Mental rehearsal - how I prepare for big moments

Mental rehearsal is a practice that is mainly used by athletes, musicians and actors to prepare for a competition, a performance or a lecture, or generally to promote learning. When practising mentally, we use the human brain's distinct ability to simulate movements or situations as if the experience already existed. Our nervous system aligns itself accordingly and neuronal learning takes place immediately.

This technique may sound new to anyone else who does not actively and regularly prepare for performances or competitions. However, it often takes place in the background of our consciousness in the nervous system, especially when it comes to dangerous situations. We imagine a difficult situation or a conversation, an exam, an operation or a threatening event in all possible colors and facets and our nervous system simulates the moment long before it occurs. The expected experience of the event is often greatly exaggerated in our imagination and even unlikely scenarios are played out by the brain. This may be necessary in life-threatening situations to satisfy our urge to survive, but in everyday life it leads to a lot of negativity that deepens neuronally through repetition.

A wise person once said:

"To accomplish the feat of making myself unhappy, I have to work very hard, and it is absurd not to realize that I can work just as hard to make myself complete and strong."

We can also use mental rehearsal to our benefit to create and neuronally consolidate states of strength or wholeness in the here and now. In order to get the necessary strength and energy for this, it is necessary that we give up the (hard) work it takes to make us unhappy, to consciously not do it.

If you would like to learn more about mental rehearsal, please write to me.