Free Sport Psychology E-Zine

Sierra Center for Peak Perfromance

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Zine of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VII, Number 12 December 2003*

Welcome to the sixtieth issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing Your Functional Thinking Skills
Part XI: A Case Study
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

Joe is a Major League baseball player. He has developed a habit of negative thinking and he experiences excessive tension at the plate. As a part of his enrollment in the program, Joe completed the Goals and Action Steps Form at http://www.drrelax.com/affformO.htm and a set of draft affirmations were created for his approval or modification. After Joe approved of his draft affirmations and provided 78 minutes of his favorite music the production of the recorded portion of his personalized program was begun. Joe's first recorded mental training session, or exercise, was produced in two parts. The first half presented vivid imagery, introduced the process of Sensory Recall and taught the skills of "deep, belly breathing" to induce profound physical relaxation and a calm, focused and positive state of mind. The second part of his first mental rehearsal exercise gave instructions for the daily use of the newly developed skills and is presented below:

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And Joe as you drift and float and dream you can see yourself and feel yourself practicing the deep breathing technique at least four times each day. At least four times each day see yourself and feel yourself pausing in your daily activity to bring on deep relaxation, peace and tranquility. See and feel the rich, warm red vapor as you inhale it through your nose and you force your stomach out...feel the warmth as you pause and hold the vapor deep inside of you...then feel the release and flow of relaxation as you allow the vapor to escape slower through your mouth as you draw your stomach back in...if feels so good...it feels so natural...you find yourself eager and anxious to practice deep breathing at least four times each day.

From now on Joe whenever you step onto the field or into the dugout you will automatically take three deep, belly breaths, From now on whenever you think about baseball or mentally rehearse batting you will take three deep breaths. You will find yourself eager and anxious to take three deep, belly breaths as often as possible because you know that the more you practice the deep, belly breathing the easier it will be for you to relax, focus and consistently bring out your best...and it feels so good...it feels so natural...as you drift...and float...and dream...warm and heavy...and deeply, profoundly relaxed.

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Joe's story will be continued in my next article, which is will be published in February.

I would enjoy producing a personalized training program for you like the one that was produced for Joe. You don't have to be a Major League player to benefit and you don't have to pay Major League bucks. Email me here if you're interested in learning the skills that will help you more consistently bring out your best.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Laura Finch.

Laura has 72 hours to claim the Personalized Subliminal CD.

*Published in February 2004

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FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Zine of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 1 January 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-first issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing Your Functional Thinking Skills
Part XII: A New Case Study
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

This month's issue will depart from the Case Study of Joe to introduce a case study, of sorts, that is outlined in the April edition of Runner's World magazine.

The Runner's World article is about the author's experience with mental training as an "Alternative Therapy". Katie describes herself as having lost her desire to run and feeling guilty about it. She describes her experiences with the program and how she is feeling now that she has been using it for a while. I think that you would find what she has to say of interest. Please pick up a copy of April's Runner's World, look on page 48 and see what she has to say. Her story is not yet over.

Joe's story will be continued in my next article, which is will also be published in March.

I would enjoy producing a personalized training program for you similar to the one that was developed for Katie. You don't have to be a runner to benefit. Email me here if you're interested in learning the skills that will help you more consistently bring out your best.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Joe Warfield.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Zine of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 2 February 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-second issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing Your Functional Thinking Skills
Part XIII: A New Case Study
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

Joe is a Major League baseball player. He has developed a habit of negative thinking and was unable to bat to the level of his potential because he became too tight and experiences excessive tension when at bat. Joe's first recorded mental training session, or exercise, was produced in two parts. The first half presented vivid imagery, introduced the process of Sensory Recall and taught the skills of "deep, belly breathing". The first half of the exercise also helped Joe learn to place himself in a very deep state of relaxation through the use of Deep, Belly Breathing (Breathing with the Diaphragm) and Guided Imagery (Mental Rehearsal).

