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TIGRESS ON THE TRACK!

Sports Hypnosis, Sports Performance Hypnosis

Roller Derby Performance Enhancement Reviews

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Getting Your Skating Legs
photo by Susan Moss

Sports Performance Experience

I can help improve your performance in any sport, but here are the sports I have practiced :

I'm not just a therapist, I'm an athlete too, and I know what it's like to need that performance boost. I've had my share of injuries, done physiotherapy many times and had to rebuild my muscles after a injuries. As of writing this, I'm using 3 lbs barbells daily to retrain my shoulder's injured rotator cuff. I get it.

Want to know what Sports Hypnosis is like?

Here are some problems I have helped roller derby skaters deal with, using hypnosis and NLP, and their reviews of how it helped. I'm very familiar with the problems people face when they start a sport, for three reasons:

If you want help with other sports, that's not a problem. I mostly have have experience with skating, martial arts and dancing, but sport issues are pretty similar no matter the sport. And just because you're awesome at your sport doesn't mean you can't be EVEN BETTER! Sports hypnosis isn't just about fixing weak spots, it's also about making what works for you work even better and more reliably.

I skate for Montreal. If you want to find me at Blood & Thunder Camp or RollerCon, look for Tempting Fate. I may have some tips for you, and you may have some tips for me! But now, onto the reviews...

Case Reviews

Case #1: Making minimal progress after over 6 months of roller derby skating practice.

Case #2: Intense phobia of falling down while skating.

Case #1 Summary: Maery's Skating Improvement

Maery is one of my league's newbie skaters. I've worked with her quite a bit on the track, and in response to her frustrations, I suggested that a few sessions could help her get over some of her mental blocks. Graciously, she has writen a review of our sessions, so other folks could get an idea of what it was like and how it has helped her.

1) Derby Performance Sport Hypnosis

In our first session, we focussed on increasing her confidence. I offered her a few options, and she chose the rather fun one of having a trigger to "transform" herserlf at will into a super confident catgirl, a real Tigress On The Track! This transformation was linked into some of her most powerful internal resources, and drawn from her own memories of: Confidence, Predatory Instinct, Body Power and "I do this for ME!".

2) Performance Sport Hypnosis, part 2

In the second session, we boosted the trigger, and added another resource to the mix: Playfullness. Because after all, this is a game. It's not just about performance, it's supposed to be FUN!

3) NLP Motivation Conflict Resolution

By the time of the third session, I realized there was an internal conflict preventing her from being able to fully focus on her skating while on the track. Life issues often distracted her. Basically, she had a motivation conflict between the Responsibility part of her that gets things done, helps people and doesn't want to waste time, and the Fun part of her that wants to enjoy herself and escape from responsibilities. The two parts kept interfering with each other, so she felt guilty about having fun, and resentful of having to be responsible all the time. By using NLP techniques, the two parts were integrated into one part: The Drive.

But let's hear what she has to say about it...

Sports Hypnosis Review, Maery Session #1

"I'm not a naturally athletic girl. I've never been into sports, never played on a team. As a child I shirked gym classes, never learned to ride a bike or skate and as a adult I had a rarely used gym membership. So naturally, when I decided to start playing roller derby I had some major obstacles to overcome. I started cross training, working out and there was practice, practice, and even more practice. But there was always this nagging voice in the back of my head saying that I couldn't do it. There was fear, a lack of self esteem and an interior monologue of my insecurities constantly. I couldn't get in the game the way I was. So, with a little help, I decided to change.

I knew a bit about hypnosis and trance states before getting involved with Linda, but didn't really know what to expect. I already believed that hypnosis could have positive effects on people's lives having studied psychology and university, and had a close friend who raved about her phobia of needles that was cured by hypnosis. When I was explained that there was a branch of sports-related hypnosis I knew I just had to try it. a lot of people had been telling me I had the potential to be so much better and only I was holding myself back. Who better to help me with mental blocks then a hypnotherapist?

When I got to the appointment I was both excited and nervous. Slightly skeptical and cautiously optimistic, we starting talking about the problems that I was experiencing. Linda had an excellent manor about her that put me right at ease, and I was almost shocked and how quickly she grasped the root of my problems. With her insight and a keen intuition about the situation she began formulating a plan on how best to deal with the performance anxiety, lack of body awareness and confidence.

