During this holiday season I send my heartfelt gratitude and thanks to all of you for your continued support in my mission to help golfers achieve joy, peace and awarenesses in their lives and in their golf games. In this spirit is the following interpretation of gift giving by Sarah Breathnach.

“Christmas is about gifts.

The real role of gifts in the Christmas story is different than the gifts found at the malls or in mail-order catalogs.  The gifts in the Christmas story were wrapped in miracles.

The first gift was of Spirit: unconditional Love.

The next gift came from a Jewish teenager named Miriam, who was known to her family and friends as Mary.  Her Christmas present was selflessness, the complete surrender of ego and will needed to bring Heaven down to earth.

The gifts of her fiancé, Joseph, were trust and faith.  He trusted that Mary wasn’t pregnant with another man’s child; he believed there really was a Divine Plan to get them through this mess.

The Child brought forgiveness.  Wholeness.  Second chances. 

The angels’ gifts were tidings of comfort, joy and peace, the reassurance that there was nothing to fear, so rejoice.

The Sheppard boy’s gift was generosity; his favorite lamb for the baby’s birthday present.

The innkeeper’s wife’s gifts were compassion and charity; a warm, dry, safe place for the homeless family to stay, her best coverlet to wrap the new mother and little one, a meal for Joseph, the donkey’s fresh hay.

The three kings arrived in Bethlehem expecting to find a newborn prince in a palace, and instead found him in a cow stall.  The shocked Wise Men unwrapped golf, frankincense, and myrrh, but their Real gifts were wonder, acceptance, and courage.  They offered wonder by surrendering logic, reason, and common sense.  Accepting the impossible, they suspended skepticism long enough to double-cross the insane King Herod, frantically searching for the child who would change the world.  With courage—at the risk of their own lives—the Wise Men helped the young family escape to a safe haven in Egypt.

Christmas is all about gifts.  Nothing but gifts.  Gifts tied with heartstrings.  Gifts that surprise and delight.  Gifts that transform the mundane into the miraculous.  Gifts that nurture the souls of both the giver and the given.  Perfect giftsl  Authentic gifts. The gifts of Spirit, a frightened teen-age girl, her bewildered sweetheart, the Child, the angels, the shepherd boy, the inn-keeper’s wife.  The gifts of the Magi.

Unconditional Love.  Selflessness.  Trust, Faith.  Forgiveness.  Wholeness.  Second Chances.  Comfort.  Joy.  Peace.  Reassurance.  Rejoicing.,  Generosity.  Compassion.  Charity.  Wonder.  Acceptance.  Courage. 

To give such gifts.  To truly open our hearts to receive such gifts gratefully.”

From: “Simple Abundance, A Daybook of Comfort and Joy”,  Sarah Ban Breathnach

Let the brightness of the holiday season shine in your life

bringing you peace, harmony and love for yourself and all that you do.

The month of December signals the end of the year and forecasts the beginning of a new year. As this year draws to a close, now is the time to reflect about what you learned and what you did or did not accomplish in your golf games. Golf is an inner game. Get to know yourself better to improve your performances.

Here are 12 mental, emotional and spiritual attributes to bring you into balance for a more rewarding life and golf game:

1. Be aware. Thoughts, words and deeds are the tools of creation. Every act you perform is an act of self-definition. It is important that you use your full awareness to speak and act consciously instead of just repeating what you have heard from others.

2.  Focus on what you desire, and not on what you don’t want. Choose the results you want. Have complete trust that it will happen. The degree of your trust will be the degree that the results will happen.

3.    Put yourself at the head of your gift list. Be kind to yourself. Think, talk, play golf, and live your life the way you would like it to be. Play for your own enjoyment, not to please others.

4.    Turn frustration into a smile. Smile through adversity. When you are frustrated in traffic, at the shopping mall, or on the golf course, acknowledge the emotion as an opportunity to change. Smile inwardly to change your physiology and send lightness into your heart and the world instead of darkness.

5.    Turn worry into action. No one has ever accomplished anything by worrying about it. When you begin to fret about something in your life, let go of your attachment to the outcome. Formulate a plan and execute it. Affirm what it is you want to manifest NOW. For example, instead of worrying about how to hit the ball on the first tee, formulate a plan to relax, and then focus on your tempo and target.

6.     Be grateful. By being grateful for the things you do have in your life, you create a positive attitude and send positive energy into your mind and body, and also out into the world.

