Everyone will have experienced anxiety of some sort at some point in their lives. Athletes and competitive sports people are far more likely to have experienced a high level of anxiety as a result of taking part in competitive events, being on ‘display’ and under pressure to preform.

So what is anxiety? It is most often described as a “negative emotional state in which feelings of nervousness, worry or apprehension are associated with activation or arousal of the body” and it therefore has two separate components… a though component (e.g. worry) and also a somatic component (e.g. the physical symptoms such as shaking or raised heart rate).

It is important for any sports person to understand how they as an individual cope with anxiety and to get an understanding of how a level of anxiety can actually be positive and can even help boost performance. If you are TOO relaxed, performance can also suffer.

At Christy Hypnotherapy, I use hypnosis to help manage anxiety in a variety of ways including:

• Teaching self-hypnosis to help create relaxation and calmness, especially before a competition or important event
• Using imagery to either increase or decrease level of anxiety
• Teaching hypnotic centering and “belly breathing” to promote relaxation in times of stress
• Reframing negative experiences from the past to help overcome excess stress
• Using hypnosis to “act out anxiety” and release negative tension

Sports Psychology has been used for many years to create ways of reducing or overcoming anxiety and I find hypnosis is a perfect way to enhance these techniques and put the athlete back in control of their emotions.

If you would like to find out how hypnosis could help manage your anxiety, email Christy today: christy@christyhypnotherapy.com or call 01252 334377