Overcoming mood

[Christien]

Has anyone else had this problem? I notice my mood or psychological state greatly affects the way I play. Sometimes I play 3-4 stones stronger than I usually play while other times I can play 2-3 stones weaker. I'd like to eradicate the ambivalence from my game. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions.

[Alguien]

It's one of the details that made me interested in go.

I remember playing five or ten blitz games vs igowin (a tiny app that played 9x9 badly) to check how... focused, awaken, quick, my mind really was at that precise moment.

I found it interesting how small changes in time of day, hours of sleep, beers, etc could have such an impact on my play.

The solution to your problem might be in taoism.

[Boidhre]

I greatly suffer from this problem, having bipolar. I've not figured out a way around being passive when depressed, I just play that way and genuinely see the moves as the best move even though when feeling well I play utterly differently (though arguably still somewhat passive). What I find is affected when low is my intuition, my feel for the game limited as it is, and disobeying your intuition is very hard. Also my reading is affected.

I'm not really sure what one can do in relation to one's mood affecting one's go. I'm curious if CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) approaches such as analysing the thought process behind certain moves would help. For instance, when feeling low I'll often play extremely safely regardless of the whole board situation so a way I could look at dealing with this is identifying the kinds of thoughts that go through my head that make me want to play very safely and the associated feelings and try to teach myself to challenge these thoughts when they occur. I'm currently trying to do this with taking gote when low, I make little to no effort to take sente when low and this is a serious problem, so I'm trying to question every move choice with "should I take sente now?" rather than playing gote moves automatically.

I've no idea of the kind of mood problems you're talking about Christen so I've no idea if the above helps.

[bayu]

I usually reverse it. The way I see me playing go gives me ideas of how I'm feeling.

Trying to read the opponent through his play is rewarding too.


Like it is impossible to fully overcome the handicap of having had a sensible amount of beer it is probably as well impossible to fully overcome the handicap of a depression or even simply a bad mood.

I force myself not to rush, when I'm not in great condition (e.g. never turn a stone in your fingers, when thinking. Separate thinking and placing the stone in all situations, even joseki). I have the impression that my blitzing abilities are most affected by mood conditions, so I try to eliminate the blitzing aspects of my game.

From the famous anonymous go player quotes:
"The board is a mirror of the mind of the players as the moments pass. When a master studies the record of a game he can tell at what point greed overtook the pupil, when he became tired, when he fell into stupidity, and when the maid came by with tea."

[Phoenix]

Just the wording makes it sound tiresome. "How do I overcome my mood?" "I need to overcome my fear."

If you're having trouble overcoming your psychological blocks (where exactly are these 'blocks' anyway?), that's because that's not how the mind works.

Mood is simply a neurochemical process activated by your thoughts. The best way to change or transition your state is to change the qualities (submodalities) and perhaps the content of your thoughts. You can only do this after identifying what goes on in your head, of course, which is a step on its own. Then there are techniques you can use to rapidly (or instantly) change your submodalities as well as their sequencing in order to get yourself into a more resourceful state. This requires practice and knowledge, and a lot of awareness. NLP, thought patterning, swish patterns, blah blah blah...

Did you stick through that paragraph? Outstanding! Here's an easier alternative.

If there's one thing (okay, there are a couple maybe...) that has been proven over and over to work in practice in the field of psychology, it's conditioning. This is simply a process of association. The cool thing about emotional association is that it works like monkey rings.

You can associate a positive, motivated, focused state with a song, for example. That's a specific trigger. If you then play that song as you begin to play, it should take very few games for you to associate the state with both song and Go. Remove the song shortly after and the state will remain with it's new trigger: Go.

I, being basically lazy, am doing this with 'Weightless' from Marconi Union. It's even easier because it was designed to be naturally calming and sports sound entrainment technology. It's a very non-disruptive song as well, so it works wonders for this specific purpose (you don't want Metallica blasting when you try to read into a game).