7.     Forgive yourself for your mistakes. Understand that making mistakes is the best and fastest way to learn and grow. Forgive (give for) yourself for being human and give yourself the gift of letting go of blame and guilt. Return to a peaceful and harmonious state of mind.

8.     Make your self-talk positive. Monitor your thoughts. Change the words “if only” to “next time.” Stay in the present by changing fear thoughts from the past, and anxious thoughts of the future to thoughts of what you want to happen in your life right now.

9.     Make happiness a habit. Look for the “good” in all situations. Have faith in the perfection of your life experience. Know that you do not always know what is best for you. Acknowledge that on another level you are creating every situation for your learning experience.

10.    Use your sense of humor. Children laugh 500 times a day and adults only around 50 times. When you laugh your body produces endorphins to make you feel good. Humor can take the tenseness out of a situation. Humor builds self-esteem if you can laugh at your humanness.

11.    Accept your circumstances. Acceptance is surrendering to what is; your feelings, your problems, your relationships, your golf game. Before you can change what is, recognize that this is the way it is right now. Resist the struggle. Accepting the situation brings a peace to your soul. It releases the pressure and brings relief. When you relax, you change your heartbeat, physiology and energy pattern. Then you are better able to see what to do next.

12.    Do random acts of kindness. Fill in a divot, fix a ball mark, return a shopping cart, or pick up trash. You will not only feel better, you will be helping the environment and creating good will.

Let the brightness of the holiday season shine in your life

bringing you peace, harmony and love for yourself and all that you do.

Improve your golf game over the winter by listening to PMI self-hypnosis CDs in the privacy of your own home. Order today at www.pmi4.com/cart

Self-doubt surfaces in many ways when you are playing golf. Lack of confidence is one of the beliefs that golfers struggle with. Self doubt is triggered by expectations that are not fulfilled, a bad shot, an unexpected score, a lack of focus and many, many other factors. Begin now to develop a mental strategy for strengthening your self worth.

Anyone who has ever played the game of golf knows that it is different from all other sports and games. Besides the intricacy of combining one’s body parts to be in sync to approach the ball squarely, it is mostly not a reaction sport. Instead of reacting to a moving ball, the golf ball sits waiting for the club to hit it. The golfer also waits for his/her turn. In this waiting period the mind of a golfer conjures up many negative scenarios unless the brain has been trained to focus in the moment on the predetermined strategy.

The Spirit of the Game 

The Spirit of the Game is different because golf is played for the most part without a referee or a rules official. The Rules of Golf were written to rely on the sportsmanship, integrity and honesty of golfers to abide by the rules and etiquette for play.  It is a courteous game. Golf etiquette is an essential part of the game. The golf etiquette covers respect for other golfers, the safety of golfers, the pace of play, and maintaining the quality of the golf course.

The Human Spirit of the Golfer

Golf is a reflection of the journey into your inner self through exploring the mysteries of this royal and ancient game. At its highest levels of hitting perfect shots, and achieving your fullest potential, your spirit quietly soars “into the zone” where you are in a state of euphoria and trust. No longer is your spirit dampened by past experiences of fear, anxiety, indecision, distractions and self-limitations. The joy you experience is in each moment, and not in the score outcomes.

When you take the self imposed stress out of your golf game and regain your confidence in your ability, you will be able to enjoy the game as a means of relaxation and a source of enriching your spirit and soul. To do this is to focus on your potential, not on your limitations.

