Stop Managing Target Panic. Fix it!

Why is the mental game so challenging? The mental game is challenging because we don’t understand it. We think we’re limited in correcting the mental challenges that we have and believe we have to live with them. A good example of this is when you find yourself beginning to punch your release. Then you change your release out for a backup with different timing. It’s common for archers that do this to have several releases in their release bag. In our minds, we think this is just the way I shoot and it’s our only option. This is far from the truth. Through hypnosis, we can reach the source of these problems finding out where the anxiety or inpatients comes from. 

Archery is a Mental Game

A big part of the problem is that we don’t know why or where the conflict comes from. What I mean by this is let’s say you know you have some kind of target panic. You're finding that you're getting more and more jumpy behind the arrow. The first thing you ask yourself is why is this happening, or where is this coming from? This wasn’t happening last week. As the emotion builds, it takes your focus away from what you are trying to accomplish. Now your arrows spray all over the target. What do you do? Not knowing where to start leaves you with an impossible task: how do I fix something if I don’t know what it is? Your only option is to manage it in some way. 

Fix your Brain, Fix your Game

The problem is the archery Industry has many ways to attempt to fix this phenomenon. But the approach out there is executed in a physical way, and we all know only a small percentage of archery is physical. The problem with this type of approach is that target panic is a mental problem!  It needs to be addressed in the mind. The proof is that the archers that say they have dealt with it in the physical manner will admit that they still have to deal with it from time to time when it shows back up. Even some of the top Pros that offer advice on methods to help with this look at it as something that comes and goes. If it still keeps popping up, if  it is not dealt with. 

You don’t Have to Manage Target

The good news is that this does not have to be a lifelong problem. The reason you are having this kind of problem is because there is something in your subconscious that is causing it and your subconscious wants to get rid of it. Through hypnosis, we can find out why and what that is and get rid of it once and for all. The end result is that the mental challenges go away forever. There is no need for endless hours of repetition. After all, archery is all about self mastery.  This means mastering the physical as well as the mental aspects of yourself. 

Hypnosis Helps All Archers

These are just some examples of problems that can show up in your mental game. From my perspective the best way to master the mental game is to eliminate it, or decrease its size. Fortunately, hypnosis can unlock these mental mysteries and eliminate the unknown distractions that are hardwired in your subconscious.  Restoring the precious focus needed to be a successful archer.

It's Time to Quit Smoking

Determined to Quit Smoking

Let’s face it.  It's hard to quit smoking. If it were easy, most  people would have kicked it by now. Many of you that have already made up your mind to quit smoking in 2021.  If your  efforts have led you to a point of frustration, and you're still determined to quit, don't give up. There is another way. 

Hypnosis Helps People Quit Smoking

Hypnosis can help you quit, sometimes in  one afternoon. The process is not as mysterious as you think. We are led to believe that quitting the chemical pull of nicotine is really hard. But the truth is, all the chemicals leave your body within 24 hours of stopping.  

The hard part about quitting is giving up the reason why you smoke. The reason you started smoking is the real reason you are still smoking. Through hypnosis, we can find the reason you smoke, the reason why you started all that time ago. In most cases, the reason you started was you were just trying to fit in, you were bored, or you were just trying to be cool. That reason may mean nothing to you now.  But that reason is still alive in your mind.

Letting Go of Cigarettes For Good

Once we have illuminated the reason, we can make the necessary changes to let that reason go. Once that reason is gone, there is no need to smoke anymore.  This comes with no withdrawals and no physical discomfort. You simply are indifferent about smoking. You could care less. 

With hypnosis, you can finally give up the struggle to quit and just stop.  Reach out today to see how hypnosis can work for you.

A Natural Way to Heal Anxiety

Cures for Anxiety?

Anxiety is one of those things that we are taught is something that is not easily gotten rid of. We are led to believe that it’s an arduous mystery that needs to be unraveled. Most of the time, doctors and therapists present medication as the only option to help us cope/manage the feelings. But when you think about this, the medication only masks the anxiety and never fixes the problem. So you end up never getting real help and carrying the problem for too long.

Alternative Treatment for Anxiety

So what’s the alternative? Hypnosis provides a method to remove anxiety from the mind once and for all. This is possible because anxiety isn’t something that comes out of nowhere; it's a learned behavior that was acquired sometime in your early days when your mind was just developing. For example, when you’re young and experience the first day of school, filled with anxiety about meeting new people and the unknown. Spontaneously in that moment, this  experience is recorded in the subconscious with an anxious feeling. Now that it’s stored there, your adult mind keeps referring to it as a useful piece of information: new experiences equal anxiety. Subsequently, when a similar situation shows up, like meeting new people or doing something for the first time, you feel anxious about it, and you don’t know why. 

