July 3, 2025 • 43 mins
At 27, Maya Raichoora is one of UK’s top mental fitness and visualisation experts and the author of VISUALISE: Think, Feel, Perform Like the Top 1%. When she was younger, a debilitating encounter with ulcerative colitis left her bed-ridden and with zero confidence. The turning point came when a nurse asked her what she would rather do if she wasn’t confined to a hospital bed. Despite finding the question insensitive at first, it set her mind to visualise taking her first steps and start walking, which eventually became a reality.
This set her on a path to finding her passion for visualisation and mental fitness. Listen in as Maya decodes terms like limiting beliefs and manifestation, while talking about empowering techniques like The Batman Effect, and why hibernation is as important as hustle.
Follow Maya on Insta
Timestamps:
01:10 The difference between visualisation and manifestation
04:05 What is mental fitness?
06:00 Overcoming her health crisis
11:58 Your brain can’t tell fake from real; training your brain
16:33 Who is visualisation for? Taking high performers from good to great
18:30 Emotional agility; controlling our responses to primary emotions
23:35 Explaining limiting beliefs; the brain on repeat mode
26:18 Negative visualisation or future proofing
28:29 Building hope and opening up to possibilities
31:20 The Batman Effect, creating a bolder character
34:40 The Seasons Method; importance of hibernation over hustle
37:57 Keeping a journal of small wins
39:55 Visualisation for the ‘Top 1 percent’, to be the best you can be
Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
This set her on a path to finding her passion for visualisation and mental fitness. Listen in as Maya decodes terms like limiting beliefs and manifestation, while talking about empowering techniques like The Batman Effect, and why hibernation is as important as hustle.
Follow Maya on Insta
Timestamps:
01:10 The difference between visualisation and manifestation
04:05 What is mental fitness?
06:00 Overcoming her health crisis
11:58 Your brain can’t tell fake from real; training your brain
16:33 Who is visualisation for? Taking high performers from good to great
18:30 Emotional agility; controlling our responses to primary emotions
23:35 Explaining limiting beliefs; the brain on repeat mode
26:18 Negative visualisation or future proofing
28:29 Building hope and opening up to possibilities
31:20 The Batman Effect, creating a bolder character
34:40 The Seasons Method; importance of hibernation over hustle
37:57 Keeping a journal of small wins
39:55 Visualisation for the ‘Top 1 percent’, to be the best you can be
Follow Anuradha on LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram
Email: swishingmindsets@gmail.com
Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed are personal. Listener discretion is advised.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, Welcome to Swishing Mindsets. This is Anuradha and I'm
speaking to Maya Ratchura, author of Visualize, Think, Feel, Performed
Like the Top one percent. Maya is one of UK's
top mental fitness and visualization experts and the founder and
CEO of Remap Mental Fitness. The book is the first
of its kind to provide a step by step neuroscience
(00:22):
backed approach to harnessing the power of visualization to transform mindsets,
build confidence and enhance performance. Hi Maya, Hi, how ye?
I am great and wonderful, wonderful to have you here.
And I've just been through your book and you know,
I can see that you know, all these are literally
jargons that have been thrown around these days. It's everywhere, neuroplasticity,
(00:45):
limiting beliefs, visualization, manifestation. But I love the way you've
you know, simplified it, broken it down and made it
very practical and easy to use, right, So I really
like that. So, uh, maybe we could start by talking
about what visualization really means and if you'd like to
talk about how it's different from manifestation.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, I think that's a good question to start with.
And I do appreciate that. You know, we hear these
words quite a lot, and visualization is probably one of them,
and I think the context it's used in generally will
be about manifestation or about your goals. So the book
really focuses on kind of debunking a lot of the
(01:29):
myths around it, but also showing us a new way
to apply it to our life. So, at its core,
visualization is a neurological mental training technique, and it's where
you create images, environments, and feelings in your mind before
they happen. However, it's not just used for seeing your
goal or the end result. It can also be used
(01:50):
to improve your performance, let's say public speaking or a sport.
It can be used to manage emotions, which is creative visualization,
which might be or for let's sa, if you're feeling anxious,
how can you release that? Then you've got negative visualization,
which is much more about being prepared for worst case scenarios.
And so I think it's important to make that distinction
(02:12):
between manifestation because i'd say manifestation in a broad sense,
and I don't mind talking about it because I also
believe in manifestation. So I can see the clear difference.
A manifestation is that broader concept of like, you know,
some if I can create something in my mind, I
can make it a reality. But what I see often
is that maybe at the beginning of the year or
(02:34):
at certain points, people will be like, Okay, I'm going
to manifest all my goals, etc. But no one's actively
doing an exercise or practicing or training their brain every day.
And so visualization is really that neurological technique that is
part of why call like mental fitness. The only really
key area in my overlap is with outcome visualization, because
(02:54):
when you are visualizing your goals in advance, people often
use the word okay, well I manifest to this goal,
or you know, like I saw this opportunity it was
like serendipity. I mean, it's not magic. It's simply because
you as a person are changing, right Like you're changing
the way you think, You're changing the way you feel
about something, your perspective, So therefore your perspective all the
(03:15):
view of the world might change. But I think the
biggest biggest thing is how you frame a technique will
change how you use it. So if you consider something
like this manifestation, it won't be part of your daily routine,
whereas if you see it as a mental fitness training tool,
it's something you can invest in daily to really make
those changes. So it's very nuanced different, but I'd say
(03:38):
it's very significant as well.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, you mentioned mental fitness. You know, that's interesting because
even in your book you've said that it's different from
mental health. Health is something that we all just have, right,
I mean, physically, if we have a body, we have health,
and the same thing with the mind, and you've said
that it's important to train your brain, right, So could
you explain a little bit, you know, just highlight a
bit of it. What is mental fitness?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah? I mean you know when you were like at school,
did you go to like P class? Yeah, yeah you did,
and I think most of people most like most of
us did, but very few of us all well, I
don't think anyone ever had the opportunity to go to
any type of mental training or you know, mental education
(04:25):
where you can actually learn, well, just like how I
train my body, how do I train my mind? And
I think that's a massive problem because your mind is
half your health. So when I talk about mental fitness,
everyone has a mind already. So really you will have
a type of mental health. It could be good, it
can be bad. You know, that's just something we all have.
(04:48):
But you're only mentally fit if you're actively training your
brain to be better or stronger or handle things. So
just in the same way like you've got a body,
you've got a physical health, but you're only physically fit
if you're going to the gym, if you're running, pilates, cricket,
whatever it might be. But the problem is we don't
have the education, but we're not empowered with the tools
(05:11):
to do the mental fitness part of it. Everyone talks
about the fact that they've got anxiety or they're feeling
not great, but it's like, well, what can you do
about it? And it's not gonna be the same for everyone,
And I think that's why it's really important. It's a
personalized thing, just like again physical fitness. And I actually
split mental fitness into key areas, which is cardio, rest, diet,
(05:34):
strength training, because I think in the same way that
we do that with physical fitness, we can do that
with mental fitness too. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Absolutely, And I like, you know, you've used a lot
of sportsmen of better person analogy throughout the book, you know,
to explain mental fitness really so you know, you've also
spoke spoken about how your journey started when you know
you're very and as a teenager you faced colliders, right
and when a hospital better and a nurse told you
to just imagine where you would be and what you
(06:07):
would be doing if not there. So you know, can
you talk about the power of that and how it's
all started.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, for sure. So yeah, you know a lot of
people do ask me, They're like, oh, you know, are
you a neuroscientist, and do you have like background in psychology?
And truthfully no, and I and I think, really where
all my work comes from, my passion, my purpose, but
(06:37):
also my results is really because of life experience and
you know what what happened. So yeah, growing up, I
was I guess quite high achieving and performing. She did
really well at school and played sport for my national team.
(06:59):
And then yeah, at fifteen, was diagnosed with colitis, which
is an inflammatory bow disease and a lot of people
do live with it quite normally, but it's a it's
an incurable condition, which is why I think. You know,
when you're at that age and someone tells you that
it can be quite wow limiting. Literally, I think for
(07:24):
some reason, my disease just was super aggressive and it
meant that like I was having to handle things I've
never done before, and symptoms wise, it's just so crippling.
I don't really know how to explain it sometimes to people.
But you know, you're going through pretty like dehumanizing experiences
(07:48):
where you know, you can't sleep, you can't eat, you're
going to the lu thirty four sevens a day, you're
on like sixty tablets a day, you're you know, you know,
and anyone has just a bit of a stomach ache,
it just completely your day completely goes right. You don't
feel like anything, you don't want to see anyone. But like,
imagine having a type of like in like I don't know,
(08:10):
insane food, poisoning and pain and all of this at once,
but like every single day for the next five years
of your life. Like it's, yeah, it's harrowing to think
what the body was going through. But then of course, mentally,
like I think it was interesting because I had gone
from someone who was very confident, very like bubbly lively
passionate about the world, very positive, to then with all
(08:35):
those characteristics of my personality just slowly going away. And
it wasn't they just went the next day. It was
more that they they just like bit by bit became
like my confidence slowly just completely went any type of positivity.
