Jan 27

Jan 27 Two Visualization Techniques For Building Healthy Habits

Hello beautiful wellness seekers, I'm Liz Moser, and I'm a Mayo Clinic and National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach.

Last week a new client sheepishly told me a story of her trip to the pharmacy to pick up medication. Then somehow, she found herself purchasing over $50 in junk food, eating until she was uncomfortable, and then throwing the rest out. Not only was she angry about wasting money, but she was disappointed to have caved on her nutritional goals.

After reissuing her that our relationship is a judgment-free zone, please no need to feel ashamed or sheepish. Coaching is always about staying curious and seeking the lesson. I then asked her if she was up for recreating the experience through visualization. She was. So, I asked her to settle in, take a breath, exhale, and close her eyes.

I said, imagine you are parking your car, walking into the pharmacy, putting your imaginary blinders on, and then striding down the aisle to the pharmacist, ignoring the shelf after shelf of junk food. (In addition to imagining physical blinders, you can think of turning down the volume nob on the permission-giving thoughts or imagine the idea to purchase the junk food on your shoulder and then think of brushing it off.)

(Back to the visualization.) Then you are purchasing your medication, wishing the pharmacist a good evening, and putting your blinders back on (or turning down the nob or brushing off the thought.) You’re leaving the pharmacy, getting into your car, and driving home. Success!

I asked her to repeat this process, putting her spin on it. Whatever feels natural, use that scenario, and then practice it repeatedly.

The process I went through with my client is similar to the WOOP method created by the researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky. WOOP stands for W - Wish, O - Outcome, O - Obstacle, and P - Plan. WOOP. Lyubomirsky’s research shows that people who plan for an obstacle and then visualize themselves overcoming it are more likely to succeed in the future.

In addition, I also suggested that my client spend several minutes at the beginning of her daily morning meditation, visualizing herself going through her upcoming day making the healthy food choices she truly wants herself to make. Or why she hired me. Visualize eating breakfast, then lunch, and dinner, relaxing in the evening, and then imagine herself getting into bed knowing she spent the day making nutritious choice after nutritious choice. Woohoo! Sweet success!

This second form of visualization I call the athletic or training model because athletes such as Michael Phelps, the multiple gold medal swimmer, are said to imagine or visualize every swim stroke of his upcoming race while he’s standing on the starting block. He practices a perfect swim in his mind before the starting buzzer.

Why visualize? Why use either the overcoming obstacles method or the athletic training for a perfect race or successful day method. Because research shows that our brains react similarly to an imagined scenario as it does to our reality; what’s happening right now. In effect, through visualization, you can slowly put a groove or lay a fiber track in your brain for the experience of completing the activity or habit you want to add to your daily routine. You are practicing your desired new healthier lifestyle while visualizing.

For my new client, through visualization, she can transform her experience of going to the pharmacy as a destination where she sticks to her health goals instead of errands to the pharmacy equating to eating sugary junk foods. And through the athletic or training visualization approach, she can practice or prep herself to make healthier food choices for the upcoming day.

Both visualizing scenarios have their place, and I would suggest practicing through visualization both the preparing for the upcoming day and practicing what you will do when specific temptations or permission-giving thoughts rear their disruptive voice. Solidify your daily habits and future lifestyle by visualizing you doing the action and overcoming obstacles because research shows that our brains react similarly to an imagined scenario as it does to our reality. In effect, we can build the experience or memory of a successful outcome into our brains.

I’m Liz Moser, a Mayo Clinic and National Board-Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and thank you for reading this blog about the two different visualization methods. If you have any questions about this blog, health, wellness, or wellness coaching with me, please reach out via my website at lizmosercoaching.com.