A Natural Way to Stop Anxiety

What’s happening is your adult mind is just referring to its stored information, and if that information has an anxiety component, you will respond anxiously.   But with hypnosis you can shift your initial perception of that experience from your youth and release that piece of programming your brain held on to. In trance during hypnosis, we can go back to the moment that you learned the behavior and change your perception of it taking the anxious feeling out of it. The result is when you meet new people or find yourself in a new situation you will no longer feel anxious.

This works for a variety of anxiety triggers that you may not even know your brain picked up along the way.  Discovering the starting point, and removing the negative emotional charge associated with them, helps you live anxiety free.

Reach out today if you want to know more and to find out if you are a good candidate for this life changing process. Safe, socially distant in-person or online appointments available.

Three Reasons Why You Punch--And How to Fix it

Using a mechanical release can be challenging; sometimes those challenges have nothing to do with the actual release or body mechanics. Certain personality traits may contribute to a release going off prematurely. 

The first one would be anxiety. If you are an anxious person, you may find yourself so distracted by the uncomfortable anxious feeling that you can’t hold the shot long enough to properly aim and settle in. Even if you don’t suffer from anxiety in your day to day, you can have anxiety about competition or performance that will produce  the same effect. 

The second one is impatience. Some people are more patient than others;  those of you who don’t seem to have a lot of patience will find that shooting mechanical release may be difficult. Because we all know the proper way to execute a mechanical release is to wait for it to go off. If you are always in a hurry, this may be challenging.  

The third one is control. If you're that person that always needs to govern over every moment of your life, you may not get to the level of accuracy that is needed to be competitive through command shooting the release. Although there are some people who have seemed to master this technique, they do it because they have no choice the only way they can execute the releases is by a method of complete control. They’ve adapted to their lack of options. 

So what do we do? Everything I’ve mentioned above seems unfixable. People seem to accept these types of behaviors by saying that's just how I shoot and then go on to manage it in all types of different ways. A quick example of this is having four releases in your pouch just to manage an anxiety problem.

Everything I have mentioned can be changed through hypnosis. The three examples I mentioned are learned behavior not part of your personality. Somewhere along the way, you adopted these behaviors for one reason or another. We are not born inpatient, anxious or needing to control everything. These are byproducts of experiences from the past. Most of these concepts are adopted in your early days. This is why you think it’s part of your personality because you’ve always been that way as long as you can remember.

Reasons for these behaviors are usually different for everyone. All it takes is an anxious moment during the early stages of a child’s development, when the subconscious is being built between the ages of 1 to 10. A simple moment like the first day of school, the first time at bat--these don’t seem like big events, but in a young mind, they can seem like the end of the world if they don’t go according to plan. It’s moments like this where a young person cultivates a feeling that may dictate their behavior for the rest of their lives. Through hypnosis, we can revisit these moments and make adjustments that neutralize anxiety, find the reasons for the impatience, and let go of the need to control. 

The outcome is only having one release in your pouch an no longer having to manage emotion that pulls your attention away from your shot. This frees up your mind which gives you the opportunity to tap more of your potential and rediscover the joy that you experienced when you first started shooting archery.

Slow X Podcast

Joe had the pleasure of talking with Nikki Haverstock on the Slow X Podcast about archery and hypnosis.

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A 90% Mental Game--How Will You Train?

The majority of people out there have some form of limiting beliefs.  These are ideas like “I am not good enough,”“ I never win,” or “I am good in qualifications but I never win eliminations.” Basically, they are any type of idea that puts you in a box with a statement that has a negative outcome. Saying I never win is pretty much you telling yourself not to win. These negative thoughts are usually wrapped around something you care about or take personally. The problem with these negative thoughts or limiting beliefs is that we start to  believe them. The more you repeat these thoughts and sayings, the more they get integrated into your mind. 

This is why all books on the mental game say you must stay positive. The problem is if you don’t want to think these thoughts, and you still do, how do you stop? 

This is where hypnosis comes in. If you keep hearing this type of dialogue in your head, it has to come from somewhere. It usually comes from an event or circumstance that happened a long time ago, typically an experience that you have forgotten about probably because you were very young at the time. These types of situations are very common. We all have had experiences and bumps in the road when we were little. It just depends on the circumstances and emotional charge the event held at the time. This time in our lives that I speak of is before the age of 10. Before the age of 10, our subconscious is under construction and we have not developed our conscious mind yet. This is that time when the young children take everything in. They are like little sponges; they just suck everything up. After the age of 10 the conscious mind begins to be developed. This is when you notice your children begin to have opinions.