Balance your Mind-Body-Spirit

1. Develop a good sense of humor: Think happy thoughts. There are an unlimited number of jokes about the game of golf and its unpredictability. Standing and waiting for your turn to hit has always been a traditional time to tell golf jokes. Perhaps it is a lost art that needs to be reinstated. Laughing is the best medicine for calming the mind and body.
2. Develop a sense of humility: When you let go of the judgments you have about yourself, golf becomes a game to enjoy. On the golf course you will have opportunities to take a route to fear or a route to happiness. Don’t take yourself too seriously, don’t take other people too seriously and don’t take life in general too serious. Remember that your number one reason to play golf is to have fun.
3. Find the good in every experience. When your nerves take over and you hit your tee ball OB on the first hole, find something good in the experience. Realize that you have 17 more opportunities to recover from that one mistake. Step away and take a deep breath and swing your club until you feel the rhythm of the swing you intended.
4. Develop good habits: We all have good and bad habits that we have developed over our lifetimes. To achieve the ideal balance for health and wellbeing you need to learn good habits. In golf we consciously develop a pre-shot routine so our results will be consistent. In life we need to let go of bad habits and replace them with good ones. It takes at least one month of constant repetition to develop a habit. Most people forget their goals during that period and don’t form a permanent habit.
5. Learn from your past. Keep a written record of your achievements in the past year. Appreciate your accomplishments by anchoring the good feeling in your heart. If you are holding on to bad memories, forgive yourself for making a mistake and replace it with your good intention, feeling and visualization.
6. Start each day with love and intention. Do things that make you happy. Plan your day so you have time to do something to indulge yourself with happiness. This is your life to create. Remind yourself how fortunate you are to be able to play golf, to be alive, what you are grateful for, and how you are going to make the best out of the day.

Being in the zone state on the golf course is the feeling of being in love. You have lost your personality self by being in love with the game and have forgotten the worries, judgments and thoughts you have about yourself. Align with your mind-body-spirit by experiencing love for the game rather than a fear of the results. It is your individual state of being and mind to make your own happiness happen.

Play “In the Zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Brain for Peak Performances

To entrain your heart and brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

Happy Thanksgiving America!

The official holiday season in the US begins tomorrow, November 27^th with our celebration of Thanksgiving Day. It is our national holiday when we show our gratitude and appreciation for life; for all the blessings that we have received and are about to receive. 

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”— William Arthur Ward

Gratitude is a state of being. It is a feeling in your heart that can transform your thinking and your body. This state of gratitude is where you can balance the chaos that seems to be in the world around you. Take the time to find the balance between your heart and your will to make things happen. Truly appreciate life and you will have more of it.

Remember why you love to play golf. Be grateful for golf and all the ups and downs that make it a challenging and meaningful game.

If you have a tendency to look at your golf game with a critical eye and only notice what didn’t happen as you wished, it is time to look at the successes that you had. No golfer’s game is all good or all bad. Writing down what you enjoyed will bring back memories of the good times you had on the golf course in the past year. Be aware of how this makes you feel different.

Build your gratitude list by saying a sincere ”thank you” for every compliment you receive. Receive the compliment with gratitude for the gift that was given to you without judging the content or the giver. In this way, giving and receiving are the same and both parties are rewarded with good feelings instead of bad ones. Your glass is then half full instead of half empty.

Happiness is an attitude you can create in every moment. A key to feeling happy is gratitude. When you are thankful for whatever experience you are having, your whole being energetically opens to the possibility of feeling happiness.

Like every aspect of your golf game, repetition is necessary for success. Decide to spend time being grateful in every moment. The more you practice being grateful, you will develop an awareness of appreciating small everyday experiences.

Play “In the Zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Brain for Peak Performances

To entrain your heart and brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

Over the last 22 years I have been helping golfers and other athletes learn how to perform at their peak performance levels through an understanding and awareness of Self. The mental game of golf is not about being stronger mentally, but is about changing your beliefs of lack and limitation that were ingrained in you as a child from someone else’s fearful beliefs and values. When you have the self-esteem to believe in yourself and your abilities there is no struggle and you can just allow yourself to play “in the zone.”

As the twig is bent, so grows the tree 

As we move into the holiday seasons of uplifting spiritual energy, it is a good time to look at your earliest years of life that define much of who you are today and how those early beliefs are surfacing now in your adult performances.

If you had caring parents, as a helpless infant you were constantly paid attention to in a loving adored way. As you began to move about in your first year, your parents began to treat you differently. They were aware of the many dangers that could befall a toddler like falling down the stairs or running out into the street. Throughout your childhood years, you were then told over and over again what you could not do. In truth you were told this many more times than what you could do. So around the age of two, you began to say NO willfully.

By the time you were five years old, you were told negatives or NO, 30,000 times. By the time you are 13 years old, you are told negatives or NO 100,000 times. You grew up in an environmentally negative society. You heard the word bad more often than good. You were told you were wrong more times than you were told you were right. You were criticized more times than you were praised. You were told not to do something more times than you were told what to do.

Your parents told you the lies of Santa Claus (actually created by Macy’s Department Store), the Easter bunny, the tooth fairy, and that you were brought by the stork. And of course you believed them because they were your parents and you believed your parents would not lie to you.