The actual hypnosis went very well, and I feel quickly and deeply into a trance state with her guidance. Naturally at first it was a little scary to let go, but soon I was enjoying a lovely feeling and then Linda started to guide me into various skating scenarios to see how I was reacting in various situations. She ended up coming up with the brilliant idea of imaging myself as a cat to help with grace, predatory nature and being very reactive and instinctive. Through visualization and linking emotions to certain memories she was able to make a very real transformation within me. I very much felt like I was sprouting hair and my balance and agility was completely altered. I felt like the Derby player I had always wanted to be. She came up with a trigger so I could call upon these feeling, experiences and get me 'in the zone' for when I needed it at the track.

Afterwards, upon waking I felt slightly muddled, but I was seriously impressed at all the work we did. I felt a little tired, but went skating afterwards to see what had changed.

In short, everything had changed. All the little things I used to second guess or think too much about were coming much easier. My crossovers had improved radically and there wasn't the constant stream or self-doubt in the back of my mind. When I was skating I felt strong, free and good. I think the part of me that wasn't convinced that hypnosis was the thing for me felt differently after skating my first few laps. When I felt myself getting sloppy or started over-thinking things, I would just activate my trigger and then I would be the ferocious Tigress on the Track once more. It felt so good.

I'm very excited about the next session. I can't wait to see what more I can accomplish by Linda's help. The trance was a very enjoyable and fun thing to experience and the result were almost baffling. I'm very, very impressed with both myself and Linda. And that's a nice feeling.

-Maery"

Sports Hypnosis Review, Maery Session #2

"I came into the second session with a bit more excitement and confidence then the first one, after seeing the results while skating. Linda and I discussed if there was anything we wanted to add or refine anything to the triggers. We talked about things like spacial awareness or reflexes but after talking about it together Linda suggested that we add playfulness. This really goes to illustrate her intuition about understanding people because I never would have though to add it, but lately I had been feeling a little of the fun and joy come out of skating because I had been frustrated with my lack of progress for so long. It was brilliant to think to add the fun back. After all, it is a game, why not be playful about it?

After we had gone over various memories and figured out what we were going to do this session Linda went about her work to put me under. As time is a little funny in trance state I can't say for sure if I went under faster, but I had the strong feeling that things were going at an accelerated rate. Things felt alot further away and the whole expierience felt much more dream-like then last time. I actually had to struggle to hear what Linda was saying from time to time. She talked me through my memories and added trigger words to them, with the added memory of playfulness. I noticed this time things were a bit more vivid, the image sharper. There were added details of things I didn't quite have the last time. The second transformation I could feel I was sprouting fur, I could feel my tail as I swished around the track.

It took me longer to come out of the trance, and I felt a little nausea afterwards, but only for a few minutes. After we had a little caffeine to perk up, we went skating as while the difference wasn't as dramatic as last time since I had been on holidays and was a little out of shape, I still felt a little click, like a light bulb moment in my body and brain. Things were more fluid and smooth, I had more confidence and things went a little easier. It's a good feeling to feel like your accomplishing something. Like you unlocked something inside of you. I had a big grin on my face as I practiced my crossovers and speed laps. The things that I used to be afraid of is starting to be banished for good. It's so much fun to just let go and not have the constant stream of self-doubt and nerves and worry take over.

As a curiosity to myself, I went back skating later on in the week, but didn't trigger myself to see what the difference was. I noticed that I was quite as quick or confident, but a lot of the body memory was still there. It's interesting to go back and forth between plain old me skating around for fun, and the mighty Tigress. It's nice to know that alot of the change is within me, and permanent without the trigger, but using it gives me the extra something when I feel my resources are low, or I need to preform. It's incredibly fascinating to have extra resources at my disposal thanks to Linda's work.

All and all I would say the second session was another great sucess and I'm looking forward to working more with Linda to solidify and make the change permanent. I'm also working on a wish list of 'extra abilities' for later when I've fully delt with my fears and body confidence and esteem issues.