Through hypnosis we can rework the framework of the subconscious changing the beliefs and ideas that are stored there. It is as simple as revisiting the moment that you experienced when you were young  and then look at it in a more rational way.  This is easily done when an individual is in a hypnotic state.

You may wonder how we find the problem ideas or thoughts. These ideas and thoughts are actually tied to the thoughts that you’re struggling with. So beginning with the negative thought forms is a great place to start. Once these thoughts are cleaned up the noise in your mind quiets down and you go from limitations to limitless. 

This is how hypnosis can give you a great advantage in a sport like archery. If you ask anyone they will tell you that archery is 90% mental so by conquering the mental side of this sport you are way ahead of your competition.

How to Foster A Flow State

When competition is going well, we often look to see how we can make it better. Our minds are free to explore new possibilities. We say things to ourselves like I'm in a good groove and have a nice flow going. This allows us the freedom to explore because we’re not hindered by emotional debris like bad feelings or disappointments. This is a good thing. But when this is not happening and you are having an off day, say maybe the weather is not cooperating at this point or something is just off with your bow, your attitude begins to slip. Then you find yourself deep in frustration.  It’s an uncontrollable feeling no one likes this. The best way to avoid this of course is to stop it before it starts. But sometimes that is unavoidable. Another way to approach this problem is to stop taking yourself so seriously, allowing yourself the luxury of fluctuation. What I mean by this is you never going to be on all the time, while you can strive for that, it is an unattainable standard. The reality is that your performance goes up and down. We just don’t want the down turn to be at the wrong time. 

What we want to try to do is to maximize the flow state. The first step in doing this is to release self-judgment. Stop being hard on yourself. Understanding that things have rhythm and flow by relinquishing the torturous state of being hard on yourself, and you will find yourself  more relaxed and able to work the situation better. So instead of fighting with the feelings of not accomplishing what you need at the moment, surrender to the process. Focus on the space you need to be in and that gives you growth. 

So when the opportunity shows up, and you’re in the flow state don’t focus on I have to maintain this. Rather focus on what the feeling feels like. This will do two things. The first thing is you won’t be focusing on I need to maintain this. When you focus on this kind of thinking, it pulls you out of the flow state because you’re looking at the flow state and not living it. Second is if you cultivate a good feeling, this means don’t  judge it, don't try to hold it, just live it. If you practice this, the flow state will become routine. And you will find yourself in it more frequently. 

Some of the biggest hiccups we have with the mental game is that we try too hard instead of being in the moment. Remember when you feel good, the mental process works much better. When you begin to judge yourself and get caught up in fear, the problems start to show up. So relaxation and trust are very important. Belief in yourself is essential and so is remembering that if you're having a bad day, eventually you have a good day--no state, either good or bad, is permanent. So just trust that any given moment of time is just that: a moment.

The more you believe in something positive, the more potential it has to show up. The more you live in a flow state, the more easily you will find that flow state.The next archery tournament you attend stay in the moment, don’t be hard on yourself, acknowledge that the flow state exists, and have fun.

Ready to get out of your head?

Often when archers start a tournament, they are worried about that first shot. For some reason, the first shot is more important in their minds. They say to themselves if I can just start strong everything will be fine. This process creates conditions that are applied to the shot. Simply put they are making a bigger deal out of the moment than they need to. By doing this, they pull their attention from the shot or moment. Executing the shot without the necessary focus usually leads to a very poor outcome.

Staying neutral is the concept of not getting emotional, too excited or too frustrated,  and keeping a level head when you compete. This is a very important concept when it comes to archery. Archery is one of those sports that gets affected by being too emotional in any direction--your mental state is critical to your performance.  We all know what happens if we get down on ourselves. You have a bad couple of shots, and you find yourself in a place that is hard to recover from. Your emotional swing down, and your score stays down with them.

Fortunately, like the rest of our practice, this skill of staying neutral can be developed. So please don’t think that you must be a victim of ever-changing waves of excitement and disappointment. While you will always have some fluctuation when it comes to shooting, you can apply staying neutral to your archery discipline and keep yourself in a much smaller emotional range. 

This is done by practicing surrendering your attachment to the outcome of a good arrow and the bad arrows.  What I mean by this is to maintain no opinion on the outcome of the arrows. It wasn't good and it wasn't a bad arrow. There is no point in judging an arrow after it has been shot . The experience is over and you can’t shoot it over so it’s kind of pointless. This will establish a new way of thinking around your shooting. I’m sure you’ve heard other people say do not be outcome oriented. But you have to do it in a complete way, not just the bad arrows. 

