Many people use mental training instinctively, without realising that they are actually doing it. The term 'mental training' was coined by Swedish psychologist Unestahl in the 1970s and has since become commonplace around the world. In this article, I talk about how my experiences as a competitive athlete have fed into my psychological practice - in this case, the methodology of Dare to Drive.
MI A MENTAL TRAINING?
In Dare to Drive courses, you can also learn more about the technique of Driving with the Mind, among many other methods. This method is a legacy of my competitive sporting past. When I was preparing for a race, it was very important to be in top physical and mental shape. Many athletes use a technique called mental training, in which they perfect a sequence of movements by performing them mentally, usually in a specific relaxed state.
What is it for?
- Practice, perfecting the moves. Before the actual physical movement, I thought about exactly how I would perform the movement elements, in what order, and how I could best perform the critical points. The main aim here is to consolidate the movement pattern, but any mistakes can also be corrected. For me, the jumping turn kick was my bogeyman, I practiced the move countless times in my head in slow motion to a cube and got the results.
- Support for training. After a while, increasing the training time was simply not feasible, as it would have been too much of a burden, and I didn't want to leave university to do competitive sport. In addition to the physical training, I was able to exercise mentally, which was not physically exhausting, but the nerve-muscle pathways necessary for movement were activated, and the impulses were sent to the muscles in almost the same way.
- Increasing self-confidence. Before a competition, I would mentally execute the task perfectly, over and over again... it was a mental training that I could do it, because I had done it countless times. The movement was already ingrained in my mind and body, it had become a routine that I just had to repeat.
- Reducing anxiety. In my mind I had the place in my head, I could feel the tatami under my feet, I was completely tuned in to the different stimuli I would encounter there. In my imagination I performed the pre-fight rituals over and over again. Sometimes I would actually play the whole process in my head like a film, highlighting the moments that I wanted to pay particular attention to during the competition. Oh, and of course I executed everything perfectly in my mind. After such mental preparation, my body knew exactly when, in what situation, what I expected it to do and how to do it.
- Rehabilitation. When I was recovering from an injury, and I was not yet physically able to perform a movement perfectly, I didn't torture myself, I didn't put any strain on the still swollen, sore joint, but I gave myself enough time to rest. Although I'm a very impatient person by nature, I didn't feel like I was wasting precious time that I could have spent practicing before the competition, but I was in control. Even if mentally, I was able to polish my technique. Moreover, instead of practising an incorrect movement to fix a possibly incorrect movement pattern to avoid pain, I practised mentally, but then I practised perfect execution. I also imagined my body healing, with less swelling every day, strong healthy bones, joints and fast muscles.
Mental preparation has helped me in sports, helped me in my studies for important exams and entrance exams, helped me and countless patients to come out of endometriosis. So why shouldn't it also help me to drive a car without fear?
Starting from this line of thought, I have created a series of exercises, two of which I will now show you. You can use these if you are still afraid of driving.
One of them is simple: every night before you go to bed, close your eyes and imagine yourself getting into the car, starting the engine, checking the mirrors, turning the indicators, turning in a perfect arc, parallel parking on the pavement and in the Tesco car park, overtaking with regularity, arriving at your destination with a happy grin on your face. Drive in your head and rehearse every possible scenario you can think of. Right turn, left turn, small curve, big curve, stop sign, overtaking, motorway...
The second exercise is no longer practiced in bed, but in the mother-in-law seats, for the (for now) passanger princesses. If your partner, your mum, the taxi driver is driving, imagine you are driving and try to concentrate and pay attention to everything as if you were in the driver's seat. It will give you confidence when you see that you do notice when you can change lanes, brake in time, when an obedient dog runs off into the road, etc.
Let's meet again on the field! My courses, which, depending on your circumstances, will help you regain or regain the experience of driving with confidence and abandon You can find it HERE.
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