen. If you can’t imagine it, it’s not likely to become a part of your reality. This is great for overcoming fears, visualizing yourself doing what you fear and things going smoothly, and the more you can feel it the more you can believe it, and believing it you won’t hold so tightly on to the idea of the fear being a part of you. And, of course, particularly when it comes to expectations and fears, if you’re consciously visualizing a positive outcome, you won’t be unconsciously creating negative images, so it’s a 2 point swing.

So, do remember visualizing and mentally rehearsing as part of your preparations for just about anything you do, it’ll serve you well.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 27th, 2006 at 12:14 pm and is filed under abarefootman. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.