Deep, belly breathing is a natural trigger for the Relaxation Response. The Relaxation Response could be thought of as a natural reflex that, when triggered, causes the body to relax. The changes that occur as a result of belly breathing are both physical and psychological. For example, heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure and lactic acid levels all tend to decline. Psychological changes include increases in concentration, awareness and composure. All of the changes associated with the triggering of the Relaxation Response are in most cases conducive to enhanced athletic performance.

Because the Relaxation Response is a reflex, Classical Conditioning principles can be used to help Joe relax more automatically at the plate. If you took Psychology 101 you will probably remember that Pavlov taught his dog to salivate to the sound of a tuning fork by pairing the sound of a tuning fork with the presentation of food. After many repetitions the dog began to salivate to the sound of the tuning fork. In much the same way, Joe can teach himself to relax rather than tense up when he comes to bat.

To accomplish the conditioning Joe paired being at bat with taking deep, belly breaths. Joe also took three deep, belly breaths as often as possible and at least four times every day. As a part of the conditioning process he took three deep, breaths whenever he was about to bat, when he hit during batting practice, when he mentally rehearsed batting and any time he thought about hitting. Within a week of the beginning of the conditioning process Joe reported being more relaxed when he was batting. Within four weeks of training Joe reported being much more relaxed, more calm, more focused and able to more consistently hit to the level of his potential.

My next article will continue the case study of Joe and focus on how he was able to change his pattern of negative self-talk and thinking that was associated with being at bat.

I would enjoy producing a personalized training program for you similar to the one that was developed for Joe. Email me here if you're interested in learning the skills that will help you more consistently bring out your best.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Marcia Hines.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Zine of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 3 March 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-third issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing Your Functional Thinking Skills
Part XIV: A New Case Study
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

Joe is a Major League baseball player. He had developed a habit of negative thinking and was unable to bat to the level of his potential because he became too tight and experienced excessive tension when at bat. Joe enrolled in one of the Personalized Mental Strength Training Programs described here. This is the continuing chronicle of his cognitive training.

Mental Rehearsal, Classical Conditioning and Deep, Belly Breathing were the primary tools used to successfully teach Joe to control the amount of tension he felt and focus more effectively when at the plate. Regular Telephone Coaching also helped to offer suggestions, answer questions and build a positive relationship. After learning more about what Joe's personality and gaining his trust, he was asked to change his pre-game preparation by adding the viewing of a comedy DVD or Video Tape the night before each game. Laughing is a great exercise that eases tension and tends to lighten the mindset of the viewer. The movement of the diaphragm when we laugh is much the same as when we take deep, belly breaths. Within two weeks of beginning the training process Joe reported a significant reduction of tension when batting. Helping Joe to gain more control over his thoughts was, as it typically is, a little more challenging.

Thought-Stopping, Subliminal Reinforcement and Concentration Exercises were the primary tools used to help Joe gain control over his negative thinking. Mental Rehearsal and Deep Breathing were also employed to reinforce the daily use of Thought-Stopping and regular practice with cognitive exercises that strengthen concentration.

Joe's first responses to questions about what he was thinking when at bat were that he could not remember. To help him gain some insight to his thoughts and provide a secondary resource for affirmations, Joe was asked to keep a Self-Talk Log. Go here to view the Log that Joe used.

My next article will continue the case study of Joe and his efforts to change his pattern of negative self-talk and thinking.

I would enjoy producing a personalized training program for you similar to the one that was developed for Joe. Click here if you're interested in learning the skills that will help you more consistently bring out your best.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Leslie Paith.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Zine of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 4 April 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-fourth issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing Your Functional Thinking Skills
Runner's World April 2004 Edition
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

Thanks to Katie McDonald Neitz, Associate Editor, and with permission of
Runner's World Magazine, this months newsletter is a reprint of the April 2004 article that appeared on page 48.

PUTTING ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES TO THE TEST

Can affirmation CDs yield positive results? Last fall, I ran a marathon, scoring a personal record and raising thousands of dollars for cancer research in the process. And then, after a few weeks of celebration, I lost it - my desire to run. My only motivation now was guilt (about not running), and it was working more against me than for me.