If you watch some of the top shooters, they will do one of three things. With some of them, you will not see any emotional fluctuations if they win or lose. Some will show excitement for a moment and then let it go completely right away. Others will simply celebrate at a later time. This is not controlling your emotions. This is about not making ANY shot something to get emotional about.  If you practice this mindset of detachment,  it will become easier to do. This is the way you hold neutral ground in the mind and keep your focus strong with distractions kept to a minimum.

If you find yourself having great difficulty achieving a smaller range of emotions,  it may have something to do with a hidden story in your subconscious mind. If those bad shots are too crippling, it means you are putting too much importance on them, you are judging yourself by the outcome of every shot. This generally is a learned behavior that you picked up somewhere in your life. Like getting a bad grade on a test when you were little and feeling like the world was ending. To a young mind, something simple like this can be devastating. These moments of high emotions often get stuck  in the subconscious mind, which makes behavioral structures which haunt you later. Hypnosis is an awesome and fast way to take care of these kinds of problems getting you back to your peak performance quickly. 

By developing this skill of not attaching yourself to the outcome of the arrow, you will be able to maintain your focus more easily and stay in the flow and cultivate a stronger archery game and practice.  Reach out today if you want to try hypnosis and get to an easier state of shooting and controlling your emotions.

Distracted?

The mental game really comes down to one thing: the ability to focus. What I mean by this is the ability to hold on to the moment. You’ve often heard coaches say “stay in your shot.” What they are saying is don’t lose focus or don’t slip out of the moment. 

We’ve all felt this slipping from time to time.  We may get distracted by something in the immediate area, a random thought or an uncomfortable feeling. It could be something very simple like your footing is uneven. When you feel this, your attention immediately goes to thinking about your feet, or you try to fix them. Once this has happened, the shot is lost. You are out of the moment. 

If you don’t know what I mean by this, think about the last time you found yourself watching your pin, dot, or sight floating around too much. Immediately you take measures to stop that from happening. At this point in time, you’re not in the moment. You’ve lost the feeling. This is how easy it is to get distracted.

How triggering the distraction is directly proportional to the amount of focus we lose. It is possible to shoot a whole tournament being slightly distracted and not really noticing it. What you will notice is that you have had a bad day, or you may say I'm not on today. That was because your focus wasn’t 100%.  When your focus is not there, your groups are not there also. Focus is one of the most critical elements in archery.

Most archers work on all parts of their shot, but they don’t work on staying in the moment/focus.  To them, their focus is there or it’s not, leaving it up to chance and thinking this isn’t a skill you can sharpen. But the difference between the good people and the great people is focus and being able to maintain and keep that focus when you need to. Practice does help and is very necessary. But being aware of how saturated you are in the moment is also critical. 

Now the pin floating or having uneven footing are some of the distractions that we are aware of. There are also distractions that you are not aware of. These distractions live in the subconscious mind in the form of experiences, belief systems, and fears that you pick up in your life somewhere along the way. Concepts like not being good enough, not being deserving, or being afraid of success.  Even if you don’t like being the center of attention that can be a distraction that can keep you from success. Your subconscious mind knows if you don’t like being the center of attention, and if you're winning you’re going to have to be on that podium, and the center of attention. Your subconscious is designed to protect you, and it will help you avoid that uncomfortable feeling by causing some distraction to enter your mind, some stray thought, which will sabotage your performance.

One of the best ways to uncover and take care of these hidden distractions is through hypnosis. The type of hypnosis I practice can eliminate these distractions and free you up to focus more intently on the moment, with your focus becoming much much easier to maintain, which gives you the freedom to unlock and explore your hidden potential.

Trying too Hard?

As archers, we all know that archery is all about balance. The effort we put into our training and competitions has to be just right; too little and we fall short. Too much, and things fall apart. The balance is critical; this also applies to mindset. A lot of individuals often try too hard, putting too much mental effort into their shot. When this happens, the critical balance is disrupted, and the arrow doesn’t go where we want it to. The additional effect pulls us out of the shot/moment, and focus is lost. 

How do we maintain this balance? How do we just give it just enough? This is all about self mastery. What I mean by this is getting to know yourself. Begin to drop the story’s that your parents and life experience has given you. For instance, many of us believe “you have to work hard to get what you want.” This type of story/belief system can get in your way.  Even though this concept can get you good results, it can work against you, in a sport like archery where too much is just as damaging as too little. 