Negative programming for athletics 

As a child and teen-ager you were warned hundreds/thousands of times by your parents and other authority figures of the dangers in physical activities that included running, catching, throwing, lifting, tugging, kicking, twisting, turning, pushing, pulling, jumping, climbing, rolling, swinging, hanging, and sliding. What you were told was that you would hurt yourself by breaking an arm or a leg, tripping, banging your head, scraping your knee, or just bruising yourself. These fear messages became lodged in your subconscious mind which takes in these messages literally and promotes the injuries your parents were trying to avoid.

If on the other hand if you were told repeatedly as a child that you are athletic and well coordinated, have a good golf swing and that you will be a great golfer, you would believe it and follow this dream. A good example of this kind of loving conditioning is Jack Nicklaus who was trained to believe in himself by his parents and his golf pro. How else could he play like a champion when the galleries were shouting a derogatory “Fat Jack” at him? He transformed his image into “The Golden Bear” with his winning performances. His thinking is always positive and he has to strain to think of anything negative when the press asks him about missed shots.

What will they think of me? 

As adults, golfers put the biggest pressure on themselves by worrying about how they will look to others. On the pro level, the media is constantly judging by pointing out mistakes and failures to execute perfection.

Self-esteem is the issue. Children learn early on that when a parent, teacher or trusted authority figure says you do something wrong, you need to be punished because you are bad. Hearing these messages over and over, they are programmed into your subconscious mind and take on the role of the authority figures even after they are gone. When you are standing over the golf ball and one of these self-doubting thoughts surfaces, your self-sabotage takes over and punishes you with a missed shot.

I think it is time to turn the energy on the golf course back into a safe, fun playground for all ages. I for one would like to see it as a healthy place to go for fun, exercise, challenge and a spiritual experience. That is why I began giving workshops and it is my sole purpose now. I would like everyone to experience their higher Self by playing golf “in the zone” where it is the most fun and scores are the lowest. To have this experience it begins with having a safe place within.

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances 

To retrain your mind-body connection to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

Dreaming about what you want to accomplish in golf will not bring it about. A dream is a manifestation of what your fondest desire is. To make your dream happen, you need to let go of the fears that hold you back from accomplishing it. When you see only your shortcomings, you will always come up short. No matter what is happening, your attitude toward it is always your choice.

Thinking about things that do not support your dream is a waste of time and effort. Begin to form the right state of mind by deciding which thoughts and emotions will help you to achieve it. You can use visual images, positive self-talk, supportive thoughts and empowering emotions to enhance your self-image to make your dream a reality.

Do you help or hurt your game?

When do you decide in a round of golf that you are putting well and can trust your putting skill?

When you miss a couple of three-footers, do you succumb to the fear of missing, tighten up, and leave every putt short?

The mental game of golf is about accessing your “inner self” that knows through intuition how to make the dream happen. Keys to accessing this powerful “inner game” are:

• Empower yourself by erasing all fear thoughts with a clear intention of what you want to accomplish.
• Put more strong emotion into your good results than in poor results.
• Create your own positive beliefs instead of adapting the ego beliefs of others.
• Stay positive and focused on playing one shot at a time.
• Pay attention to issues inside yourself that no longer serve you.
• Release all low vibration emotions such as anger, doubt, and worry.
• Trust in yourself and have patience to accomplish the results you desire.
• Breathe deeply to return to a relaxed mental and physical state for peak performance.
• Maintain a sense of joy in playing no matter what the results are.

If you can dream – and not make dreams your master;

If you can think – and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster,

And treat those two imposters just the same,

The world will be yours and everything in it,

What’s more, you’ll be a man, my son.

—excerpt from Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “IF”

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Brain for Peak Performance! 

Improve your golf game NOW by listening to PMI self-hypnosis CDs/tapes in the privacy of your own home. Train your brain by listening to positive imagery and suggestions in seven different areas of your golf game. Order today at www.pmi4.com/cart

One on One Coaching: Call 828.696.2547, or email Joan at pmi4@bellsouth.net for a free 15-minute consultation to learn about mental golf coaching in person or worldwide by phone. Learn what is missing in your game so you can achieve your peak performances.

Please share this monthly mental instruction newsletter if it has been helpful to you. Forward it to your friends. They may wish to subscribe so they can have more fun playing the game of golf while lowering their scores.

