The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training For Climbers

you, one on which you can move freely without too much effort or thought about sequences. Climbing on toprope works well for this exercise because it allows you to move continuously. As you begin climbing, separate yourself from your climbing effort and observe yourself from the Witness position. Observe how your eyes automatically direct the movements of your arms and legs. Keep your awareness separate from the climbing and observe how your eyes are directing your movements. You will automatically look in the direction where a hand or foot needs to move to maintain balance.
    Nature moves toward being in harmony and balance. Your intuition, through your eyes, directs you toward harmony. Trust in this process. Trust that your body knows how to move without you having to consciously tell it how to move.
    There is nothing unusual about your eyes looking in a direction to maintain balance. It’s becoming conscious of this fact that awakens your power.
    Set the intention : to separate from the effort, move to the Witness position, and observe how your eyes direct your movements.
    A sharpened version of this exercise is called No Second Guessing . Follow your eyes and use the first hold you grab or put your foot on. If the hold isn’t as large or as positive as you expected, use it anyway. Many times the first hold is the most effective one, even if it doesn’t offer the most security.
    4. Observing Controlling Behavior
    This exercise is similar to the observing exercise in the Accepting Responsibility process. As you become more familiar with the Rock Warrior’s Way approach you’ll gain awareness of controlling behavior. Your Ego will try to conceal your own controlling behavior from you, but it has no problem allowing you to see it in others. Observe the behaviors in others, and then use what you’ve observed to help identify the same behaviors in yourself.
    When you go climbing, observe how other climbers climb. Do they fall into controlling behaviors such as stopping, holding their breath, resisting falling, over-gripping, down-climbing, or grabbing a draw? Does it help their effort?
    Controlling behaviors prevent you from committing 100-percent forward and climbing continuously. Observing other climbers’ controlling behaviors will help you see them in yourself and strengthen your resolve to eliminate them.
    Chapter 7, The Journey
    1. Comfortable Chaos
    The essence of the Journey process is to be present with the chaos of the risk situation without trying to escape it. This exercise anticipates and simplifies the chaos, allowing you to find a feeling of comfort in it.
    Setup : Find a route that will challenge you in a specific way. Determine what it is about the route that will challenge you. Be specific. Example: On a smooth, less-than-vertical route, you’ll be challenged by feeling insecure because the holds are small and you may pop off at any moment. Or, on an overhanging jug route you’ll be challenged by the pump factor. Ask friends or other climbers to direct you toward the kind of challenge you want to work on, but don’t obtain specific, move-by-move information. You want to know what kind of chaos to prepare for, yet retain a strong sense of the unknown as you begin.
    Next, anticipate what you can do to find comfort in the risk. Example: On the smooth, less-than-vertical route you can focus on staying in balance, making crisp and decisive step-ups, taking short steps, trusting small holds, and pushing with both legs. On the overhanging jug route you can focus on hanging straight-armed between moves, holding on loosely by relaxing your grip, climbing dynamically, using heel-hooks, doing drop-knees, or any other arm-saving leg techniques, and climbing deliberately between the rests. Regardless of what specific techniques you decide will aid your effort, focus on those skills that will create a degree of comfort in the chaos of the risk zone.
    Set the intention : to use known techniques to find comfort in the chaos. After the effort, see how well you stayed with your intention. Did your attention stay on employing your skills, or did it stray to thoughts of escaping the risk?
    2. Directed Climbing
    Here, a partner helps create climbing chaos by choosing moves for you. In this exercise, it’s almost impossible to adopt a destination focus because you never know where you’ll be directed next.
    Setup : This exercise is best done in a bouldering cave at a climbing gym. Find a section of wall where