I just lost it all. I was a bitter. I
was a bitter, like very like angry, very angry girl
(08:58):
of look to the world. I had every right to be,
but it was obviously heavy to hold as well, and
so mentally I really lost any type of hope or
possibility to see that, you know, I could get better.
And I think after four or five years, when you're
going through something, it is quite hard to remain like
(09:19):
willing to even think that you can get better. And then, yes,
as you mentioned, it was the nurse who kind of
was like, well, if you weren't in this hospital bed,
where would you be? And I remember at first I
got quite angry at the question because I don't know,
I think it was just a bit insensitive, perhaps, But
(09:42):
when she left, yeah, I guess I entertained the idea
and which I hadn't done for a long time. And
really it was just about walking. It was about being
a bit active and just seeing myself moving again, which
you know, we all take for granted as a human,
but when you haven't done it for so long, it's,
(10:04):
you know, it's really scary. So I then closed my
eyes and it was the first time I'd done any
type of visualization. But I didn't know I was doing that.
I was simply just I guess, closing my eyes and
then rehearsing like taking a step at the time in
the hospital hallway. And then I realized, like when I
opened my eyes, it was weird. It was like my
(10:26):
brain enjoyed it and was like, hey, this felt strong.
And I kept doing it again and again and again,
and eventually, like I gained enough strength to leave hospital,
and I think when I look back on it, by
doing that mental rehearsal enough times, it was the first
(10:49):
time I was able to like change my mind or
like see another possibility, and that was really cool to me.
So I kept going, and then I left hospital and
I basically dedicate then my life to learning about, well,
why did something like this help? What does it mean?
And that's where I trained with neuroscientists, with athletes, and
I really learned about the power of visualization. And so
(11:13):
what started as like I guess recovery from illness, then
became a passion, which then turned into obsession. And now
you know, I apply it to every part of my life,
whether that's public speaking, still, my health, my goals, yeah,
so many things now.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Yeah, and you've also mentioned all of it in the book. Really,
the visualizations that you've you know, given step by step.
It's for every area of one's life. So you know
what you've said that you know you've trained your mind
and started visualizing. What's very interesting is that you know,
you've written that the brain doesn't see any difference between
(11:55):
what is fake and rearn right. So I'm just quoting
from your book. You've said that, for example, when you
close your eyes and visualize yourself walking into a room, confidently,
you're not just imagining it. You're training your brain to
experience it as real. And this, apparently, you know, triggers
neural pathways that reinforce self assurance. So we talk about
neuroplasticity and all of that, you know, but this is
(12:16):
how it works, I suppose, right.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So yeah, So neuroplasticty is interesting because basically that is
it's our brain's ability to change. That is what neuroplastisty
is now there are many ways you can do this,
and mainly, you know, one of the biggest ways is
that you are learning something new or you, let's say,
do something new. So a very simple example is, let's
say you took the same roads or route to work
(12:40):
every single day, and then one day you decided, Okay,
I'm going to go a different way. Your brain's having
to use a different mechanism and thought process to do it.
Same if let's say you're brushing your teeth with your
right hand and one day you do with your left right,
so you're actually building another road to be like, hey,
you can do this movement as well. Problem is if
we look at this on a different scale, let's say
(13:01):
like public speaking or something like that, where yet, so
you have a fear of it, or you have doubts
over it, You're they're not gonna take action, right, You're
just not gonna do it. So then you can't actually
strengthen the brain. So, because the brain really really struggles
to know the difference between what's real and imagined, we
can use that mechanism of the brain to then use
(13:22):
visualization to help us actually take advantage of neuroplasticity without
us even doing the physical thing. And so that's why
athletes will rely on it massively when they are training
and when they've got match day, because they're strengthening their
brain from now. But that's why also, like when I
was relearning how to do public speaking or relearning how
to walk again, I was, you know, repeating those roads
(13:45):
in my brain again and again, so that that was
actually then becoming how I think, feel and perform. And
a good like a tiny exercise to just really show you,
you know, well really how the brain doesn't know the
difference is if you just close your eyes for me,
and you just imagine that you are in your kitchen
(14:06):
and so just notice the furniture, the colors where you are,
and then go to the fridge and you open the
fridge and you feel like a waft of cold air.
And in the fridge there's half a lemon on the shelf.
And you take this lemon, you hold it. It's cold
round and now you start smelling it slightly, so it's
(14:27):
got that fragrant smell, citrusy. And I want you to
now start squeezing this lemon into your mouth. I want
you to taste it drop by drop by drop, really
taste it's so sour, it's tangy, it's so citrusy good,
(14:54):
and maybe your saliva's going a bit weird. Your cheeks
are tingling good and now don't open your eyes for me. Okay,
So did you feel that slightly like your salavag was
going a bit weird or anything.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, I could maybe smell it more, and I could
just literally almost feel that you're not the sourdness and everything,
you know, I could just feel the entire thing.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, So that's it. That's exactly it. Like, Yeah, you know,
it's a good example of how like you're not actually
holding or eating that lemon, and yet your body reacts
like it does, and so we can really see. Well, actually,
imagine if you applied that to visualizing a more confident
version of you, or visualizing yourself performing a cricket better,
(15:40):
or visualizing yourself, let's say, rehearsing a difficult conversation, you
are basically getting better at that skill, that goal, or
that technique before you've even done it.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, so tell me. You know, Amaya, this very interesting,
and you know it makes a lot of sense. Who
is it for? Because you know you said that you
know a lot of times you know, we face certain
situations in life and we just tend to push it
away and not deal with it because you know, it's
like it's the way it is. That's what we say normally. Right,
what are you going to do about it? Just accept it,
take it in your stride and move on. So who
(16:15):
is visualization for? And you've even said about setting an
intention or not even intention preparing for the day. Right,
you get up in the morning and you prepare for
your day. So it's from the simplest thing to you know,
like for you would help you deal with your you know,
this crippling disease that you had, you know, So who
does it help?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I think, Look, there's no one singular person I think
that it's going to like be better for what I
would say is like I might work primarily like I
really work with those high performers when I do one
to one to really take them from good to great.
But see, this is the whole problem. Right. Visualization has
been there for a very long time. In fact, it
goes back to like stoicism, but it's always stayed amongst
(16:58):
the elite circles like the app or the c suites
or you know, the execs. It's never really trickled down.
So a big part of my mission is to make
people realize that just like how we all engage in
physical fitness, the same can be done for the brain.
And so really it's a skill for everyone. But I'm
going to be specific here to try it might not
be the skill that you end up doing every single day.
(17:20):
For example, like if you've got ADHD, you might find
meditation super hard, fine, and you might prefer visualization good. Okay,
it's just like how you might go to the gym,
I might go running, Like, we don't have to do
the same thing. But the point is everyone can try this,
whether you are a kid. Kids love things like creative
visualization and even just asking them to see themselves or
(17:42):
their goal. It's brilliant. But really, any individual who has
a brain and wants to get a little bit better, stronger,
feel a bit better, it's for you, and I just
really suggest trying it and committing to it, because if
you take a step back, don't you think it's just
amazing that we really do have more power over our
(18:04):
brain than we've ever thought. You know, we all grew
up thinking. Okay, like you said, if that's the way
I am. It's the way I am if I'm an
anxious person. Cool, I'm an anxious person. But like it
doesn't have to stay like that. You can take control
of it and change that. And I think that is
just like one of the best privileges of life. Really.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, absolutely, it's a privilege that you know, we have
the power of change in our hands. You know, you
talked about emotional agility, and what I found interesting was
you said that use emotions as data, right, so how
does that work? Like you're not you basically see it
from an outsider's perspective, or how does that work? And
what do you do with it?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Have the data so it's not so much an outsider's perspective.
So you know, for me, when I grew up, emotions
are they used to like consume me. They used to
take over my day, like if something happened and I
was really sad about it, you know, trickle into everything
else I did. And that's really where then we don't
have control over what's going on. So the really big
(19:04):
shift that was useful was that if you see your
emotions as data, so it's a signal telling you something.
So in fact, like let's get quite specific here, right.
So fear can be that you know something really deeply
matters to you. Guilt shows that you know you were
going against your own values. Shame is where you think
(19:24):
you are a bad person. Anger means you know it's
like your boundaries have been crossed. Envy is that you
know you might be disconnected from your own purpose and mission.
And so all these different emotions are simply signals to
tell us, hey, something's up, something's either not right in
your life with this relationship with this person. And it's
(19:45):
important because when we just see it as a data point,
we won't attach ourselves to it. So there's a really
important distinction to make that all humans have a primary emotion,
which is like when you feel the anger, the sadness, whatever,
and then we've got a secondary which is how we
feel about the feeling. And we can't really control the
first one. You can't really control the primary emotion, but
(20:08):
you can control that secondary one. You can say to yourself, well,
how am I going to actually use this data point
or you know, respond to my anger. But most people
how do they respond? They suppress it, they escape it,
they pretend it's not happening. They don't admit it. So
then you know, we eat it away, we drink it away,
we work it away, and then it just keeps coming
back and back and back, but bigger, and so that
(20:30):
emotional agidity piece is really being like, well, what is
this emotion and how do I need to move through it?
