Mental Imagery

“You have to smell it, you have to hear it, you have to feel it, everything” said Emily Cook, an American Freestyle Skier. Two weeks before the 2002 Winter Olympics, Emily fractured her left foot and tore her ligaments in both of her feet. After all the painful surgeries, Emily felt deeply discouraged and believed it was impossible to participate in the Olympics (Clarey, 2014). Nicole Detling, a Sport Psychologist, worked with Emily on mental imagery; Nicole first used a healing imagery by training Emily to imagine her bones slowly healing. Then, Detling trained Emily to write down every detail of a perfect run, the feeling of the cold air touching her neck, the muscles she is using, and how she would land (Clarey, 2014). Emily Cook stated that the use of imagery inhibited her negative thoughts from appearing in her mind. She imagined the loud sound of a pin popping a red balloon; the red balloon symbolized as her negative thoughts. The loud sound allowed Emily to get rid of her negative thoughts and focus only on her positive thoughts. The use of …show more content…
There are various studies that have proven mental imagery produces the same results as physical rehabilitation. Mental imagery leaves positive effects because when the person is using imagery, they are activating the same motor impulses as they would they physically move. This advantage allows stroke patients to practice mental imagery and improve on everyday tasks such as sitting or standing. All athletes use mental imagery in different ways; not all imagery is visual but can be also, smell, taste, hear, and touch. Mental imagery allows the person to be prepared for stressful situations and if that person ends up performing well then that will improve the person’s confidence and