The first step in keeping mental and emotional balance is to give up the critical mind, stopping the self-judgement and cutting yourself a break. You also must develop an understanding that this doesn’t happen overnight; this process takes time. Through the process of shooting your bow, you are getting to know yourself. It’s not all about shooting thousands of arrows and developing muscle memory. That will only get you so far. It’s about the relationship you are forming between all of  the parts: the bow, the arrow, the moment of execution,  and you.This is the mental game and for most of us it holds the biggest challenges. It’s not just about shooting an arrow; it’s about you shooting the arrow. You're the archer; you're the reason this is happening. This is why you can’t overlook yourself and the time it takes to develop this self-awareness.. You are an Important part of the equation. Some would argue that you’re the most important part. 

Once you start to form a deeper relationship with the shot, you need to begin to identify the behaviors that don’t work. This type of behavior may be a hesitation at full draw or a surge of anxiety when you get on target. Sometimes it’s a conditional response to a certain scenario such as shooting bad on the first several targets or ends to the point where winning  is out of the question and then everything gets better and you find your flow . These types of obstacles are sometimes hard to fix if you’re trying to work on them alone. This Is why certain types of hypnosis can be very beneficial. With hypnosis, you can easily find these hidden stories or behaviors that stand in your way. Once freed from these mental obstacles, you find the mental freedom and clarity to tap your hidden potential. 

So give yourself a break, stop being so critical of yourself, don't be so focused on the outcome. Some of us use this as motivation, that “I must win” energy, but you don’t need to. To mentally focus on that is exhausting. You don’t go to a competition to lose. Winning is implied. Save your energy and focus for making strong shots.

If you are interested in learning more about how to give up trying too hard  and make your archery easier and more enjoyable, reach out today. 

Making Visualization Work in Archery

Often an archery coach will tell you to visualize your shot, to see it happen. I'm sure someone has told you this before.This is an excellent prelude to your shot sequence. It creates momentum in your mind, which helps you focus and maintain your awareness in your shot.  Visualization is a great way to increase the probability of a wanted outcome. It is scientifically proven that the brain cannot distinguish between something you imagine and something that actually happens.  The trick is making a visualization that is both easy to repeat and powerful to experience.

First, do not over complicate the visualization. Simply visualize the outcome, which means to see the arrow in the center of the X. This is a simple and quick method. If your visualization is too elaborate, your mind begins to wander, the task becomes too laborious, and it takes too long. Your mind gets bored then you give up.  When you just visualize the outcome, the arrow in the target, it’s simple and quick and can be performed very quickly. 

via GIPHY

The second part, and the most important addition to your visualization, is that you have to introduce emotion into the visualization.  So just don’t see it, feel it happen, feel the satisfaction and excitement.  Think about how it feels when you look through your binoculars and see that X in the middle of the target.  Feel that pride, that confirmation of your effort. Including emotion in the visualization will help set the experience of success into your subconscious. Emotion opens the door to the subconscious making the process much more efficient. Through repetition of the visualization, the subconscious will recognize this outcome as normal and will work with your body to make it happen. Once the mind is convinced that this is what always happens, it will happen more frequently.

In order to make something a reality, we have to think of it and feel it first. All desired outcomes start in the mind. This is a quick and simple way to maximize your visualization techniques, a great way to change your mind and increase your X count. 

While this is a great technique to practice on your own, you can also get some help building this part of your mental game. Hypnosis can help walk you through the experience and emotion, further imprinting it into your subconscious and improving your mental game.  Whichever way you decide to work on this, outcome visualization enhanced with emotion can help get you to the next level of confidence and accuracy.

I need to win

Needing to win is sometimes a good thing.  For a small number of people, it’s the competitive drive that gets them to the podium. For the rest of us, it often gets in our way. Holding onto the desire to beat someone can often make you screw-up. You see, it’s just another element that can pull us out of the moment.  What I am talking about is distraction. It’s a distraction that pulls your conscious focus off of what you're doing. Let’s face it, focus is the difference between a tight group and a larger spread. Actually the whole mental game really boils down to focus and distraction. For example, you’re at full draw, and this  shot is important.  You need to make up two points on this end, and you have an opportunity; the window is open, and what happens is you start to think about it. This pulls your attention out of the shot that you need to make. The lack of focus causes you to miss.

Some may say this is why we train for these moments, hoping that your repetition and muscle memory will pull you through at the last minute. Most of the time though, it will let you down. Why leave it up to chance? The trick is not to let desires, needs, or emotions get in our way. How we do this we do this by finding out why we have these desires, needs, and emotions.

