Running high school cross country, back in the late '70s, we had a school parent who did guided imagery or visualization with us. We didn't take it very seriously.


However, being that it is Friday, let me do some guided imagery for those of us still at work......








Right now, I am visualizing drinking a cold beer. mmmmmm.

Guyzo wrote:hang up the Ice tools for a while and go climb in the "sunshine", JT, The Alabama Hills, Toll House and the "Kern" await... all good, warm sunny spots.

Get a nice sun tan and be ready for summer in TM.

Will do

The Chief wrote:Arno Ilgner's " Rock Warrior's Way"

Started reading this the other night .. so far I am loving it. A number of the books he cites have been on my shelves for years. In particular, I liked this passage very much -

Authentic self-worth comes from an internal value system, not from simple achievement. Self-worth comes from the positive results of your effort. You may have learned something about yourself or gained the experiential confidence to attempt more difficult challenges. These effects are genuinely valuable. The achievement itself, however, is no reason for elevated self-worth.

Another item I liked -

.. if you live by the Ego, then you can count on being offended or defensive for the rest of your life. You will constantly be tricked and trapped into doing idiotic things and wasting power.

Thanks again Rick

Per my earlier post, I think it is worth looking at visualization in more than one way.

The more commonly discussed idea is preparatory visualization, a kind of mental rehearsal and preparation prior to the climb. This is a valuable tool, but the visualization which really interests me happens in real time as you are doing the climb. Your mind sees, designs, creates movement and your body makes it happen. Except many things can interfere with this process.

There is no time in this state to consider success or failure. There is only “do.” The outcome will be what it is and the quality of the attempt becomes the goal. Of course the higher the quality of the attempt, the more likely you will achieve the goal of climbing the route, but that is secondary.

Sorry if this sounds like psychobabble. I have started training hard again recently – I am finally well enough to do so – and I am working on this connection of the mental and physical every day. I am looking for ways to train this connection. Choreographing sequences of exercises, in a manner similar to Tai Chi or “forms” in Kung Fu is the road I am going down now.

As an aside, I like Arno’s ideas and have read his books. He does tend to state things in black and white terms though.

.. if you live by the Ego, then you can count on being offended or defensive for the rest of your life. You will constantly be tricked and trapped into doing idiotic things and wasting power.

I love his whole concept of power, and leaking or wasting power. But we all live by the ego. Sometimes it helps us and other times it hinders us, so it is a question of balance.