I sought the help of sports psychologist Gary Beale, Ph.D. "Dr. Relax," as he calls himself, runs an Internet-based mental-training program that promotes the theory that psychological training is as important as physical training. Beale teaches athletes relaxation, visualization, and positive thinking techniques with mental-training CDs.

Beale wrote out 26 "affirmations" that targeted areas I needed help with ("I am my own best training partner"; "I love running in the cold," etc.) He recorded them subliminally on a mix CD (with Nelly, No Doubt, and Justin Timberlake) I provided. I read my affirmations every day and listened to the CD as often as possible, and I wasn't able to detect the hidden messages, which was good.

Beale's program also involves a relaxation CD. This CD is Beale's hypnotic voice, leading you through visualization exercises. My first listen was more creepy than relaxing, but after repeating it every night, I got used to it and learned to block out distractions. The point of this exercise is to learn how to get into a relaxed, trance-like state of mind that you can draw upon when you need to be calm and focused.

After two weeks, my training became more consistent, I wasn't dreading runs, and I was getting through them with less effort. I have a half-marathon coming up, and I plan to test the relaxation/visualization training then. The fact that I've registered for a half-marathon-something I was in no mood to train for a few weeks ago-is a sign my motivation is back. - Katrin McDonald Neitz

My next article will continue the case study of Joe and his efforts to change his pattern of negative self-talk and thinking.

I would enjoy producing a personalized training program for you similar to the one that was developed for Katie. Email me here if you're interested in learning the skills that will help you more consistently bring out your best.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Richard Little.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Newsletter of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 5 May 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-fifth issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing Your Functional Thinking Skills
Part XV: On Falling Asleep
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

Joe continued to use the Baseball Self-Talk Log to keep a record of his self-talk. Over the period of about three to four weeks he was able to define in detail what thoughts he was having and when he was having them. As a result a few new affirmations were developed and Thought-Stopping became much more effective for him.

As Joe continued to make progress he encountered a different type of challenge when using CD One. CD One is the CD that teaches Mental Rehearsal skills and conditions the mind and body to enter the Optimal Performance State when specific cues occur. Joe reported that after several weeks of practice, he found that he would often fall asleep while working with the Guided Visualizations on CD One. Here is my response to him:

The issue you report is a common one. It is not an ideal occurrence but it is a natural response to inducing your body to become more deeply relaxed and centered. For most of us we only achieve the type of relaxation that you are learning to bring on voluntarily when we are in the process of falling asleep. As a result we form an association between this level of deep relaxation and sleep. Like most habits you can break this association with effort and persistence. If falling asleep while listening to CD One continues to occur try this:

When your mind begins to drifts away from the narrative on the CD, first open your eyes and then:

This usually eliminates falling asleep while practicing. Even if you do fall asleep but awaken at the countdown you are still getting some of the desired benefits. Because increasing your ability to concentrate is a goal of the training, falling asleep is undesirable and you should use these steps to avoid it. Try this method and let me know how things change.

My next article will continue the case study of Joe and his efforts to learn to relax more at the place and change his pattern of negative self-talk and thinking.

I would enjoy producing a personalized training program for you similar to the one that was developed for Katie and Joe. Email me here if you're interested in learning the skills that will help you more consistently bring out your best.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Lyanne Diotte.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Newsletter of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 6 June 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-sixth issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing Your Functional Thinking Skills
Part XVI: Preparation & Performance Journal
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

As Joe progressed in his training and began to master the skills that helped to make his performance more consistent with his ability it became more important to determine how changes in his preparation affected his performance. Because Peak Performance is no accident and is the result of proper physical, mental and nutritional preparation I asked him to use the following journal immediately after each game he played:

Notes: ______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________

As you can see each of the three basic elements are broken down into component parts. This helps the athlete to quickly evaluate and rank both how prepared he felt on the basic elements themselves and the components most closely associated with each basic element.

Doing the journal also helps remind the athlete of a few of the things he or she needs to focus on during preparation and during the course of the competition. A review of the journal results also helps to identify any preparation pattern that might be associated with both good or poor performance.