Because emotions are energy in motion, It's the language of
the body. A lot of people like to just think
about it, they like to just intellectualize it away. So really, yes,
that data point is everything data not directors. So if
you feel a bit sad or anxious, just know that
(20:52):
at any moment, give yourself grace and time to yes,
honor it, but then you can always move through.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
It, right, And how do they deeper into it? Like
what is the data that you know you colored of?
You know when you're sad or feeling emotional or angry.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
So I think it's a whilst. You know, there are
some universal things that we can definitely like the ones
I've mentioned. At the end of the day, you are
the expert in your brain and body. And you know,
whenever I teach people emotional agility, I teach it to
them and I literally call the session learning a new
language because you are like, just like how you do Spanish, Hind,
(21:31):
the French, whatever. It's a language between the mind and body,
and everyone's language is slightly different, which is why you
have to take the time to think, Okay, when I
feel an emotion, that's step one. You say, where do
I feel it in my body? So it might be
in your chest, it might be in your head, your
your gut, and you ask yourself, Okay, why do I
(21:52):
feel this? You know, like you don't even need to
label it yet, but I feel this because maybe okay,
my boss doesn't value you my work, and I don't
feel very seen. Okay, so you know why you're feeling it,
and that last step is right. Now you know where
it is, what it is, and why it's there. Well,
what do you can do about it? And that's where
(22:13):
you can think, Okay, I'm going to respond by going
to speak to him. I'm going to respond by doing
creative visualization. I'm going to respond by you know, shouting
out in my car for a little bit. So really,
you have to be the one to develop the language
and the connection to know, Okay, this is where I
feel something, because I could so easily be like, oh yeah,
(22:34):
you're feeling angry. But who's to say. I know it's
based on my experience, so you have to be the
one to be like, hey, this is what I'm feeling.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, I guess it's all about connecting with ourselves, right,
and what's going on in our heads in our bodies.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yeah, And one thing I will one thing I will say, though,
is it's not easy, you know. So I can sit
here and say all this, but it really isn't easy.
But it's worth it. So just because something is tough
and self awareness is a lifelong journey, it's one of
(23:11):
the best ones to go on.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah. Absolutely. You know you've also mentioned limiting beliefs, and
we hear a lot about limiting beliefs these days, but
not all of us really understand what it means, right,
So what are they really? How do they shape our thinking?
And how can we recognize limiting beliefs? And you know,
if possible, how can we overcome them or try to
(23:34):
overcome them?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Yes, I really agree with you. I think the word
or the concept limiting beliefs is it's you know, thrown
around everywhere. I think a really useful way to think
about it is a limiting belief is basically the story
that you tell yourself. Now, the story you tell yourself
(23:58):
becomes your ceiling. So whatever you say to yourself is
basically the thing that's either going to help you or
limit you. And so let's say your story is, oh like,
I'm never going to be smart enough to get a
promotion in my company, or oh like, yeah, but because
I've never been good at maths, I can never be
good now, or oh, I'm just like a not very
good confident person. Do you see? This is the story
(24:20):
you are telling yourself again and again and again, and
that becomes the ceilings. You can't push through that, and
so it's your limit. And this is where when you
can be aware of what those limiting beliefs are, you
can start to then decide, Okay, am I going to
change this? Do I still want to believe that? Is
that going to be the story and the narrative that
I tell myself all the time? And most likely it's
(24:42):
not gonna be like for me it was like, you know,
you'll always be sick all the time, or you'll never
be able to walk again, Like that is a story.
I'm choosing to believe that story, and the brain really
responds to repetition. So the more you tell it that story,
the more it's gonna believe exactly, it's gonna believe the characters,
it's gonna believe the ending, all of it. And so
when it comes to limiting beliefs, really it's about, well, actually,
(25:04):
what do I want to change my story to? How
am I going to create a new possibility? How am
I going to break through that ceiling and not let
it limit me? Because when I have researched probably over
now seventy athletes, like elite athletes, you know, all, the
one thing I'd say really in common is that they
don't have those limitations. They don't allow themselves to say
(25:27):
I'm never going to win that game. Or imagine just
imagine an athletes starting at the start line and is like, oh, okay,
I'm never going to win this race. Or do you
think Colea goes and plays cricket and he's like, okay,
I'm never going to hit a six. Why would we
tell ourselves our stories? So athletes have become very good
at writing a new narrative for themselves, so actually they
(25:49):
say a story that's much better. And so when it
comes to us again, it's that awareness of what the
beliefs are that are limiting you and then write a
news story that creates better basically outcomes.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, and you're also you know, talked about negative visualization,
so you know that's future proofing, right, which athletes also
they imagine, you know, scenarios we not go well for them.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Well, so negative visualization. And I put a warning sign
in the book for this because most people are already
negatively visualizing, Like we visualize worst case scenarios all the time.
And I remember I was at an event just two
days ago and I'd ask people to put their hand up,
if you know, if they visualize worst case scenarios, and
everyone everyone put their hand up. And I think it's
(26:40):
that thing of like we're training our brains to be
more anxious by doing this. So athletes use it in
a way that they can be prepared for every opportunity
that comes. But because they're also doing so much positive visualization,
the negative visualization doesn't become a consistent one. It becomes
(27:01):
more of a planning one. And a lot of the
time as well, you can use negative visualization to see
yourself overcoming something, So it's not just about seeing the
bad thing happening. It's also seeing well, actually, you know,
how am I going to overcome it? But then another
good example is I used to work with a client
who used to smoke a lot, and we tried a
(27:23):
visualization where he saw himself stopping and like enjoying life, etc.
Didn't really work for him. So then instead I guarded
him through a negative visualization where I asked him, Okay,
if you kept smoking for the next five ten years,
what would your health look like? You know, what would
your kids be saying to you? What do your teeth
look like? And it scared him so much. You know,
(27:45):
he hasn't picked up a cigarette for about two years.
And so you can use negative visualization as well to
create fear that motivates humans too.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, but I like that you said, you know, it
should be approach with caution, maybe with a core your somebody, right.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, because the thing is you're, like, like I said,
a lot of people are already doing it, and so
I think it's just that thing of like, if you're
using it in the right way, all good.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah. And you've also you know now talked about creating hope, right,
pushing through a situation, and I found that very empowering
because you know, you visualize the situation that you're in
and you imagine yourself like, you know, pushing through it
and coming out on the other side.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
So yeah, so yeah, hope. Hope is like I think,
hope is both a science and an art. And so
when I was researching hope, and this is the Snyder theory,
you know, you need three things when you're looking to
build hope in your life, which is you want to
see possibilities, you want to know that you have agency,
and you want to be able to see the outcome.
(28:51):
And so I think it's really important. This really resonated
with me when I was ill, right because for me,
hope is a thing that allowed me to think, well,
what what if I could actually get better? What if
I could walk again? And people think it's a bit fluffy,
and it's like, oh, you know, I think it's such
a powerful part of being human. You get to choose
to have hope in the situation that actually something you
(29:14):
know I can control and it could happen for myself.
And I think there's no direct correlation right between hope
and then getting better, But what I would say is
there's definitely a negative correlation between not having any hope
and then staying sick. Right Like you if you just
keep thinking, Okay, this is all going to go wrong,
(29:35):
then fine, you're making that happen as much.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
So yeah, yeah, you've also talked about the various stages
or the types of visualization, like you know, the process
of it, the outcome or the creative you know part
of it, and all negative visualization that we spoke about,
and also explorative visualization. So yeah, it sums for you
and how do you use it with your clients?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Well, so this is a thing. They all work like
It's a bit like having different machines at the gym, right, Like,
it's not that they don't work, it's more that they
are used for different things. And when I was writing
this book, you know, they all come from different places.
So for example, negative visualization is actually stoic. It first
came from stoicism, whereas explorative visualization was like Walt Disney
(30:21):
and Einstein. And then you've got process and negative process
visualization sorry, which is more from athletes in the sports world.
And then you have creative visualization, which really came from medicine.
And so I also went through my journey of learning
all the different types and applying them to different things.
So outcome visualization is going to be for your goals, motivation, beliefs.
(30:45):
Process is going to be for your performance tasks, activities,
getting them better faster, creativists for managing emotions, disease, injury, etc.
Negative is going to be for performance and motivation, and
then exploratory is going to be for creativity, problem solving,
or decision making. So they're all different things, and even
with my clients, with my clients, the aim is that
(31:06):
you master all of them, you become very good at
all of them, so that then it becomes your toolbox
that you can keep using in your life.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah. Another one which I liked is you know the
Batman effect.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Yes, yeah, the Batman effect is super popular amongst people.