When you don’t trust yourself and your golf swing, your trust turns to doubt and that doubt creates tension. Tension is the most common physical cause of making mistakes in the golf swing. Eliminating tension needs to be a key part of your practice and playing routines.

Some days you will have more tension than others. To become relaxed you have to be aware of the feeling of tension when it surfaces. Positive Mental Imagery CDs are available at www.pmi4.com/cart that will help you to relax, score lower and have more fun.

The imagery and positive suggestions on the following CDs will enforce these mental coping skills to overcome tension:

Replace all negative thinking with positive thoughts & images: 

     “Self Hypnosis for Playing “In the Zone”  CD

Slow Down Your Breathing: 

       “Progressive Relaxation of the Mind & Body” CD

Change your focus from conditions outside you to inside:

      “Concentration for Consistent Golf” CD

Trust in your ability to make a smooth swing/putt:

       “Confident Putting for Lower Scores” CD

Replace your fears with empowering self-talk :

       “Fearless Golf” CD

Release all thoughts about the outcome of the game:

       “Release from Performance Anxiety” CD

Believe in your ability and your potential:

      “Confidence to Win Golf Tournaments” CD

Repetition is the key to mastering mental and physical skills. By listening to a CD repeatedly the positive suggestions and imagery will be anchored into your memory for easy access on the golf course.

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

One of the keys for creating your successful performances is by developing high self-esteem. Self-esteem is your overall sense of self worth. You can increase your self-esteem by removing your fears of failure and not being good enough. This involves changing limiting beliefs about yourself and your golf game.

1. Treat failure as your friend. While the goal is to play in the zone state where the game is easy and we play at our peak performance level, making mistakes is the opportunity to learn what we need to know to get there.
2. Believe in your abilities.  Repeatedly congratulate yourself on your small successes and anchor good shots deep into your subconscious by smiling inside. Release all self-judgment of missed shots and accept the opportunity to grow your game.
3. Make having fun your sole purpose. Golf is a game devised for human enjoyment. When you get too serious, fear tends to creep in. Laugh at your mistakes. Be thankful for all that you have.

Affirming beliefs for success from successful people

 Men are born to succeed, not to fail. – Henry David Thoreau 

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen. – Frank Lloyd Wright

Self-trust is the first secret of success. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Peak performers are people who approach any set of circumstances with the attitude that they can get it to turn out the way they want it to. Not once in a while. Regularly. They can count on themselves.  – Charles Garfield. 

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says “I’m possible! — Audrey Hepburn

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. — Swami Sivananda

What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Never give up, for that is just the time and the place that the tide will turn. —  Harriett Beecher Stowe

Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just once more. – Thomas A. Edison 

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential… these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence. –Confucius

Believe in yourself. Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy. — Norman Vincent Peale

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

Play “in the zone” with Joan 

To train your brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart

Fall is a beautiful time of year here in western North Carolina. It is magical to see the green leaves reaching their peak colors of red, yellow and orange before they begin to fall to the ground. Fall golf always reminds me of looking for my golf ball in the piles of leaves. With the advent of the leaf blower that is no longer necessary.

Fall is nature’s fantastic color painting on a grand scale.  As the weather turns cooler the dog days of summer have been replaced and we have a renewed energy and a spring in our steps. There are Fall street festivals in abundance here for enjoying the cooler sunny temperatures.

As the summer golf tournament season comes to a close, I hope you can enjoy your rounds of golf by taking in this beauty in the quiet of nature. Release all thoughts in your mind to give you a new perspective to see things that you had not noticed before.

Release all the self-imposed feelings of irritation, anxiety, apathy, hopelessness, embarrassment, guilt, failure, judgment, anger and limitation which are only fear thoughts arising from your ego thinking that put you on the defensive. Quiet your inner and outer minds by releasing the fears, behaviors and beliefs that keep you habitually returning to old ways of performing. Choose to play the game of golf with the passion you wish to experience.

Live your life fully. Experience your body joyfully and completely.

Enrich your spirit by knowing that you are enough and that you always have enough abilities and qualities to manifest your dreams.

Be fearless, be mindless, be loving, and be happy as you play your way around the golf course.

Play “in the zone” with Joan

Entrain Your Heart & Mind for Peak Performances

To train your brain to play your best golf, listen to the Positive Mental Imagery guided imagery CDs, available at www.pmi4.com/cart