If you think that this type of journal keeping will help you please go here and download, duplicate and use the journal for a while and see if it is helpful to you.

I plan to run a contest in the near future that will incorporate the results of this journal so if you would like to win a free, World-Class Program you may want to consider keeping a Preparation and Performance Journal over the course of ten or more competitions or practices.

My next article will discuss an aspect of coaching that has been a source of aggravation for me over the last month and seems to need some illumination. (If I don't take the time to write about it soon I think that I might just burst!)

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Hector Fuentes.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Newsletter of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 7 July 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-seventh issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Enhancing The Self-Esteem of Young Athletes
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

As a dotting father of an active, eight-year-old daughter I attend a good many AYSO soccer games and practices. My daughter loves to play and I look forward to seeing her have fun. AYSO is a nation-wide, all volunteer organization that emphasizes open registration, everyone plays, balanced teams, positive coaching, good sportsmanship and fair play. All of which are commendable values that, in general, I whole-heartedly support for young athletes like my daughter.

I do, however, take issue with one aspect of the positive coaching principal, as AYSO seems to define it. In many cases this season and last I observed coaches praising performance unconditionally. Regardless of the circumstance young athletes were often told "You did a good job!" or "You played great!" or some similar comment even when the team or the player was obviously doing not so great or playing very poorly. When I inquired about this practice I was told that unconditional praise was given to build Self-Esteem.

While I agree that positive self-esteem is a core ingredient to good performance I strongly disagree with the unconditional praise method used by many AYSO coaches. In my opinion this is not the best way to build positive self-esteem. First and foremost you should not attempt to be less than truthful with anyone, least of all young people. In most cases they can see right through it and when they do your praise becomes meaningless and your credibility drops to zero. The following are a few suggestions for how coaches, at all levels, can seek to enhance the self-esteem of the athletes they are involved with:

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Brigitte DeBord.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Newsletter of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 8 August 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-eighth issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Overcoming the Challenges of the Holidays
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

The End-of-the-Year Holiday Season is upon us again and once again it represents a time of great joy, good feelings and for most of us who strive to be productive in our personal and professional lives, great challenge. Two of the tools that I find particularly helpful during these sometimes trying and always busy times is Daily Affirmations and Mental Rehearsal.

I recently spoke with a client who has been enrolled in the program for about three months. Let's call him Fred. Fred called to say that he needed some "extra" motivation with one of his goals and he thought that a new, or a few additional, affirmations might help. Fred said that he was making good progress with the program and that everything, but one, was working fine.

He said that he was not taking his supplements and when asked if they were helping before he stopped taking them he said yes they were. Further values clarification confirm that he still believed that they were good for him; that they helped him; that he needed them to achieve his goals and that he wanted to achieve his goals. In short, nutritional supplements continued to be a necessary part of his ongoing and projected success.

He said that he wanted to keep taking them but he that just "forgets" to take them. Fred also said that there were now so many, his personal trainer had increased his load, that they were troublesome to take even though he broke them up into groups that he was supposed to take several times each day.

In the process of the conversation Fred also brought up the need to get some clarity on one of his affirmations. Fred said that one of his affirmations said that, "I SCHEDULE EVERY HOUR OF EVERY DAY IN MY APPOINTMENT CALENDAR." Then he said "...but I don't have an appointment calendar." My immediate remark was "Then get one and start using it!"

One of Fred's goals relates to not having enough time to train. Not having enough time is a common year-round lament, for most of us, and a special challenge for all of us during the Holidays. I suggested to Fred that he not only get and put into use a Daily Appointment Calendar but that he schedule each pill and what time each day he was to take it.

I also suggested that he should not only say his affirmations out loud each morning before getting out of bed but that he also read his goals and his daily schedule out loud. The act of reaffirming our goals every morning with a verbalization of our personal affirmations helps focus our attention on taking the actions needed to reach our goals. We are more likely to get something done when we focus our attention on doing it.

My final suggestion was that he include a Mental Rehearsal of the day ahead making sure to see with his mind's eye the accomplishment of every key task scheduled for that day. See the day as he would like it to unfold.