-Maery"

Sports Hypnosis Review, Maery Session #3

"For session number three Linda came up with something a little different... we had explored fears and confidence with much success, but something just wasn't quite clicking. There was pretty impressive ground made, but Linda was shooting for a miracle and she was pretty bent on getting it. She had noticed during our talks that someone was a little wonky with my values. The reasons why I wanted to do derby wasn't consistent with my motivation, so there was something off in my performance. As she said, I wasn't always really there during practices at times.

We went into some pretty deep and personal conversations to come up with the culprit. I'm often of two minds about everything, but in this case is was working to my disadvantage. The happy-go lucky fun part of me just wanted to do derby and have fun, whereas the more intense, dedicated part of me was reluctant, seeing it as a waste of time and being generally unproductive. Now, to me, being productive is very important. I'm a two-project at a time, always-on-the-go kind of girl. If I'm not getting things done, I see myself as a failure. So, being as how I kept 'failing' in my eyes at Derby, the more focused part of me just wanted me to move on and do something more worthwhile. Whereas for fun loving, rebellious part of me wanted to keep playing, and loved it. What was to be done about this? Which part of me was right, and how could I resolve this in my head?

Linda put me into a trance like state where was actually had the two parts of myself talk to one another. It was brilliant. I won't go into all the personal details, but I was very surprised about what these two different parts of me had to say. It was interesting to hear from my subconscious why they were doing what they were doing. There were reasons and motivations I didn't even realize that I had- some of them being parental standards and voices of who I was, using other peoples ideas and standards rather them my own, and the fact that I wasn't ever really allowed to be a kid while I was a kid. So these two very different parts of be developed differently, and now they were in conflict.

The most surprising part to me (but not for Linda) was that both parts ultimately HAD THE SAME GOAL, they were just going about achieving it in different ways. Both parts were looking out for my well being, and that was nice. We took the time to talk, and thank them, and then soon after, the next step followed.

We asked them if each other's points were valid, and if they wouldn't mind helping each other instead of always fighting. Since they both had the same goal, they agreed and gave their permission to be joined into a new part inside of me- they named it The Drive.

While this session was a little more trance-light I felt exhausted afterwards, but it was a bit of an eternal revelation. That I truly can be my own worse enemy, but Linda's technique showed me that your greatest faults can actually be amazing allies if you know how to break it down and reason with them.

I've noticed a huge change since this last session. I started practicing 4 to 5 times a week and passed min requirements. I'm more focused, and I don't feel guilty when I'm having fun, or actively avoid responsibilities to shirk my more responsible half. I get things done, I get satisfaction out of it, and I've started having more fun while doing basic tasks. I'm being more produtcive, but I'm getting more fun out of it. And I can't even being to say how much this is helping my not only in Derby, but in the rest of my life.

-Maery"

Case #2 Summary : D.R San Diego's Falling Phobia

1) NLP Phobia Cure for Sports Therapy

The presented problem was an acute fear of falling while skating, which prevented the future athlete from actually getting any practice done. My first task was to determine if it was a fear or a phobia.

When I asked her over email to rate her fear from 0 to 10, 10 being a paralyzing fear, she rated it as 9.5, ramping up to 12 as she got on her skates! That told me it was a phobia, and I answered it would only take one session to fix. And that turned out to be completely true.

She had been practicing for 5 weeks prior to our session, and could not make it around the track without being paralyzed by her phobia and needing to sit down to calm herself. Now, two weeks after her session, she can make it around the track, falls down and gets up cheerfully, is working on sticky skates, muscle conditionning, and starting to get used to the speed. She's practicing her skating mutiple times a week and rapidly improving. Good for you D.R. !

Sports Hypnosis Review, D.R.San Diego #1

"I came to roller derby without ever have been on skates before, (minus a broken wrist from my first attempt at age 10). I was able to pull myself up into an upright position, but would immediately become paralyzed with an awful fear of falling.

It got so bad that at one point I got up and was so scared it literally brought me to tears. I was browsing the Derby Owned site and I saw Tempting Fate's site. I must have looked at that website 5 times before I decided to contact her. She was very understanding, knew that my problem could be solved, and helped solve it. Since my session with her, I have been able to get up on my own and am actually able to make it across the room on skates!! Falling is no longer an issue for me, I fall and then I get right back up.

Thanks Tempting Fate!
D.R.-San Diego"

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