Answer

By Your Horse

Homeopath and Practitioner Caroline Putus advises:

Even top-level competitors suffer from pre-show nerves. One technique they used to help is called mental rehearsal – here’s how to do it:
● Sit or lie somewhere comfortable where you will not be disturbed for at least 10 minutes.
● Relax by paying attention to your natural rhythm of breathing and allow your mind to settle.
● Begin by imagining watching a film of yourself performing your jumping exactly as you would like to. Remember that it is your film and you can edit out anything that isn’t as you want it, replacing it with something that works better.
● When you are happy with your film, step into it and act it out in your head – making sure that you are behaving, thinking and feeling exactly as you would like to.
● When you have done this, choose a trigger that will set this new behaviour off. This could be something you see, or hear, or a simple action such as pressing your fingers together – anything that makes sense to you.
● Run through this three times, setting off your trigger and experiencing your new behaviour.
● Practise this visualisation every day for at least a couple of weeks. It will become part of how you behave all the time.