I think that you will find that the days go smoother and you get a great deal more accomplished, with far less stress, when you adapt and follow this advice. Please give it a try and let me know how it comes out.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Brock Butler.

FROM BRAIN TO MUSCLE WITHOUT ANY TUSSLE
The On-Line E-Newsletter of the Sierra Center for Peak Performance
Volume VIII, Number 9 September 2004*

Welcome to the sixty-ninth issue of the free Newsletter of Applied Sport Psychology.

PLAYING MIND GAMES THAT HELP YOU WIN:
Losing Your Energy and Focus?
by Gary A. Beale, Ph.D.

During a recent Telephone Consultation and Mental Coaching Session with a promising high school wrestler I was asked a question that I felt deserves attention in this larger forum. Unlimited telephone consultation is just one of the extra benefits that are included with Professional and World-Class Level enrollments. I encourage and welcome the opportunity to "fine-tune" the individualized training process with this type of exchange.

"Bob" asked me if I had any suggestions that might help him return to the level of energy and focus that he felt after his first few weeks of work with his mental training program. Bob has been working with the program for approximately 40 days and had set up the telephone session to address the changes he noticed.

I first took the opportunity to remind Bob of the fact that peak athletic performance is not only related to psychological elements but is also strongly dependent upon physical and nutritional factors. When issues of energy and focus arise the first things that should be ruled out are nutritional and physical causes.

I asked first about his ability to make weight and if he was having any problems staying within the limit of his weight class. Bob said that he was not. I next asked about his relative level of hydration because it is the single, most important nutritional element related to over all performance. Our bodies are about two thirds water and without enough of it on board we tend to experience a sharp and noticeable decline in our ability to focus and in the quality of our performance. He assured me that he was drinking lots of water. When I asked if his urine usually was clear or yellow before training or competition he stated that it was usually yellow.

I strongly suggested that he immediately increase his daily water consumption and continue to increase his intake until his urine routinely ran clear prior to practice and competition. I encouraged him to use the simple method that I use to monitor consumption. I keep a 1.5 liter of bottled water with me at all times and try to drink the first bottle and at least half of a second every 24 hour period. I also mentioned that I was able to find an insulated bottle carrier for the water. The carrier makes it easier to both keep the water cool and carry it around. I asked Bob to increase his hydration for at least a week and then call me back so that we could talk about the results and I could provide additional suggestions. I also asked him to keep a daily record of the amount of water he consumed, his relative level of focus and energy and the color of his urine so that we might have some empirical evidence to review.

If you are feeling "run down" by the hustle and rush of the Holiday Season, or anything else, I suggest that you first examine your water intake and attempt to determine if your getting enough water. If you're not try increasing your intake and see if it makes a difference in how you feel and perform. Please give it a try and let me know the results that you experience.

A SPECIAL NOTE TO BOB: It's time to set up a follow up consultation. Please email me to set up a day and time.

The winner of the drawing for the free Personalized Subliminal CD for this time period is Tamara Ruthaford.

WHEN I PERFORMED		A	B	C	D	F
I. MENTAL ASPECTS (MENTALLY READY TO UNPREPARED )
	1. SELF-TALK: (POSITIVE TO NEGATIVE)
	2. FOCUS: (CENTERED TO SHIFTING)
	3. ENERGY LEVEL (HIGH TO LOW)
	4. LEVEL OF CALM (CALM TO FRANTIC)
II. PHYSICAL ASPECTS (WELL PREPARED TO UNPREPARED)
	1. ENERGY LEVEL (HIGH TO LOW)
	2. STRENGTH (HIGH TO LOW)
	3. INJURY (HEALTHY TO INJURED)
	4. RELAXATION LEVEL (RELAXED TO TIGHT)
III. NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS (WELL PREPARED TO UNPREPARED)
	1. DIET: (NUTRITIOUS TO JUNK FOOD)
	2. WATER: (URINE CLEAR TO DARK YELLOW)
	3. MEALS: (3 MEALS/DAY TO IRREGULAR)