It's like it's basically a psychological technique. And it's really
interesting because a lot of people come to me and
they're like, okay, Maya, like I want to be more
more confident or I want to be a better runner.
(31:41):
And our identity plays a huge role because our identity
is tied to all those stories as well. So you
know how sometimes that oh my is the funny one
or my is there really confident one? Or my is
the one who just doesn't come out often, Like, there's
so many different parts that our identity holds, our stories.
And so the Batman effect is a tool looking distance
between who you are now and who you want to be,
(32:03):
but in a way that's really effective to help you
become that person. So the Batman effect is where you create.
You create a character for yourself. You create a character
for who you want to be, that confident version, that
two point zero version of yourself, and you build out
the characteristics of them, and then you begin to visualize
them at least three times a week. Now, Remember the
(32:25):
brain doesn't know the difference. So if you are mentally
rehearsing how this new person walks, how they talk, how
they interact with people, how they go for their goals,
how they approach obstacles, you are essentially practicing being that person.
And the more you do this, the more you'll actually
start acting like that or thinking like that. And I
have seen the Batman effect, Oh my god, just do
(32:49):
so well for people. Even just yesterday, right, so we
had the London Marathon in England, and I'd worked with
some people who you know, it's it's quite a huge,
huge achievement, and at any point in the race, it's like,
oh my gosh, I just want to stop. And you know,
(33:10):
I got some messages today just being like I used
my Batman effect so much in that race to be like, actually,
you can do it. You know, what would your two
point oh version do? Because again, if you're running and
you're like, no, maa, come on, you can do this
versus actually what would maya two point oh do? It
pushes you to think a bit different, it makes you
(33:30):
strive a bit bolder, and so it's so effective when
it comes to really leveling up. And I use this
with like elite athletes as well as just anyone, even kids.
So yeah, it's one to not sleep on for sure.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yeah, it sounds very powerful because you know, it's like
a better version of yourself. For the best version of yourself.
So if you want to go in and ask for
a raise, what would that person do? What would Batman do? Probably?
You know, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
And you can't control what the other person does, right,
So you can only control your character. And that's why
the Batman effect is great because you are, you know,
you're really stepping into who you can be and your potential.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Yeah, and basically saving the day.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
So another thing, you know you've called this season's method,
which I found interesting because we constantly, you know, all
of us are constantly wound up, and you know, we're
powering through and we're trying to achieve things all all
the time. So I don't know if I've understood this correctly,
if you can explain, you know that there are involves
creating three distinct periods in our lives, which is hibernation, growth,
and harvest. So is this like a rest period or
(34:40):
how does it work?
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah? So this really came from you know when I
mentioned when I was younger, I was very high achieving.
You know, I just didn't know when to stop. I
was such a driven and like like I was very
good at like hustling, and I knew I just kept
going and going and going even when I was tired.
And so this actually initially it came or I learned
(35:02):
it from Robin Sharma, who who always talks about when
you look at nature, you know, look at how nature reacts.
It doesn't Nature doesn't bloom all year round, so neither
should you. And humans weren't built to be like robots. Right,
So these three seasons, we've got harvest, which is where
you are most productive. It's when like a crop, how
it harvests, you are producing. So for me it's like
(35:25):
I'm probably doing a lot more events, I'm more public facing,
I'm more busy, etc. Then you've got hibernation. Hibernation is
when you go straight into rest, and rest is really
like is deepress, you know, it's not actually just like
oh yeah, like you know, I'm still socializing stuff like that. No, like,
if you need to rest, you really do take it
for your mind and body. And then spring, or what
(35:47):
I call the growth period, is where you start planting
seeds again, so you start building up your productivity but sustainably.
The biggest mistake people make is they go from zero
to one hundred and then they burn out. So here
you are going from zero to twenty twenty to thirty
thirty to maybe forty, and you're just slowly starting again,
maybe socializing a bit more, networking a bit more, producing
(36:08):
a bit more, and then again you have your harvest period. Now,
the great thing about this is that all the different
seasons can be different lengths of time. You might have
a harvest that's like two weeks long, or you might
have a hibernation that's two weeks long. But then harvest
sometimes is a day Like last week, my harvest was
four days. They're very, very intense, so I knew I
needed a three day hibernation straight after. And it just
(36:31):
means that I can now start this week in spring
again where I'm planting seeds, I'm growing, but I'm not
on my full, full producing harvest yet, like I don't
need to be. And so what this means that so
I haven't actually burnt out in five and a half
years because I'm always in that dynamic circle of recognizing
the rest is part of the work, and I have
(36:52):
that a bit like a battery. I know when I
need to be at thirty percent or fifty percent. So
you have that intuition to be like, actually, harvest doesn't
have to twenty four.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
To seven, you know, yeah, because hibernation should not be that.
You know, you're that sense of lagging behind. I think
that's what happens to a lot of us, right that
you're not doing anything.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, so a lot of people feel that productivity guilt.
But then I always ask my I ask them I'm like,
you know, when a crop has just done its harvest,
does it feel guilty that it's not doing anything after
now because it actually needs to recover Otherwise you're just
you're trying to create from energy that's not there. And look,
(37:30):
I get it, productivity guilt is a thing. And especially
in the world we live in, everyone's going so fast,
everyone's achieving so much, and I think you just got
to ask yourself, like, does this serve me? You know,
is this something I also want to to do? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (37:44):
And you've also mentioned, you know, about keeping a journal
about you know, your small wins every day, so you know,
how does that work here?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
So one of the most common things I see amongst
high performance, and I was the same, is we're always
onto the next next thing. Right, It's always like, Okay,
we achieve this, let's go next, we do this, and
let's go next. And the small wins are important because
(38:15):
what they do is they remind you of your progress.
And so a lot of us we only celebrate the
big milestones like or when we win, or when we
become champions, or when we get the job or whatever.
But on the way, there are so many little things
to also celebrate. It might be your effort, it might
be a connection, it might be a difficult thing you've
had to overcome. And so I always talk about it
(38:36):
as having a list of little wins, and it can
be on your phone and your journal, and it just
means like any time you notice like a little win
that you've had, write it down. Like anytime you notice
you manage your emotion, better write it down. Anytime you
maybe notice that you perform a little, better write it down.
And so it just means that when you are, let's say,
(38:58):
feeling like you haven't made any progress, you look at
your little wins list and you realize, actually, no, I
really have.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Yeah, I'm sure that can help when you're feeling low
to see that you know you have progressed, because we
tend to feel absolutes, right that nothing ever goes my
way or I'll never ever succeed, you know exactly. Yeah, yeah,
so so Maya. You know, you've mentioned so many physical
you know, so many visualization techniques. You've even given a
(39:25):
thirty day you know, challenge for people to go through.
Do you want to take somebody take listeners through one
of them? Like one of them is you know how
to how the top one percent basically how they visualize
and how they go through things. Do you want to
take them through or just explain it?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
No, I can tell them. Would you like music with
it as well?
Speaker 1 (39:48):
No, that's all right. You mentioned the music there, so
that's fine.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Okay, So I'm happy to guide it. So with this one,
I want people to think about like a task or
activity that they want to perform better at. So that
might be sports related like running or swimming, cricket, et cetera.
Or it might be something that works, so it might
be presenting. It might be even just like managing your
(40:15):
day better. It might even be like the process of
having a conversation, communication, anything. And we're going to use
this visualization to see what performing like the best you
can actually looks like. Okay, so this is a process visualization.
So if you want to close your eyes and just
(40:37):
start by taking a deep breath in through the nose
and exhale through the mouth. Now, I want you to
start by just mentally rehearsing how you perform that particular
task at the moment. So it might be something in
your personal life, your fitness life, maybe is something at work,
(41:01):
could be public speaking, presenting, leading. Maybe it's just how
you live out your day. But just pick that task
or activity and now, using your mind, I want you
to start leveling up your performance. So I want you
(41:24):
to start mentally rehearsing. Now, if I performed the best
I ever could, what would it look like? And I
want you to in your mind start changing the way
you show up. So start changing, let's say the way
you're walking, the way you're talking, the way your legs
are moving. I want you to feel stronger. I want
you to see yourself performing better and once you get there,
(41:45):
go even further. Really you are performing like the top
top one percent in whatever this task is. So seeing
yourself doing it efficiently, doing it in flow, doing it aligned.
Don't worry about the results. I simply want to focus
on what can you control and keep mentally rehearsing your
(42:06):
ideal performance. Really you pushing the boundaries, pushing your limits,
seeing yourself getting your personal bests, enjoying it, and keep
going until it becomes effortless in the mind. And wanted
to make your brain so familiar with that level of performance,
(42:27):
that higher standard. Good, keep going last few again and again.
Really see it mentally rehearse it again and again. The
brain needs repetition good and very gently in your own time.
(42:53):
You can open the eyes.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, are very good.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah. So with something like that, you want to do that.
