How can I incorporate guided imagery into my workout?

Find a picture of yourself from when you had the body form you now seek.  Study the picture while telling yourself that you were once in this shape, and you choose to give yourself this beautiful body once again.  To reinforce that process you should find an item of clothing that you were able to wear when you were thinner, and attempt to put it on.  Tell yourself that you will once again be able to wear that item of clothing as a result of your exercise and nutrition decisions.  This process is maximized if incorporated into a process of self hypnosis, thereby utilizing the awesome power of your unconscious mind.

When you are on an elevator, waiting for someone or have few seconds to spare imagine exactly what you want your body to look like from head to toe. The more you focus on your goals the quicker they will turn into reality. If this is hard for you rip pictures out of magazines. While you are working out-visualize the exact muscle you are burning and get a clear picture of what you want it to look like.

By setting a goal and seeing yourself reaching that goal step by step, you can incorporate guided imagery into your workout. This is a kind of mental rehearsal for the actual work out. When you visualize it, it becomes easier for your body to perform it. Many elite athletes do this and it can improve their time and performance.

You do not have to be an elite athlete for this to work. You can use guided imagery to learn a dance, or improve your weight training or to improve your time on a local running or bike race. Mentally take yourself through the activity and see yourself succeeding and you will.

How strong is your "why?" Having a strong "why" will help keep you focused on the outcome you desire from your workouts. Having the right tools will help keep your journey fun during the workouts.

Consider Robert Fritz Structural Tension. In Structural Tension you define your Current State, and Desired State or outcome. It’s like the tension created when holding one end of a rubber band below the other end. The bottom half represents the current state, and the top half the desired state. Allowing the bottom half to rise up alleviates the tension. Therefore turning the current state into the desired state.

To turn your current state into your desired state, identify the steps in your workouts that will help you achieve your "why." If you have a strong enough "why," these steps will begin to jump out at you. Now use these steps to begin loosening the tension between your current state and desired state. Make each step fun and before you know it, you will have reached the outcome you are seeking from your workouts simply because you have a clear image of your "why."

Try incorporating guided imagery when you are in a room that would set up a positive mood for visualization. It's so easy to be distracted with cell phones, to-do's, kids etc. It will be helpful if you set up a mood by listening to an inspiring song or create an inspiration board you can help visualize your goals.

 I cringe when I see people flipping through magazines on stair steppers or chatting on their phone during their elliptical session. Devote your energy, your focus, on your workout. Your results are a direct correlation to what you put in. Focus on the muscles you're working when performing an exercise. Imagine seeing each contraction building a stronger muscle.

Or visualize a finish line during your cardio, and the victory you can celebrate once you get there with those feel-good-endorphins!  

Imagery is a script written about any behavior that someone wants to change or enhance. The best imagery script is written in your own 'voice' with your own personal experience. It is prepared including use of all of the senses, written in a positive tone and performing the behavior in the correct way. If the behavior has been previously preformed in a positive way that experience can be written into script form to be used as imagery. Using a past behavior helps to realize that there are skills already present, provides a sense of self confidence and allows for further growth of those skills. 

If you don't have a past, positive experience with the behavior you are interested in changing or enhancing with imagery then the next best way to write a script is utilizing an icon or someone you've seen who is really good at this behavior. For example, if you just started playing tennis and are struggling with your serve and have seen the serve of a professional tennis player that you identify with, watch them over and over and then write a detailed script about what the behavior looks like to you. 

Dreaming is very similar to imagery. Dreams are about something that's happened, something that's about to happen, something we wish to change/have happen or something unconscious we are sorting through and figuring out. Dreams are vivid. They are similar to television: colorful, active, and include pictures that draw out our sense of smell, taste, sight and hearing. Developing imagery is similar but we want to focus on positive images (past positive images if you have them) and the use of our senses to learn, rehearse or strengthen a behavior. For example, you can remember an instance when you were 10 flying down the road on your bicycle. You were all alone, in the middle of the country and remember the sense of freedom and fun. Write that experience down on a piece of paper with as many specifics as you can remember including: smells, tastes, sights, movements and things you could hear. Reliving that moment alongside actually getting out and cycling will recondition your mind and body so you'll be prepared to start cycling again. 

You can use small pieces of this throughout the day; similar to a ticker-tape. You can use longer pieces to help drift you off to sleep or you can use small, medium or longer pieces before the behavior to help you prepare. 

Whenever you have free time and are away from any distractions use this time to visualize yourself accomplishing your fitness goals, and see yourself looking and feeling the way you wish to. Keep this image in your head as you work out and try to sync the image in your head with the reality of what you’re doing.