Mindfulness
Here are a few short, guided meditations. We encourage you to try practicing daily for 5-10 minutes, but even a few minutes a day will be helpful. Stick with it! It takes regular practice over several weeks (6 - 8) to begin to see benefits. Know that there is no wrong way to show up, the key is to commit to a few minutes each day and just do it!
What exactly is mindfulness?
Mindfulness has become a household name in the last number of years and most professional teams and elite athletes incorporate mindfulness skills into their training. There is good reason for this. There are now thousands of research studies on mindfulness training and its positive impact on stress, anxiety, depression, focus, awareness, and overall emotional regulation. With the help of neuroscience, we have also learned that mindfulness can produce lasting physical changes in the brain.
Mindfulness has not only been shown to enhance sport performance, but it also supports overall mental wellbeing as it inversely correlates with stress. As mindfulness increases, the perception of stress goes down. There is some data showing mindfulness decreases injury and enhances rehab. It’s been encouraging to see mindfulness training become more of a staple with youth and non-professional sports teams.
Mindfulness can be defined as being fully aware of everything experienced in the present moment without getting caught up in the emotions, physical sensations, or thoughts. With a mindful approach, we bring a non-judgmental, accepting, and kind attitude to each moment. In this state, we have awareness of what is happening moment to moment and without judging ourselves, we can observe, accept, and skillfully respond. What will serve me now? Mindfulness skills can help athletes deal with pre-competition nerves; maintain the love for the game; know when to stop dwelling on mistakes and be a better teammate.
Mindfulness Meditation, taking time to observe the mind by picking a particular focus and setting the intention of keeping that focus for 5-10 minutes is a common and proven skill to train present moment awareness and focus. In these training exercises, when the mind wanders, the intention is to notice and without judging what is happening, bring the attention back to your point of focus, typically the breath but can be body sensations or sound.
Stay tuned for a cognitive based mindfulness training program coming later this fall.