Let's say before you're doing an activity or performing or
even you know, with athletes, let's say they've got a
big race coming up. Well, let's say someone's got presentation
coming up. I'll suggest people doing this, like, you know,
you want to repeat this at least five times. We're
in it. You're doing the activity like ten fifteen times
(43:22):
so that your brain can be in flow when you
actually do it.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
Yeah, that's amazing. Thanks so much, Maya. Yeah sure, yeah,
thank you for the conversation.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Maya.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
All the best on your book. I really enjoyed reading it.
Anything else, thanks to add.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
No, just thank you. And I think you know, just
remember that, like yeah, take take ownership, take power over
your brain, because we all can do that.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Yeah, thank you, Maya.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Thank you,
Hi, Welcome to Swishing Mindsets. This is Anuradha and I'm
speaking to Maya Ratchura, author of Visualize, Think, Feel, Performed
Like the Top one percent. Maya is one of UK's
top mental fitness and visualization experts and the founder and
CEO of Remap Mental Fitness. The book is the first
of its kind to provide a step by step neuroscience
(00:22):
backed approach to harnessing the power of visualization to transform mindsets,
build confidence and enhance performance. Hi Maya, Hi, how ye?
I am great and wonderful, wonderful to have you here.
And I've just been through your book and you know,
I can see that you know, all these are literally
jargons that have been thrown around these days. It's everywhere, neuroplasticity,
(00:45):
limiting beliefs, visualization, manifestation. But I love the way you've
you know, simplified it, broken it down and made it
very practical and easy to use, right, So I really
like that. So, uh, maybe we could start by talking
about what visualization really means and if you'd like to
talk about how it's different from manifestation.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, I think that's a good question to start with.
And I do appreciate that. You know, we hear these
words quite a lot, and visualization is probably one of them,
and I think the context it's used in generally will
be about manifestation or about your goals. So the book
really focuses on kind of debunking a lot of the
(01:29):
myths around it, but also showing us a new way
to apply it to our life. So, at its core,
visualization is a neurological mental training technique, and it's where
you create images, environments, and feelings in your mind before
they happen. However, it's not just used for seeing your
goal or the end result. It can also be used
(01:50):
to improve your performance, let's say public speaking or a sport.
It can be used to manage emotions, which is creative visualization,
which might be or for let's sa, if you're feeling anxious,
how can you release that? Then you've got negative visualization,
which is much more about being prepared for worst case scenarios.
And so I think it's important to make that distinction
(02:12):
between manifestation because i'd say manifestation in a broad sense,
and I don't mind talking about it because I also
believe in manifestation. So I can see the clear difference.
A manifestation is that broader concept of like, you know,
some if I can create something in my mind, I
can make it a reality. But what I see often
is that maybe at the beginning of the year or
(02:34):
at certain points, people will be like, Okay, I'm going
to manifest all my goals, etc. But no one's actively
doing an exercise or practicing or training their brain every day.
And so visualization is really that neurological technique that is
part of why call like mental fitness. The only really
key area in my overlap is with outcome visualization, because
(02:54):
when you are visualizing your goals in advance, people often
use the word okay, well I manifest to this goal,
or you know, like I saw this opportunity it was
like serendipity. I mean, it's not magic. It's simply because
you as a person are changing, right Like you're changing
the way you think, You're changing the way you feel
about something, your perspective, So therefore your perspective all the
(03:15):
view of the world might change. But I think the
biggest biggest thing is how you frame a technique will
change how you use it. So if you consider something
like this manifestation, it won't be part of your daily routine,
whereas if you see it as a mental fitness training tool,
it's something you can invest in daily to really make
those changes. So it's very nuanced different, but I'd say
(03:38):
it's very significant as well.
Speaker 1 (03:41):
Yeah, you mentioned mental fitness. You know, that's interesting because
even in your book you've said that it's different from
mental health. Health is something that we all just have, right,
I mean, physically, if we have a body, we have health,
and the same thing with the mind, and you've said
that it's important to train your brain, right, So could
you explain a little bit, you know, just highlight a
bit of it. What is mental fitness?
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Yeah? I mean you know when you were like at school,
did you go to like P class? Yeah, yeah you did,
and I think most of people most like most of
us did, but very few of us all well, I
don't think anyone ever had the opportunity to go to
any type of mental training or you know, mental education
(04:25):
where you can actually learn, well, just like how I
train my body, how do I train my mind? And
I think that's a massive problem because your mind is
half your health. So when I talk about mental fitness,
everyone has a mind already. So really you will have
a type of mental health. It could be good, it
can be bad. You know, that's just something we all have.
(04:48):
But you're only mentally fit if you're actively training your
brain to be better or stronger or handle things. So
just in the same way like you've got a body,
you've got a physical health, but you're only physically fit
if you're going to the gym, if you're running, pilates, cricket,
whatever it might be. But the problem is we don't
have the education, but we're not empowered with the tools
(05:11):
to do the mental fitness part of it. Everyone talks
about the fact that they've got anxiety or they're feeling
not great, but it's like, well, what can you do
about it? And it's not gonna be the same for everyone,
And I think that's why it's really important. It's a
personalized thing, just like again physical fitness. And I actually
split mental fitness into key areas, which is cardio, rest, diet,
(05:34):
strength training, because I think in the same way that
we do that with physical fitness, we can do that
with mental fitness too. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Absolutely, And I like, you know, you've used a lot
of sportsmen of better person analogy throughout the book, you know,
to explain mental fitness really so you know, you've also
spoke spoken about how your journey started when you know
you're very and as a teenager you faced colliders, right
and when a hospital better and a nurse told you
to just imagine where you would be and what you
(06:07):
would be doing if not there. So you know, can
you talk about the power of that and how it's
all started.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, for sure. So yeah, you know a lot of
people do ask me, They're like, oh, you know, are
you a neuroscientist, and do you have like background in psychology?
And truthfully no, and I and I think, really where
all my work comes from, my passion, my purpose, but
(06:37):
also my results is really because of life experience and
you know what what happened. So yeah, growing up, I
was I guess quite high achieving and performing. She did
really well at school and played sport for my national team.
(06:59):
And then yeah, at fifteen, was diagnosed with colitis, which
is an inflammatory bow disease and a lot of people
do live with it quite normally, but it's a it's
an incurable condition, which is why I think. You know,
when you're at that age and someone tells you that
it can be quite wow limiting. Literally, I think for
(07:24):
some reason, my disease just was super aggressive and it
meant that like I was having to handle things I've
never done before, and symptoms wise, it's just so crippling.
I don't really know how to explain it sometimes to people.
But you know, you're going through pretty like dehumanizing experiences
(07:48):
where you know, you can't sleep, you can't eat, you're
going to the lu thirty four sevens a day, you're
on like sixty tablets a day, you're you know, you know,
and anyone has just a bit of a stomach ache,
it just completely your day completely goes right. You don't
feel like anything, you don't want to see anyone. But like,
imagine having a type of like in like I don't know,
(08:10):
insane food, poisoning and pain and all of this at once,
but like every single day for the next five years
of your life. Like it's, yeah, it's harrowing to think
what the body was going through. But then of course, mentally,
like I think it was interesting because I had gone
from someone who was very confident, very like bubbly lively
passionate about the world, very positive, to then with all
(08:35):
those characteristics of my personality just slowly going away. And
it wasn't they just went the next day. It was
more that they they just like bit by bit became
like my confidence slowly just completely went any type of positivity.
I just lost it all. I was a bitter. I
was a bitter, like very like angry, very angry girl
(08:58):
of look to the world. I had every right to be,
but it was obviously heavy to hold as well, and
so mentally I really lost any type of hope or
possibility to see that, you know, I could get better.
And I think after four or five years, when you're
going through something, it is quite hard to remain like
(09:19):
willing to even think that you can get better. And then, yes,
as you mentioned, it was the nurse who kind of
was like, well, if you weren't in this hospital bed,
where would you be? And I remember at first I
got quite angry at the question because I don't know,
I think it was just a bit insensitive, perhaps, But
(09:42):
when she left, yeah, I guess I entertained the idea
and which I hadn't done for a long time. And
really it was just about walking. It was about being
a bit active and just seeing myself moving again, which
you know, we all take for granted as a human,
but when you haven't done it for so long, it's,
(10:04):
you know, it's really scary. So I then closed my
eyes and it was the first time I'd done any
type of visualization. But I didn't know I was doing that.
I was simply just I guess, closing my eyes and
then rehearsing like taking a step at the time in
the hospital hallway. And then I realized, like when I
opened my eyes, it was weird. It was like my
(10:26):
brain enjoyed it and was like, hey, this felt strong.
And I kept doing it again and again and again,
and eventually, like I gained enough strength to leave hospital,
and I think when I look back on it, by
doing that mental rehearsal enough times, it was the first
(10:49):
time I was able to like change my mind or
like see another possibility, and that was really cool to me.
So I kept going, and then I left hospital and
I basically dedicate then my life to learning about, well,
why did something like this help? What does it mean?