This is not absolute! This is just my easygoing approach to making sure I get into the right mood as I play. Try it out! If it doesn't work, then it's simply not your thing.

[Time]

Embrace your mood - don't play go when you don't want to play go, but play and study a ton when you're motivated to.

IMO, of course.

[Christien]

Okay let me describe my situation a little more. Sometimes when I play I'm calm and relaxed and just play overall much better. I see urgent moves more and overall my game level is much higher. Other times I get agitated while playing and don't play up to par. Because of this, my game is not very stable anymore. I've tried telling myself different things like "I'm gonna win" or I'm gonna play the best game possible" or even "I'm going to lose". However, I can't seem to find a pattern or find something that works. Any tips on how to rectify this?

[EdLee]

Sometimes when I play I'm calm and relaxed...

So this seems to be a quest as old as antiquity itself. What are some of the things you've tried to reach a calm and relaxed state of mind ?
What worked, and what didn't, for you ?

(Phoenix suggested one idea that worked for him. I also have a path or two that works for me.)

[Tami]

Sometimes, perhaps most times, mood is a matter of brain chemistry. Cognition involves the consumption of many chemicals by the brain - dopamine, adrenalin, serotonin and so on - and you only have a limited supply at any one time. Being unable to think straight because you`re tired is a symptom of neurotransmitter depletion, and the more you try to overcome this by willpower, the worse you make the condition. The best thing is to rest! Lots of short breaks keep you fresh, but nobody can stay fresh all the time. It`s not physically possible. Diet and exercise can help, but again, when you`re tired, you`re tired.

Upsetting experiences also consume neurotransmitters pretty heavily, which is why it can be hard to think clearly when you have been angered or distressed.

IMO, often the best way to begin overcoming something is to accept the parts of it that can`t be overcome.

[tapir]

Less alcohol / coffee not only helps your go, you might also end up less depressed. You can always make a walk around the block. If some problem troubles you, you might want to tackle it before you sit down to play. Don't burden yourself with psychology during the game, look at the game and play, don't tell yourself things (this hurts your game regardless of what exactly you are trying to tell yourself). Relax (or sleep). Play less by feeling and more with reason helps tremendously regardless of emotional state - if you have a reason for your moves, odds are you can remember them even if you don't feel that good. etc. pp.

[Bazoo]

Mood is simply a neurochemical process activated by your thoughts. The best way to change or transition your state is to change the qualities (submodalities) and perhaps the content of your thoughts. You can only do this after identifying what goes on in your head, of course, which is a step on its own. Then there are techniques you can use to rapidly (or instantly) change your submodalities as well as their sequencing in order to get yourself into a more resourceful state. This requires practice and knowledge, and a lot of awareness. NLP, thought patterning, swish patterns

A prime candidate for Private Eye's Pseuds Corner?

[trout]

Controlling your mood is very important for your playing go or for your life. You have to find a way to reach your tranquility in your mind. Lot of people(pros) practice ZEN(It does not have to be called zen but just calm your mind.). Try to control your mood so it does not fluctuate. Follow middle path and do not feel over joy, sad or disappointed. It is very difficult to accomplish this but try your best.

[lleig]

Controlling your mood is very important for your playing go or for your life.

When I want to play an aggressive game I listen to heavy music, and when I want a calm game I listen to calm music.

The problem is that my opponent might feel in another mood, and thus our game become a mess.

[Faro]

Controlling your mood is very important for your playing go or for your life.

When I want to play an aggressive game I listen to heavy music, and when I want a calm game I listen to calm music.

The problem is that my opponent might feel in another mood, and thus our game become a mess.

Sounds like an interesting game to me. Black vs White, so to speak. A marriage of two opposing forces.

[Christien]

Thanks everyone I'll try some of your different approaches. I've noticed that I usually play better on the weekend. I usually play to relax after a long day, but I think this is the issue. I come home tired and this affects my play. However, I'm not going to stop playing during the week. I'm thinking I should try blitzing (something I've never really gotten into), so I don't have to think as much.