This is an extract from the book, “Skiing without Fear – for beginners, intermediates, and experts”.

This next exercise will help you change your internal representation of your fear of learning to ski.  It should help build your confidence in your ability to learn to ski, whilst removing doubts in your ability to learn to ski.

You can use it at home or on the slopes – though it is better if you practise it at home first.  Find a quiet place where you will not be disturbed, breathe deeply and relax for a moment or two.

Exercise:  Improving your confidence in your ability to learn to ski

 

1.  Think of a belief you know is true.  I want you to stop and think of something you absolutely believe 100%.   Just stop.  Think about it.  Think about something you know.  Is the sun coming up tomorrow?  Is breathing useful?

I want to you to notice where the voice comes from that confirms this.   Does it come from ahead, in front of you?  From the left or right side?  Up or down?  Kind of all over?  What we are doing here is identifying how you represent beliefs to yourself: identifying the submodalities necessary for it to be a belief.

 

2.  Think of something that may or may not be true?  Think of something you are not sure about.   What do you want for lunch?  White cars are driven by safer drivers than silver cars.  The health and education systems are improving as a result of government reforms.  By 2020, 95% of the world will have broadband internet access.

Again, notice where that voice comes from.  Where are the pictures located in your mind?

Here, we are identifying how you represent doubts to yourself: identifying the submodalities necessary for it to be a doubt.

You now have a strong belief and a doubt.  In most people, the strong belief is located straight ahead, and the doubt is located to the left, lower.

Is one bigger or smaller?  Normally the strong belief is bigger.

 

3.  Are you afraid to ski?    If your response is from straight ahead, I want you to actively move the fear.  Move the voice down to the left where your doubting beliefs were located, move the pictures down to the left.  Make the voice or images smaller, quieter.  Shrink the image, mute the voice.  Make the image dark and fuzzy and difficult to see.  And very very small.

 

4.  I am learning to be a great skier.  Take that thought and the images it gives you. Take the voice.  Now move it straight ahead in front of you.  Up close and personal.  Make it big, bright and loud.  I am learning to be a great skier.  What happens if you change the tone of the voice?  For some people, deepening the tone of the voice to lower and lower tones helps increase the intensity of the belief.  Close your eyes. Now, double the size of the picture.  Quadruple the volume of the voice. Turn up the brightness even more.  Increase the volume yet more. 

 

5. Now look at your skis – or visualise them straight ahead if they are not at hand.  Repeat the last step again – I am learning to be a great skier –  five times really quickly whilst looking at your skis.  This time, when you turn the dial up on the volume of the voice, forget turning it up to eleven – turn it up to twenty-seven!  I am learning to be a great skier.  Make your visual images enormous.