And that's where I trained with neuroscientists, with athletes, and
I really learned about the power of visualization. And so
(11:13):
what started as like I guess recovery from illness, then
became a passion, which then turned into obsession. And now
you know, I apply it to every part of my life,
whether that's public speaking, still, my health, my goals, yeah,
so many things now.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Yeah, and you've also mentioned all of it in the book. Really,
the visualizations that you've you know, given step by step.
It's for every area of one's life. So you know
what you've said that you know you've trained your mind
and started visualizing. What's very interesting is that you know,
you've written that the brain doesn't see any difference between
(11:55):
what is fake and rearn right. So I'm just quoting
from your book. You've said that, for example, when you
close your eyes and visualize yourself walking into a room, confidently,
you're not just imagining it. You're training your brain to
experience it as real. And this, apparently, you know, triggers
neural pathways that reinforce self assurance. So we talk about
neuroplasticity and all of that, you know, but this is
(12:16):
how it works, I suppose, right.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So yeah, So neuroplasticty is interesting because basically that is
it's our brain's ability to change. That is what neuroplastisty
is now there are many ways you can do this,
and mainly, you know, one of the biggest ways is
that you are learning something new or you, let's say,
do something new. So a very simple example is, let's
say you took the same roads or route to work
(12:40):
every single day, and then one day you decided, Okay,
I'm going to go a different way. Your brain's having
to use a different mechanism and thought process to do it.
Same if let's say you're brushing your teeth with your
right hand and one day you do with your left right,
so you're actually building another road to be like, hey,
you can do this movement as well. Problem is if
we look at this on a different scale, let's say
(13:01):
like public speaking or something like that, where yet, so
you have a fear of it, or you have doubts
over it, You're they're not gonna take action, right, You're
just not gonna do it. So then you can't actually
strengthen the brain. So, because the brain really really struggles
to know the difference between what's real and imagined, we
can use that mechanism of the brain to then use
(13:22):
visualization to help us actually take advantage of neuroplasticity without
us even doing the physical thing. And so that's why
athletes will rely on it massively when they are training
and when they've got match day, because they're strengthening their
brain from now. But that's why also, like when I
was relearning how to do public speaking or relearning how
to walk again, I was, you know, repeating those roads
(13:45):
in my brain again and again, so that that was
actually then becoming how I think, feel and perform. And
a good like a tiny exercise to just really show you,
you know, well really how the brain doesn't know the
difference is if you just close your eyes for me,
and you just imagine that you are in your kitchen
(14:06):
and so just notice the furniture, the colors where you are,
and then go to the fridge and you open the
fridge and you feel like a waft of cold air.
And in the fridge there's half a lemon on the shelf.
And you take this lemon, you hold it. It's cold
round and now you start smelling it slightly, so it's
(14:27):
got that fragrant smell, citrusy. And I want you to
now start squeezing this lemon into your mouth. I want
you to taste it drop by drop by drop, really
taste it's so sour, it's tangy, it's so citrusy good,
(14:54):
and maybe your saliva's going a bit weird. Your cheeks
are tingling good and now don't open your eyes for me. Okay,
So did you feel that slightly like your salavag was
going a bit weird or anything.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Yeah, I could maybe smell it more, and I could
just literally almost feel that you're not the sourdness and everything,
you know, I could just feel the entire thing.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
Yeah, So that's it. That's exactly it. Like, Yeah, you know,
it's a good example of how like you're not actually
holding or eating that lemon, and yet your body reacts
like it does, and so we can really see. Well, actually,
imagine if you applied that to visualizing a more confident
version of you, or visualizing yourself performing a cricket better,
(15:40):
or visualizing yourself, let's say, rehearsing a difficult conversation, you
are basically getting better at that skill, that goal, or
that technique before you've even done it.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Yeah, so tell me. You know, Amaya, this very interesting,
and you know it makes a lot of sense. Who
is it for? Because you know you said that you
know a lot of times you know, we face certain
situations in life and we just tend to push it
away and not deal with it because you know, it's
like it's the way it is. That's what we say normally. Right,
what are you going to do about it? Just accept it,
take it in your stride and move on. So who
(16:15):
is visualization for? And you've even said about setting an
intention or not even intention preparing for the day. Right,
you get up in the morning and you prepare for
your day. So it's from the simplest thing to you know,
like for you would help you deal with your you know,
this crippling disease that you had, you know, So who
does it help?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I think, Look, there's no one singular person I think
that it's going to like be better for what I
would say is like I might work primarily like I
really work with those high performers when I do one
to one to really take them from good to great.
But see, this is the whole problem. Right. Visualization has
been there for a very long time. In fact, it
goes back to like stoicism, but it's always stayed amongst
(16:58):
the elite circles like the app or the c suites
or you know, the execs. It's never really trickled down.
So a big part of my mission is to make
people realize that just like how we all engage in
physical fitness, the same can be done for the brain.
And so really it's a skill for everyone. But I'm
going to be specific here to try it might not
be the skill that you end up doing every single day.
(17:20):
For example, like if you've got ADHD, you might find
meditation super hard, fine, and you might prefer visualization good. Okay,
it's just like how you might go to the gym,
I might go running, Like, we don't have to do
the same thing. But the point is everyone can try this,
whether you are a kid. Kids love things like creative
visualization and even just asking them to see themselves or
(17:42):
their goal. It's brilliant. But really, any individual who has
a brain and wants to get a little bit better, stronger,
feel a bit better, it's for you, and I just
really suggest trying it and committing to it, because if
you take a step back, don't you think it's just
amazing that we really do have more power over our
(18:04):
brain than we've ever thought. You know, we all grew
up thinking. Okay, like you said, if that's the way
I am. It's the way I am if I'm an
anxious person. Cool, I'm an anxious person. But like it
doesn't have to stay like that. You can take control
of it and change that. And I think that is
just like one of the best privileges of life. Really.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Yeah, absolutely, it's a privilege that you know, we have
the power of change in our hands. You know, you
talked about emotional agility, and what I found interesting was
you said that use emotions as data, right, so how
does that work? Like you're not you basically see it
from an outsider's perspective, or how does that work? And
what do you do with it?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Have the data so it's not so much an outsider's perspective.
So you know, for me, when I grew up, emotions
are they used to like consume me. They used to
take over my day, like if something happened and I
was really sad about it, you know, trickle into everything
else I did. And that's really where then we don't
have control over what's going on. So the really big
(19:04):
shift that was useful was that if you see your
emotions as data, so it's a signal telling you something.
So in fact, like let's get quite specific here, right.
So fear can be that you know something really deeply
matters to you. Guilt shows that you know you were
going against your own values. Shame is where you think
(19:24):
you are a bad person. Anger means you know it's
like your boundaries have been crossed. Envy is that you
know you might be disconnected from your own purpose and mission.
And so all these different emotions are simply signals to
tell us, hey, something's up, something's either not right in
your life with this relationship with this person. And it's
(19:45):
important because when we just see it as a data point,
we won't attach ourselves to it. So there's a really
important distinction to make that all humans have a primary emotion,
which is like when you feel the anger, the sadness, whatever,
and then we've got a secondary which is how we
feel about the feeling. And we can't really control the
first one. You can't really control the primary emotion, but
(20:08):
you can control that secondary one. You can say to yourself, well,
how am I going to actually use this data point
or you know, respond to my anger. But most people
how do they respond? They suppress it, they escape it,
they pretend it's not happening. They don't admit it. So
then you know, we eat it away, we drink it away,
we work it away, and then it just keeps coming
back and back and back, but bigger, and so that
(20:30):
emotional agidity piece is really being like, well, what is
this emotion and how do I need to move through it?
Because emotions are energy in motion, It's the language of
the body. A lot of people like to just think
about it, they like to just intellectualize it away. So really, yes,
that data point is everything data not directors. So if
you feel a bit sad or anxious, just know that
(20:52):
at any moment, give yourself grace and time to yes,
honor it, but then you can always move through.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
It, right, And how do they deeper into it? Like
what is the data that you know you colored of?
You know when you're sad or feeling emotional or angry.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
So I think it's a whilst. You know, there are
some universal things that we can definitely like the ones
I've mentioned. At the end of the day, you are
the expert in your brain and body. And you know,
whenever I teach people emotional agility, I teach it to
them and I literally call the session learning a new
language because you are like, just like how you do Spanish, Hind,
(21:31):
the French, whatever. It's a language between the mind and body,
and everyone's language is slightly different, which is why you
have to take the time to think, Okay, when I
feel an emotion, that's step one. You say, where do
I feel it in my body? So it might be
in your chest, it might be in your head, your
your gut, and you ask yourself, Okay, why do I
(21:52):
feel this? You know, like you don't even need to
label it yet, but I feel this because maybe okay,
my boss doesn't value you my work, and I don't
feel very seen. Okay, so you know why you're feeling it,
and that last step is right. Now you know where
it is, what it is, and why it's there. Well,
what do you can do about it? And that's where
(22:13):
you can think, Okay, I'm going to respond by going
to speak to him. I'm going to respond by doing
creative visualization. I'm going to respond by you know, shouting
out in my car for a little bit. So really,
you have to be the one to develop the language
and the connection to know, Okay, this is where I
feel something, because I could so easily be like, oh yeah,
(22:34):
you're feeling angry. But who's to say. I know it's
based on my experience, so you have to be the
one to be like, hey, this is what I'm feeling.
