I am so excited to be offering my online course entitled, Mindfulness in Sport: Optimizing Performance Without Sacrificing Well-Being!
A LITTLE BACKGROUND STORY…
I want to share my motivation behind creating this course, and interestingly it has come from living the life of a high level athlete and then living the life of someone quite disabled.
I was one of those athletes who was an extreme perfectionist and pushed hard all of the time. This mindset is oftentimes praised in the athletic world, and unfortunately, it can lead to exhaustion, injury, and burnout over time.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t work hard or strive to be your best, but there is a big difference in being driven by perfection and being driven by the desire to reach your fullest potential.
So, because I didn’t know how to listen to my body and just continued to strive to reach this unreachable icon of perfection, my body did burnout in every way. The burnout began my final year of gymnastics in 2003, and it continued until my body became disabled in 2014.
SO WHAT DOES MINDFULNESS HAVE TO DO WITH ANY OF THIS?
I discovered the practice of mindfulness as my health was declining. If you don’t know what mindfulness is, it’s a way of paying attention in the present moment with an attitude of acceptance and freedom from judgment. Read my blog post here to learn more about mindfulness.
As I practice mindfulness in my everyday life, I wish more and more that I knew these practices when I was training and that my coaches, parents, and other sources of support were familiar with them, too.
WHAT CAN MINDFULNESS BRING TO ATHLETICS?
Because mindfulness trains our brains to stay present, it breeds concentration. Concentration is essential in sport to reduce injury and to help athletes focus on the task at hand.
Mindfulness actually trains our brains in ways that help us in dealing with fear. Fear was such a prominent experience for me as an athlete, and I know it’s an issue for so many others. There’s a structure in our brains called the amygdala, and mindfulness actually helps to reduce activity in this structure. Less activity in this fear center lowers the level of stress in an athlete’s body, which I think every athlete could benefit from! This can help when attempting new skills as well as in the competitive arena.
Mindfulness teaches us how to feel what is happening in our bodies without trying to override it or judge it as “good” or “bad”. It can help athletes listen to pain and know when it’s not safe to push through. In this way, further injury can be avoided and longevity in sport can be maximized.
Because mindfulness helps to decrease inner judgment, it has been found to help with disordered eating and poor body image. Eating disorders are far too common among athletes, and mindfulness is a powerful practice of teaching athletes how to relate to their bodies with more acceptance and care and less reactivity.
Mindfulness acts as a guardian for the mind, and this is critical when an athlete is in high stress situations. When unhelpful thoughts enter into awareness, an athlete trained in mindfulness can simply see them as thoughts and learn to let them pass without having to exert any energy to change them. They can learn to not buy into the thoughts that don’t help them perform well.
As athletes train in mindfulness, they become more aware. Awareness of what is occurring in the present moment allows athletes to put all of their energy and focus into the task at hand, and it’s those moments of being completely present where athletes can achieve “zone” or “flow” performances.
Because athletes are becoming more aware of themselves and their surroundings, they can begin to tune into those around them with the same attitude of acceptance and kindness. This can create teammates that truly are present for one another and care deeply.
Ultimately, mindfulness teaches athletes that they are so much more than their thoughts, feelings, bodies, and even their sport. This can serve as a powerful buffer to the stress and loss that so often accompanies transitioning out of sport.
HINDSIGHT IS 20/20!
I truly believe if I had been taught mindfulness from a young age, I would have had much fewer injuries, been less driven by my fears, and had a much healthier relationship with my body. So, I can look back and wish that I had this powerful tool of mindfulness back in the day, or I can say, “I have the tool now, AND I can share what I have learned in hopes of helping current and future generations in sport.”
So, that’s what I’m going to do.
We live and learn and hope that what we have learned can serve others in achieving their fullest potential without unnecessary suffering.
There are currently two platforms to access "Mindfulness in Sport", with more coming soon!
Insight Timer (available only to Premium Members)
On my website here
And feel free to contact me at theresa@fit-intuit.com
I look forward to connecting!