Athletes spend so much time working on their bodies that their mental health can get brushed to the side. Poor mental health can negatively affect skills, relationships with coaches and teammates, and most importantly, your love for the sport you play.
A well-rounded athlete must be in elite shape, both physically and mentally, so exercises in mindfulness are arguably just as important as practices and workouts!
What are mindfulness practices?
Any mindfulness practice is a form of meditation that focuses on your present feelings and the world around you. You can improve your level of mindfulness by doing many different exercises, including:
● Meditation
● Breathing exercises
● Yoga
● Quiet walks
● Physical therapy
● Journaling
These activities encourage you to eliminate all outside distractions and explore the deepest confines of your mind.
As an athlete, it’s beneficial to become more aware of your feelings and how they influence your actions, especially on the field or court. High-level athletes belittle themselves even for the smallest mistakes, so these activities can prove helpful when it comes to investigating those negative feelings and snuffing them out.
Let’s talk about how mindfulness can help athletes overcome their greatest obstacles in regard to four specific challenges.
Focusing on the moment
Every competitive athlete plays to win. The desire to be the final player/team standing can become so powerful that an athlete will often lose sight of the present moment. Many athletes have opened up about struggling with this dilemma and feeling overwhelmed during their careers.
That’s why you always hear seasoned veterans say “embrace the moment” or “one play at a time.” They’ve been around the block. They know how it feels to lose oneself while chasing a goal.
Mindfulness can alleviate blinding desires to win and help you adopt the veteran’s mentality. Instead of constantly looking ahead to the shiny gold trophy at the end of the tunnel, you’ll be able to narrow your vision down to the next practice. You can focus on perfecting today’s tasks so you can reach that trophy tomorrow.
The same mentality applies to games. Mindfulness can help you stop worrying about the final score. You can take the game one play at a time, brush off your mistakes and focus on the next play. The game can significantly slow down, in a positive and calming way, once you jump this mental hurdle.
However, don’t let the moment take over all your thoughts. You must still remember why you started. Keeping a written calendar or some other visual reminder of your final goal will help you strike the right balance between the present and the future.
Putting things into perspective
You often hear experienced athletes say, “It’s just a game,” even when they have every right to be nervous or upset. They say that because they have the right perspective on life. As much as we love sports, they aren’t everything. Today’s sports scene has offered some shining examples of this wise perspective.
The former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles described his epiphany before the 2018 Super Bowl and how it simplified the game for him. The realization that it was just football allowed him to thrive in the biggest moment of his life.
Another recent example comes from the Portland Trail Blazers basketball star Damian Lillard. He went viral in 2019 for his comments about not feeling pressure throughout the NBA season. Like a true adult, he realizes that basketball is a trivial matter compared to life’s other issues. Every athlete has a competitive fire, but only the best professionals understand that life has much more to offer than the sport they play.
Mindfulness encourages athletes to put their mental and physical well-being before sports. We often see athletes push themselves too hard, which comes back to bite them later in life. Yoga, chiropractic therapy and other relaxing exercises alleviate ailments and lay the foundations for long-term success in both athletics and life.
Understanding coaches and teammates
Miscommunication happens a lot in athletics, and it’s easy to blame someone else after a mistake or a loss. Teammates often have different priorities, too. Some want to score X points every game, while others don’t care about their individual accolades. The same goes for coaches.
With a clearer head and a stable mood, you can understand these perspectives and thus develop better chemistry with others. Athletics programs use team bonding exercises (another mindfulness activity) just for this purpose. Coaches and players express their thoughts and feelings in a supportive setting, which leads to a greater appreciation for one another on the court or field.
One well-documented example is the story of the early 2010s Duke University men’s lacrosse team. In the wake of their sexual abuse case in 2006, doubt and uncertainty surrounded the program. New coaches and players lived under the case’s shadow, but they responded by rattling off three national championships in 2010, 2013 and 2014. The team attributed its success to its close relationships built through bonding activities, as you can plainly see in their documentary of the 2014 championship team.
You see and hear the same sentiments from winning teams across all sports. They laugh and cry together. They emphasize the team’s solid relationships. The best way to get that close with your coaches and teammates is to engage in mindfulness activities with each other.
Thriving in the classroom
Student-athletes have double lives. Flipping the switch between student and player can wear on their minds and hurt their performance in both environments. Schools and professional leagues alike provide a wide range of mental health resources, including counselling sessions and quiet spaces for athletes to relax. These mindfulness practices can ease mental tension and help you stay focused on your studies.
Journaling is another mindfulness exercise that can improve your academic performance. As you express your thoughts in your journal, you’ll improve your writing skills, memory and cognitive abilities. These skills naturally affect your athletic performance as well. A sharp mind makes better decisions!
Use mindfulness to grow in sports—and life
Mindfulness activities encourage you to explore your feelings and comfort your body’s physical ailments. When you participate in such exercises, you may notice that your priorities change. You’ll find it easier to focus on the moment, rather than overwhelming yourself by thinking about the big picture all the time.
From there, you can put things into perspective and recognize that your sport is just one small aspect of your life. You can also develop better chemistry with coaches and teammates through immersive team-building exercises. Lastly, if you’re a student, you can improve your academic performance through journaling, meditation and other mindfulness exercises.
When you take the time to give your mind and body proper treatment, positive results can quickly spread. Mindfulness can make you both a better athlete and a more well-rounded person.
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