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Yeah, I guess it's all about connecting with ourselves, right,
and what's going on in our heads in our bodies.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Yeah, And one thing I will one thing I will say, though,
is it's not easy, you know. So I can sit
here and say all this, but it really isn't easy.
But it's worth it. So just because something is tough
and self awareness is a lifelong journey, it's one of
(23:11):
the best ones to go on.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
Yeah. Absolutely. You know you've also mentioned limiting beliefs, and
we hear a lot about limiting beliefs these days, but
not all of us really understand what it means, right,
So what are they really? How do they shape our thinking?
And how can we recognize limiting beliefs? And you know,
if possible, how can we overcome them or try to
(23:34):
overcome them?
Speaker 2 (23:36):
Yes, I really agree with you. I think the word
or the concept limiting beliefs is it's you know, thrown
around everywhere. I think a really useful way to think
about it is a limiting belief is basically the story
that you tell yourself. Now, the story you tell yourself
(23:58):
becomes your ceiling. So whatever you say to yourself is
basically the thing that's either going to help you or
limit you. And so let's say your story is, oh like,
I'm never going to be smart enough to get a
promotion in my company, or oh like, yeah, but because
I've never been good at maths, I can never be
good now, or oh, I'm just like a not very
good confident person. Do you see? This is the story
(24:20):
you are telling yourself again and again and again, and
that becomes the ceilings. You can't push through that, and
so it's your limit. And this is where when you
can be aware of what those limiting beliefs are, you
can start to then decide, Okay, am I going to
change this? Do I still want to believe that? Is
that going to be the story and the narrative that
I tell myself all the time? And most likely it's
(24:42):
not gonna be like for me it was like, you know,
you'll always be sick all the time, or you'll never
be able to walk again, Like that is a story.
I'm choosing to believe that story, and the brain really
responds to repetition. So the more you tell it that story,
the more it's gonna believe exactly, it's gonna believe the characters,
it's gonna believe the ending, all of it. And so
when it comes to limiting beliefs, really it's about, well, actually,
(25:04):
what do I want to change my story to? How
am I going to create a new possibility? How am
I going to break through that ceiling and not let
it limit me? Because when I have researched probably over
now seventy athletes, like elite athletes, you know, all, the
one thing I'd say really in common is that they
don't have those limitations. They don't allow themselves to say
(25:27):
I'm never going to win that game. Or imagine just
imagine an athletes starting at the start line and is like, oh, okay,
I'm never going to win this race. Or do you
think Colea goes and plays cricket and he's like, okay,
I'm never going to hit a six. Why would we
tell ourselves our stories? So athletes have become very good
at writing a new narrative for themselves, so actually they
(25:49):
say a story that's much better. And so when it
comes to us again, it's that awareness of what the
beliefs are that are limiting you and then write a
news story that creates better basically outcomes.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, and you're also you know, talked about negative visualization,
so you know that's future proofing, right, which athletes also
they imagine, you know, scenarios we not go well for them.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Well, so negative visualization. And I put a warning sign
in the book for this because most people are already
negatively visualizing, Like we visualize worst case scenarios all the time.
And I remember I was at an event just two
days ago and I'd ask people to put their hand up,
if you know, if they visualize worst case scenarios, and
everyone everyone put their hand up. And I think it's
(26:40):
that thing of like we're training our brains to be
more anxious by doing this. So athletes use it in
a way that they can be prepared for every opportunity
that comes. But because they're also doing so much positive visualization,
the negative visualization doesn't become a consistent one. It becomes
(27:01):
more of a planning one. And a lot of the
time as well, you can use negative visualization to see
yourself overcoming something, So it's not just about seeing the
bad thing happening. It's also seeing well, actually, you know,
how am I going to overcome it? But then another
good example is I used to work with a client
who used to smoke a lot, and we tried a
(27:23):
visualization where he saw himself stopping and like enjoying life, etc.
Didn't really work for him. So then instead I guarded
him through a negative visualization where I asked him, Okay,
if you kept smoking for the next five ten years,
what would your health look like? You know, what would
your kids be saying to you? What do your teeth
look like? And it scared him so much. You know,
(27:45):
he hasn't picked up a cigarette for about two years.
And so you can use negative visualization as well to
create fear that motivates humans too.
Speaker 1 (27:55):
Yeah, but I like that you said, you know, it
should be approach with caution, maybe with a core your somebody, right.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, because the thing is you're, like, like I said,
a lot of people are already doing it, and so
I think it's just that thing of like, if you're
using it in the right way, all good.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah. And you've also you know now talked about creating hope, right,
pushing through a situation, and I found that very empowering
because you know, you visualize the situation that you're in
and you imagine yourself like, you know, pushing through it
and coming out on the other side.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
So yeah, so yeah, hope. Hope is like I think,
hope is both a science and an art. And so
when I was researching hope, and this is the Snyder theory,
you know, you need three things when you're looking to
build hope in your life, which is you want to
see possibilities, you want to know that you have agency,
and you want to be able to see the outcome.
(28:51):
And so I think it's really important. This really resonated
with me when I was ill, right because for me,
hope is a thing that allowed me to think, well,
what what if I could actually get better? What if
I could walk again? And people think it's a bit fluffy,
and it's like, oh, you know, I think it's such
a powerful part of being human. You get to choose
to have hope in the situation that actually something you
(29:14):
know I can control and it could happen for myself.
And I think there's no direct correlation right between hope
and then getting better, But what I would say is
there's definitely a negative correlation between not having any hope
and then staying sick. Right Like you if you just
keep thinking, Okay, this is all going to go wrong,
(29:35):
then fine, you're making that happen as much.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
So yeah, yeah, you've also talked about the various stages
or the types of visualization, like you know, the process
of it, the outcome or the creative you know part
of it, and all negative visualization that we spoke about,
and also explorative visualization. So yeah, it sums for you
and how do you use it with your clients?
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Well, so this is a thing. They all work like
It's a bit like having different machines at the gym, right, Like,
it's not that they don't work, it's more that they
are used for different things. And when I was writing
this book, you know, they all come from different places.
So for example, negative visualization is actually stoic. It first
came from stoicism, whereas explorative visualization was like Walt Disney
(30:21):
and Einstein. And then you've got process and negative process
visualization sorry, which is more from athletes in the sports world.
And then you have creative visualization, which really came from medicine.
And so I also went through my journey of learning
all the different types and applying them to different things.
So outcome visualization is going to be for your goals, motivation, beliefs.
(30:45):
Process is going to be for your performance tasks, activities,
getting them better faster, creativists for managing emotions, disease, injury, etc.
Negative is going to be for performance and motivation, and
then exploratory is going to be for creativity, problem solving,
or decision making. So they're all different things, and even
with my clients, with my clients, the aim is that
(31:06):
you master all of them, you become very good at
all of them, so that then it becomes your toolbox
that you can keep using in your life.
Speaker 1 (31:14):
Yeah. Another one which I liked is you know the
Batman effect.
Speaker 2 (31:18):
Yes, yeah, the Batman effect is super popular amongst people.
It's like it's basically a psychological technique. And it's really
interesting because a lot of people come to me and
they're like, okay, Maya, like I want to be more
more confident or I want to be a better runner.
(31:41):
And our identity plays a huge role because our identity
is tied to all those stories as well. So you
know how sometimes that oh my is the funny one
or my is there really confident one? Or my is
the one who just doesn't come out often, Like, there's
so many different parts that our identity holds, our stories.
And so the Batman effect is a tool looking distance
between who you are now and who you want to be,
(32:03):
but in a way that's really effective to help you
become that person. So the Batman effect is where you create.
You create a character for yourself. You create a character
for who you want to be, that confident version, that
two point zero version of yourself, and you build out
the characteristics of them, and then you begin to visualize
them at least three times a week. Now, Remember the
(32:25):
brain doesn't know the difference. So if you are mentally
rehearsing how this new person walks, how they talk, how
they interact with people, how they go for their goals,
how they approach obstacles, you are essentially practicing being that person.
And the more you do this, the more you'll actually
start acting like that or thinking like that. And I
have seen the Batman effect, Oh my god, just do
(32:49):
so well for people. Even just yesterday, right, so we
had the London Marathon in England, and I'd worked with
some people who you know, it's it's quite a huge,
huge achievement, and at any point in the race, it's like,
oh my gosh, I just want to stop. And you know,
(33:10):
I got some messages today just being like I used
my Batman effect so much in that race to be like, actually,
you can do it. You know, what would your two
point oh version do? Because again, if you're running and
you're like, no, maa, come on, you can do this
versus actually what would maya two point oh do? It
pushes you to think a bit different, it makes you
(33:30):
strive a bit bolder, and so it's so effective when
it comes to really leveling up. And I use this
with like elite athletes as well as just anyone, even kids.