You see the need to win comes from programming. We are not born this way. Somewhere along the line, we learned how to be competitive. We either experienced it in a simple way like a board game that you needed to win or maybe we came from a big family and had to compete for your parents' attention. However this information came to life, it could be the reason you are overly competitive today--you are so focused on winning, that you let yourself be distracted by the emotion at a key moment.

The point of going to a competition is to win and to learn more about yourself. This is the intention.  All an archer is showing up to do is to shoot a perfect shot over and over. This is the goal; if your shots are all perfect, you will win the competition. You don’t have to spend precious energy thinking about how much you want to win. All we need to do is to execute that shot without distraction.The problem is that there are so many things in our minds that pull our focus away. These personal distractions are compiled of subconscious information that was collected at a young age. Stories and ideas that our minds held on to because at the time it seemed important. Stories like needing to win. 

One of the best ways to address these stories and ideas is through hypnosis. Hypnosis works directly in the subconscious mind. It gives us a vehicle to find and address the hidden stories and ideas that shape the way we behave. Once the information is changed, the behaviors such as needing to win are no longer distracting, freeing up our attention so we can increase our focus on what we need to do to win.  If this resonates with you, reach out today.

The Real 98% of Archery

Most people take the mental game for granted; it just seems to be one more element in the process. Any time you compete, there is a mental pressure component that you have to deal with. But where did this component come from?  How did we learn to put pressure on ourselves when it matters?

When you were just born, you did not feel or even know the pressure of an archery competition. How we perceive challenges and obstacles all comes from somewhere.  At some point in time, you had to experience that when you win, it feels good and losing feels bad. When you win the field day race in elementary school or summer camp, you get attention and accolades. When you lose the race, you are left with a feeling of loss and insignificance. As you experience these things, you remember them, especially when this occurs at a young age when your mind is wide open, especially before the age of 10 when your mind is still forming. You take in everything in your environment, and you learn from the experiences you encounter at that time, both the good and bad. Basically, a lot of the structure of the rules we live by was established in these early years. Concepts about competition and desire to win are generated and stored. These then become the baseline rules we still follow as adults. 

Anyone can see the problem with this model. The fundamental laws that we live by are generated from the perspective of a 7 year old. This gives birth to the mental obstacles that we deal with today. Tied to these concepts also are emotions; if this information about competing was recorded with an intense emotion like anxiety or panic most likely when you experience a familiar pattern like competition; you will feel anxious or panicked. The lessons and rules you have created from your past experiences also have feelings attached to them. The end result is that when we experience similar circumstances, these emotions emerge. For instance, you’re at an archery tournament as you progress, the feeling of pressure is building in; you begin to feel hesitation or anxiety, your attention focuses on this feeling, and then you lose focus and control of your shot. But you really cannot explain why it happened. This is because your mind is accessing old information/experiences that had anxiety and or hesitation attached to it. The easiest way to describe this is that you’re reliving an old moment. A moment that is very alive in your subconscious.  We are being controlled by a memory/event that we have no memory of, that’s making us behave in a way that is not conducive to what we need. So now what can we do?

Hypnosis is a great way to uncover these hidden concepts and feelings. Once a client is in hypnosis, we are free to locate the forgotten storyline that is causing the unwanted behaviors. Like a childhood experience where the individual experienced panic or anxiety over a competition or academic endeavor. Finding these hidden storylines is not as hard as you think. You see the behavior that you are experiencing such as target panic is tied directly to the event/moment in the past. Once in hypnosis, this event iis automatically found.  Once found, the experiences can be rewritten then released into your past where it can never affect your future again. Once this moment is dealt with, there is no reason for the behaviors to exist, thus your target panic is gone forever.

You see, the mental game really can not be fixed on a bale. You can have some success or temporary results, but practice can only take care of part of the problem. Mental obstacles need to be fixed where they live: in the mind. Hypnosis can do this rather quickly; in as few as three or four sessions, most clients see profound change. The mental game, like any other component in archery, only improves if you work on it.  What you put it, you get out.  Give hypnosis a try to get started on improving this major component to your game today!

Developing Confidence

Have you ever heard an archery coach say trust your shot? What does that mean exactly? We sort of understand what the coach is trying to say. They’re saying to believe in your abilities. But what does that really mean in the moment? It means not doubting what you are doing, no second-guessing, no hesitation. But how hard is that to do? We all have had these moments where the doubt creeps in; we doubt our form, our equipment, the yardage we set our sights for.  But why does this happen?

