Sports, Yoga and Meditation Together
It has been a growing relationship for the last decade or so: sports, Yoga, and Meditation as a means of success. The number of professional athletes beginning meditation expands nearly daily, and we are not talking about just the “finesse players.” These are hardcore athletes who win and perform at an incredibly high level consistently during high-stakes situations.
I have played sports all my life and found that after I began to meditate in 1990 or so, my focus, attention, and endurance increased dramatically. I am not alone, nor did I create this concept.
Sports, Yoga and Meditation – Focus
“It’s commonly said that sports are 90 percent mental and only 10 percent physical. A lack of focus can result in a missed three-point shot, nerves can cause a gymnast to fall out of her landing, and a momentary lapse in confidence can easily make the difference between gold and bronze. So it’s no surprise that some of the best professional athletes in the sports world are turning to meditation — which has been shown to reduce stress and improve focus — to boost their game and ease the anxiety of high-pressure performances.
Athletic greats Joe Namath, Barry Zito and Arthur Ashe have spoken out about the benefits of meditation as a tool for athletic success. And even entire teams have been turning to visualization and mindfulness practices” Huffington Post
Lebron James meditates regularly, below see him during the 2012 NBA Playoffs.
Derek Jeter from His Diary on Grantland:
“Thursday, October 4: Off day, Tampa
We don’t have to report to the Stadium until Friday (we won’t even know if we’re playing Baltimore or Texas until tomorrow night), so I took the opportunity to fly down to Tampa late last night and spend 24 hours in intensive preparation at my live/work complex. That’s a luxury I’m happy I can afford with the off day. Today’s itinerary looked like this:
5 a.m. Wake to ambient noise of Yankee Stadium with Mo on the mound protecting one-run ninth-inning lead.
5:15 a.m.: Breakfast: PowerBar smoothie with an added shot of the pulverized core of a Phiten necklace.
5:45 a.m.: Wind sprints while avoiding baseballs fired from the pitching machine.
6-8 a.m.: General flexibility and explosiveness training.
8-8:15 a.m.: Recovery time.
8:15-10 a.m.: Private SoulCycle session, with trainer/DJ Deepak Chopra reading inspirational speeches by legendary Yankees.
10-11 a.m.: Solo meditation among the ring pillars in the Champion’s Den.
11 a.m.-noon: Lunch: 30-egg-white omelet, washed down with thimbleful of rancid division-clinch cider, while watching reruns of Khloe Loves Lamar.
Noon-12:30 p.m.: FaceTime session with Mr. Torre to discuss every pivotal moment of 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2000 Series. Nothing to be learned from ’01 and ’03.
12:30-5 p.m.: Simulated Game 7 in custom-built CaptainVision ™ TruReality total-immersion holographic chamber. (Yankees defeat All-Hall-of-Fame Team 7-6 in 11 innings; I go 5-5 for three doubles, an opposite-field homer, and game-saving, over-the-shoulder basket catch in short left field. Alex Rodriguez 0-6 with four strikeouts, including caught-looking to end ninth with winning run on third.)
5-5:30 p.m.: Simulate and re-practice signature career moments to lock their seeming impossibility into muscle memory: The Flip Play, the Dive, the Jeffrey Maier Homer.
5:30-6:30 p.m.: Dinner. Fourteen-ounce “rawhide clutch steak” made from surplus game-winning baseballs. Two more thimblefuls of Clinch Juice. One Double-Stuff Oreo for dessert. (No filling.)
6:30-8:30 p.m.: Batting cage, 1,000 inside-out swings for opposite-field singles.
8:30-9:30 p.m.: Catch up with House Hunters International on DVR to clear head.
10 p.m.: Bedtime.A hard day, but a good day.
Am I ready? You’re never really ready, and yet you always are.”
Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh Practice Meditation, Yoga and Visualization
“3-Time olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh are two of the best in the world to ever play women’s beach volleyball. The duo have dominated competitions at three consecutive summer olympics and have utilized meditation as a tool in helping them get there. Led by sports psychologist Michael Gervais, the olympians regularly practice meditation, yoga and visualization as a regular part of their training regiment.” Collective Evolution
Michigan Basketball Team
“Meditation is as important as lifting weights and being out here on the field for practice,” Okung says. “It’s about quieting your mind and getting into certain states where everything outside of you doesn’t matter in that moment. There are so many things telling you that you can’t do something, but you take those thoughts captive, take power over them and change them.” Pro Football Offensive Tackle Russell Okung
Seattle Seahawks Changing Future of Football with Yoga and Meditation
by Yoga Dork
“Football and yoga, they go together just like beer and pretzels, right? Ask the Seattle Seahawks and they’ll tell you how their meditation and yoga practice will change the future of football. (Yep. You may need to go back and read that sentence over again.)
It may sound odd at first, but for the Seahawks it’s become just as normal in the sport as congratulatory butt slapping and end zone dances. If this ESPN Magazine article is right, Super Bowl yoga was just the beginning! Because more and more are people getting over the ridiculous stigma of yoga being “girly” and these people happen to be stereotypically macho dudes who are known to shout manly, motivational words and obscenities like it’s their job, ie. NFL coaches and players.
Seahawks’ head coach, Pete Carroll, is one of these people and he’s on a mission to bring a gentler and more conscious approach to the game of unnecessary roughness.
“I wanted to find out if we went to the NFL and really took care of guys, really cared about each and every individual, what would happen?” he told ESPN.Oh and get this, the team was so into the experimental and optional yoga program last year that they decided to make it a mandated part of the workouts from now on. The entire roster practices yoga.
Being mindful extends even further, from what they eat (the Seahawks’ chef cooks with fruits and vegetables from local organic farms) to how they help rookie players get into the groove and encourage all players to make use of the support staff as if they were a human resources department.”
Sports, Yoga and Meditation for Improved Relationships
“Another key trait discovered by athlete meditation research is the improvement of relationships. Most sports are a team game and having a good relationship with your teammates is a must. If a team wants to win, they must be able to get along. Any conflicts could potentially damage team spirit. Meditation is proven to help these interpersonal relationships as well.
Any athlete that desires to be the best that they can possibly be needs to focus on meditation and visualization. One must train the body and the mind.” Project-Meditation.org
Sports Yoga and Meditation – George Mumford Meditation Coach
“Do professional athletes meditate?
YES! Although most people would not attribute both the Chicago Bulls’ & Los Angeles Lakers six NBA championships under Phil Jackson to their meditation practice, meditation was part of their training.
When George Mumford, the meditation coach hired by Phil Jackson was asked what he feels meditation offers athletes he replied;
“The opportunity to be in the moment. In sports, what gets people’s attention is this idea of being in the zone, or playing in the zone. When they are playing their best, they can do no wrong, and no matter what happens they are always a step quicker, a step ahead. That happens when we are in the moment, when we are mindful of what is going on. There’s a lack of self-consciousness, there’s a relaxed concentration, and there’s this sense of effortlessness, of being in the flow…. When we are in the moment and absorbed with the activity, we play our best. That happens once and awhile, but it happens more often if we learn how to be more mindful. By mindful, I mean being aware, being engaged with the present moment. Mindfulness is useful because it is through this that we can see what is going on. It means knowing what needs to happen and doing it.”
Mind and Sport Institute
I find a daily meditation practice immensely powerful in making my day clear, focused, and deliberate. This, of course, also applies to my life and relationships. There seems to be a significant amount of attention given to the benefits of meditation during meditation, but it is my experience that the true rewards are experienced during the other twenty-three hours of the day!
If you would like more information about meditation or would like to learn more about it, please comment or write to me directly.
Michael Swerdloff
Providence Life Coaching and Reiki Counseling
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