Mindfully Hypnotic

This chapter explores the impact of mindfulness and hypnosis on endurance performance. The first half of the chapter focuses on mindfulness, with a description of what it is and how it can potentially help athletes through enhancing attentional control and focus, managing pain and perceived effort, improving pacing and decision-making and reducing performance anxiety. Mindfulness assists in the self-regulation of dysfunctional emotions and has significant positive effects on the mental health of athletes. It works hand in glove with Multi-State Theory in challenge and threat situations in addition to impacting personality issues such as perfectionism. The section finishes with a 6-week mindfulness programme for marathoners. Hypnosis has also been shown to improve endurance performance. The similarities and differences between hypnosis and mindfulness are compared with a focus on their effects on metacognition. Hypnosis mechanisms of action in goal-pursuit are similar to the automaticity of implementation intentions (IIs) ( Chapter 6 ). Hypnosis has been used for anxiety reduction, relieving fatigue, state management and building self-confidence. The three stages of hypnosis are described together with tips on how to use hypnosis principles with athletes. The chapter finishes with a hypnosis script used with an ultra-endurance runner to enhance performance.