The truth behind self-doubt is that we weren’t born with it. We had to learn how to doubt ourselves somewhere along the line. So that feeling of doubting yourself generally stems from some sort of experience you had when you were younger, and for some reason, your mind held onto it. This pattern of doubt lays quiet, only to come to the surface when a similar scenario wakes it up. That scenario can be something very simple like a thought “I need to do well.” This is enough to trigger the doubting pattern. Once activated, you begin to doubt yourself because these are the blueprints in your mind. These blueprints were established at a point in time when your mind wasn’t developed enough to reason through them. You see, whatever is locked away in your subconscious are the rules that you live by. This subconscious framework for which you are governed, and your conscious mind carries out.

This is why it’s very important to understand and get rid of the rules of your subconscious mind that don’t work for you. In some cases, these rules are good and can save your life or keep you from harm. Rules like don’t jump off a bridge or don’t pick up the hot pot. In other cases, they definitely can get in your way from winning an event. Rules in this case may show up as things you believe about the world like winning feels bad, I never win anything, I don’t deserve to win, I never get anything right etc. This kind of programming is detrimental to any kind of performance. These thoughts and feelings cannot be trained away, and you cannot fall back on your technique.  Training alone will not circumvent these limiting ideas to give you the consistency you need. 

This is why working in hypnosis is so effective. Working in a hypnotic state can gain you access to these subconscious patterns. Once corrected using hypnotic techniques, your subconscious is now purged of any program that happens to be disagreeable to the task at hand. Your mind becomes free to focus on other important matters. Your shot takes less effort and becomes fun again. You're free from distraction giving you the opportunity to explore yourself and your shot at a deeper level. Rediscover the confidence you always had and tap your full potential; try hypnosis.

Why We Punch?

The answer to this question is anxiety. Some of us are controlled punchers. We have mastered this way of shooting because we just can’t seem to wait for that release to go off or to let the shot happen. The problem with this is it's not consistent. The unknown factor in play is your anxiety level, which fluctuates all the time. When your anxiety level steps up, your shooting will get out of control. On top of that, the simple act of punching can make you more anxious to begin with. 

Approaching these types of problems hypnotically allows for direct access to the subconscious where these stories and anxieties can be rewritten. Once the anxieties are dealt with the archer will no longer have the need to punch the release. The act of waiting for the shot to break is no longer an arduous process. What you end up with is a shot that is more consistent, less complicated and much more enjoyable. 

This is so much better than shooting hundreds of arrows and spending many hours on a bale. When these types of problems are addressed hypnotically, they don’t return. When you try to work this out on a bale, you may get around the behavior for a short while, but you never take care of the anxiety problem. You’re working only on the mechanical side of the issue; it's like treating the symptom not the problem. The hypnosis process, on the other hand,  is very efficient; it only takes 2-4 sessions online or in person to deal with the anxiety and make it possible for you to shoot strong, automatic shots without punching.

Fear & Going Out after Coronavirus COVID-19

What is social gathering anxiety? 

Social gathering anxiety is anxiety that is triggered by seeing a person or group of people or an invitation to attend functions that have a large number of people like birthdays, weddings, funerals, concerts, and sporting events.  This can even be triggered by large crowds in public places like businesses and stores. When you’re confronted with the situation, you may have a visceral, unpleasant feeling. This may show up in different ways such as a panic attack or make you react in an uncharacteristic way like getting irritated or short of temper. 

Social gathering anxiety is akin to agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is paralyzing fear of a person unable to leave their homes without acute distress. In a way, we all are beginning to experience what this feels like. We find ourselves being very anxious around people that we haven’t seen or don’t know. While we don’t have the paralysis associated with agoraphobia, we do experience the elevated levels of stress and anxiety as we wonder if people or surfaces around us are infected. Isolating ourselves is no way to live, and if we experience these levels of stress and anxiety other long-term other problems will develop besides a COVID-19 infection.

What happens after social distancing?

For many people after dealing with COVID-19 and social distancing, social gathering anxiety may become an all too common occurrence. After the stay at home orders and social distancing measures are lifted, life will seek to return to normal, but the PTSD of this traumatic time will not dissipate as easily.  We may fear going to stores or work, seeing friends and family, or any place where we may encounter people.

Stop Being Afraid to Go Out

But what can we do about it? Anxiety was bad enough before all of this, and now one primal component of being human has been restricted. People are social beings; they need contact with other people--but we all may fear that same contact can cause infection. Weighing our desire for contact against the risks can make people who never experience anxiety before spiral.  Luckily, hypnosis is uniquely suited to help people get over fear and anxiety.

Hypnosis Can Help You Get Out The House Again

Hypnosis can help you take down the new barriers that have been created by this pandemic. Through hypnosis, we can take a deep look into the subconscious where your behaviors are stored. You see,the subconscious is the part of the mind that makes up the rules. The subconscious tells the conscious mind what to do and how to act. This is why we react to situations in uncharacteristic ways and we don't know why. 