So yeah, it's one to not sleep on for sure.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yeah, it sounds very powerful because you know, it's like
a better version of yourself. For the best version of yourself.
So if you want to go in and ask for
a raise, what would that person do? What would Batman do? Probably?
You know, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2 (33:59):
And you can't control what the other person does, right,
So you can only control your character. And that's why
the Batman effect is great because you are, you know,
you're really stepping into who you can be and your potential.
Speaker 1 (34:15):
Yeah, and basically saving the day.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
Right.
Speaker 1 (34:18):
So another thing, you know you've called this season's method,
which I found interesting because we constantly, you know, all
of us are constantly wound up, and you know, we're
powering through and we're trying to achieve things all all
the time. So I don't know if I've understood this correctly,
if you can explain, you know that there are involves
creating three distinct periods in our lives, which is hibernation, growth,
and harvest. So is this like a rest period or
(34:40):
how does it work?
Speaker 2 (34:42):
Yeah? So this really came from you know when I
mentioned when I was younger, I was very high achieving.
You know, I just didn't know when to stop. I
was such a driven and like like I was very
good at like hustling, and I knew I just kept
going and going and going even when I was tired.
And so this actually initially it came or I learned
(35:02):
it from Robin Sharma, who who always talks about when
you look at nature, you know, look at how nature reacts.
It doesn't Nature doesn't bloom all year round, so neither
should you. And humans weren't built to be like robots. Right,
So these three seasons, we've got harvest, which is where
you are most productive. It's when like a crop, how
it harvests, you are producing. So for me it's like
(35:25):
I'm probably doing a lot more events, I'm more public facing,
I'm more busy, etc. Then you've got hibernation. Hibernation is
when you go straight into rest, and rest is really
like is deepress, you know, it's not actually just like
oh yeah, like you know, I'm still socializing stuff like that. No, like,
if you need to rest, you really do take it
for your mind and body. And then spring, or what
(35:47):
I call the growth period, is where you start planting
seeds again, so you start building up your productivity but sustainably.
The biggest mistake people make is they go from zero
to one hundred and then they burn out. So here
you are going from zero to twenty twenty to thirty
thirty to maybe forty, and you're just slowly starting again,
maybe socializing a bit more, networking a bit more, producing
(36:08):
a bit more, and then again you have your harvest period. Now,
the great thing about this is that all the different
seasons can be different lengths of time. You might have
a harvest that's like two weeks long, or you might
have a hibernation that's two weeks long. But then harvest
sometimes is a day Like last week, my harvest was
four days. They're very, very intense, so I knew I
needed a three day hibernation straight after. And it just
(36:31):
means that I can now start this week in spring
again where I'm planting seeds, I'm growing, but I'm not
on my full, full producing harvest yet, like I don't
need to be. And so what this means that so
I haven't actually burnt out in five and a half
years because I'm always in that dynamic circle of recognizing
the rest is part of the work, and I have
(36:52):
that a bit like a battery. I know when I
need to be at thirty percent or fifty percent. So
you have that intuition to be like, actually, harvest doesn't
have to twenty four.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
To seven, you know, yeah, because hibernation should not be that.
You know, you're that sense of lagging behind. I think
that's what happens to a lot of us, right that
you're not doing anything.
Speaker 2 (37:10):
Yeah, so a lot of people feel that productivity guilt.
But then I always ask my I ask them I'm like,
you know, when a crop has just done its harvest,
does it feel guilty that it's not doing anything after
now because it actually needs to recover Otherwise you're just
you're trying to create from energy that's not there. And look,
(37:30):
I get it, productivity guilt is a thing. And especially
in the world we live in, everyone's going so fast,
everyone's achieving so much, and I think you just got
to ask yourself, like, does this serve me? You know,
is this something I also want to to do? Yeah?
Speaker 1 (37:44):
And you've also mentioned, you know, about keeping a journal
about you know, your small wins every day, so you know,
how does that work here?
Speaker 2 (37:54):
So one of the most common things I see amongst
high performance, and I was the same, is we're always
onto the next next thing. Right, It's always like, Okay,
we achieve this, let's go next, we do this, and
let's go next. And the small wins are important because
(38:15):
what they do is they remind you of your progress.
And so a lot of us we only celebrate the
big milestones like or when we win, or when we
become champions, or when we get the job or whatever.
But on the way, there are so many little things
to also celebrate. It might be your effort, it might
be a connection, it might be a difficult thing you've
had to overcome. And so I always talk about it
(38:36):
as having a list of little wins, and it can
be on your phone and your journal, and it just
means like any time you notice like a little win
that you've had, write it down. Like anytime you notice
you manage your emotion, better write it down. Anytime you
maybe notice that you perform a little, better write it down.
And so it just means that when you are, let's say,
(38:58):
feeling like you haven't made any progress, you look at
your little wins list and you realize, actually, no, I
really have.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
Yeah, I'm sure that can help when you're feeling low
to see that you know you have progressed, because we
tend to feel absolutes, right that nothing ever goes my
way or I'll never ever succeed, you know exactly. Yeah, yeah,
so so Maya. You know, you've mentioned so many physical
you know, so many visualization techniques. You've even given a
(39:25):
thirty day you know, challenge for people to go through.
Do you want to take somebody take listeners through one
of them? Like one of them is you know how
to how the top one percent basically how they visualize
and how they go through things. Do you want to
take them through or just explain it?
Speaker 2 (39:44):
No, I can tell them. Would you like music with
it as well?
Speaker 1 (39:48):
No, that's all right. You mentioned the music there, so
that's fine.
Speaker 2 (39:52):
Okay, So I'm happy to guide it. So with this one,
I want people to think about like a task or
activity that they want to perform better at. So that
might be sports related like running or swimming, cricket, et cetera.
Or it might be something that works, so it might
be presenting. It might be even just like managing your
(40:15):
day better. It might even be like the process of
having a conversation, communication, anything. And we're going to use
this visualization to see what performing like the best you
can actually looks like. Okay, so this is a process visualization.
So if you want to close your eyes and just
(40:37):
start by taking a deep breath in through the nose
and exhale through the mouth. Now, I want you to
start by just mentally rehearsing how you perform that particular
task at the moment. So it might be something in
your personal life, your fitness life, maybe is something at work,
(41:01):
could be public speaking, presenting, leading. Maybe it's just how
you live out your day. But just pick that task
or activity and now, using your mind, I want you
to start leveling up your performance. So I want you
(41:24):
to start mentally rehearsing. Now, if I performed the best
I ever could, what would it look like? And I
want you to in your mind start changing the way
you show up. So start changing, let's say the way
you're walking, the way you're talking, the way your legs
are moving. I want you to feel stronger. I want
you to see yourself performing better and once you get there,
(41:45):
go even further. Really you are performing like the top
top one percent in whatever this task is. So seeing
yourself doing it efficiently, doing it in flow, doing it aligned.
Don't worry about the results. I simply want to focus
on what can you control and keep mentally rehearsing your
(42:06):
ideal performance. Really you pushing the boundaries, pushing your limits,
seeing yourself getting your personal bests, enjoying it, and keep
going until it becomes effortless in the mind. And wanted
to make your brain so familiar with that level of performance,
(42:27):
that higher standard. Good, keep going last few again and again.
Really see it mentally rehearse it again and again. The
brain needs repetition good and very gently in your own time.
(42:53):
You can open the eyes.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, are very good.
Speaker 2 (43:01):
Yeah. So with something like that, you want to do that.
Let's say before you're doing an activity or performing or
even you know, with athletes, let's say they've got a
big race coming up. Well, let's say someone's got presentation
coming up. I'll suggest people doing this, like, you know,
you want to repeat this at least five times. We're
in it. You're doing the activity like ten fifteen times
(43:22):
so that your brain can be in flow when you
actually do it.
Speaker 1 (43:25):
Yeah, that's amazing. Thanks so much, Maya. Yeah sure, yeah,
thank you for the conversation.
Speaker 2 (43:30):
Maya.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
All the best on your book. I really enjoyed reading it.
Anything else, thanks to add.
Speaker 2 (43:36):
No, just thank you. And I think you know, just
remember that, like yeah, take take ownership, take power over
your brain, because we all can do that.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Yeah, thank you, Maya.
Speaker 2 (43:47):
Thank you,
Popular Podcasts
Fudd Around And Find Out
UConn basketball star Azzi Fudd brings her championship swag to iHeart Women’s Sports with Fudd Around and Find Out, a weekly podcast that takes fans along for the ride as Azzi spends her final year of college trying to reclaim the National Championship and prepare to be a first round WNBA draft pick. Ever wonder what it’s like to be a world-class athlete in the public spotlight while still managing schoolwork, friendships and family time? It’s time to Fudd Around and Find Out!
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!