When working with the subconscious through hypnosis, we can rewrite the response to anything that has occurred. The removal of traumas, anxieties, and phobias is possible. Working on the behaviors in this way eliminates them so we no longer have to manage these types of behaviors and negative feelings anymore.  Revising reactions in the subconscious helps you restore your confidence and get you back into the world. 

Help Healing Your Fears

We are social creatures; we thrive best among family, friends and community. Do not deny yourself this primal need. Reclaim your freedom and your world; hypnosis can help.  Let us know if we can help you today.

When Your Archery Life is on Hold

When your archery life is on hold during this trying time, the best thing you can do is to use your time efficiently. Even though you’re not competing at the moment, it’s a great time to work on your mental game. The mental blocks that hold you back while you compete are still there. If you were wrestling with any kind of anxieties such as target panic, holding off center, competition anxiety, or social anxiety like not feeling comfortable enough to shoot around others, they're just dormant at the moment because you’re not in the throes of competition. These are only some of the uncomfortable mishaps and behaviors that occur in everyday shooting. Most of us don’t realize that these mental game issues can’t be solved by more and more practice. They have to be addressed in the mind. So if any of these mental hangups sound familiar, now is the perfect time to take care of it once and for all. 

Through hypnosis, I can help you remove these problems from your mental  game. Seeing how hypnosis works directly with the subconscious where all mental obstacles live. It's an amazingly efficient tool that can cut through any kind of mental archery problem that you might be experiencing. 

Being a competitive archer and archery coach myself gives me a unique perspective that other hypnotists wouldn't have. I have a lot of time behind the bow, both compound and recurve, and have coached hundreds of students of all ages, witnessing firsthand how the mental game can disrupt the shot. Being a professional hypnotist gives me a deep understanding of how the subconscious works coupled with an understanding of the archery mental game makes for a powerful game changing experience.

So take this break and get the most out of it. Conquer your mental game hang ups so when the season starts back up you’ll be ahead of the curve, stepping back into the competition world with a clean mind and a strong advantage. Reach out today to get started.

Immune Boosting with Hypnosis

In this crazy world that we are experiencing at the moment, it is super important to keep your immune system healthy and strong. But the number one killer of your immune system is stress and anxiety. In order for you to take care of your family and keep calm and level-headed, you need to keep your stress level low. 

But how do we do this when we’re in the middle of a pandemic? The uncertainty in our lives is huge. Not only do we have to weather this storm but the aftermath of a wounded economy. It is going to be quite challenging.

Anxiety and stress are not things that are given to us. It’s more about how we handle the process. So basically you control your reaction to stress, which means the amount of pressure we place on ourselves is up to you. Hypnosis is an excellent way to manage these feelings and emotions that we are experiencing at this point in time because hypnosis helps you to reframe your reaction to stress via your subconscious in the hypnotic state.  This is especially effective when you’re in a state of complete panic. Hypnosis doesn’t remove the stress in your life, but it definitely can change your reaction to it and diminish its effect on your health. This is especially a good option if you’re a person who already suffers from high anxiety. Hypnosis cannot only get rid of chronic anxiety it also can eliminate it. 

At this moment in time, the two most important factors are keeping a level-head and maintaining a healthy immune system, doing this will ensure you make the right decisions at the right time. 

An online hypnosis session can greatly reduce the stress and anxiety in your life. Keeping your health strong, and your mind clear. You don’t have to leave your house; you just have to block out a little time so you can take care of yourself in order to take care of your family better.

Improve your Mind; Improve your X Count

Someone came into the office today and said they needed help. They said the higher their X count, the harder it gets to keep it going as more pressure builds. The reason this happens is because your desire and need to keep performing well is so powerful that it is pulling more and more at your attention, until you are out of your shot all together, and then you miss. 

Through hypnosis, we look at the desire that pulls you out of the moment and takes over your thinking. We find out the underlying reason why the want and need are so important. Through the hypnosis process, these problems are identified, whether it’s the need to please someone other than yourself or that your performance is a measurement of your self worth or a hundred other ideas that hold you back from performing optimally.

Once these old stories are neutralized in the subconscious, it is free to perform as it is meant too: unencumbered.  You're free to shoot X after X because the stories or meaning you attach to your arrows are gone. The moment/shot is much easier to hold on to, and it takes less work to get the job done.

Remember for most of us our biggest obstacles in this sport are ourselves. That internal struggle can be lightened in a big way. Through hypnosis, we can unlock the master archer within. Reach out today to learn more.