Mindfulness.
I have a confession to make – I stink at focusing! Let’s face it…we live in a world full of distraction. Distraction of all sorts – noises, lights, food, schedules, technology, endless options. Each one of these things vies for our attention pulling us in a million different directions. It’s no wonder I often feel so inefficient with my time…so frustrated that by the of the day I got so little done…so out of control. In recent weeks I’ve decided to tackle this problem by working on a single concept – mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to focus one’s attention on the present moment, the be fully engaged in right Now. And I will say it’s helping. I’m slowly but surely getting more of the necessary things accomplished more quickly & accurately & feeling more in control of my time! I’ve started to talk with my athletes about this as well. For them, mindfulness is critically important. Here are four ways mindfulness helps athletes (and you too!):
Mindfulness decreases anxiety & fear.
When we’re afraid of something (like swimming in open water) it’s because we’re thinking about the past & future. We’re reliving what has happened to us (Past) and/or stressed about what might happen to us (Future). Neither of these are Now. When a person can focus their thoughts on Now – like breathing patterns, technique, what they are feeling – they feel more in control & anxiety & stress decrease.
Mindfulness improves performance.
Very often I hear athletes talk about what they were thinking during a race. I hear things like “The wind was horrible”, “Someone swam over me”, “Ten people passed me in Mile 1 of the run”, “I’m going to be last”, “It was so hot”. The problem is that all of these things are completely out of their control. No athlete can control the weather or how many fast people show up on race day. And, when we focus on these sorts of things, our negative thoughts spin up & impede our performance. Mindfulness, however, allows us to focus on things we CAN control – our pedal stroke, our breathing rate, when we eat/drink. These are much better things to think about because, if we do them well, our performance improves. A win-win situation!
Mindfulness increases enjoyment.
A distracted mind very rarely allows you to fully process what you’re experiencing. When our thoughts jump from one thing to the next we’re no longer paying attention to what we’re doing, feeling, experiencing right Now. Mindfulness encourages you to use all of your senses to see, feel, hear, touch, smell, taste just exactly what you are currently doing. If you tune out you might miss the beautiful flower-filled meadow, the encouraging words from a fellow competitor, the awesomeness of being able to move your body through the miles! Utilizing all your senses helps you create a fuller, more complete experience which often makes it more enjoyable.
Mindfulness decreases injury risk.
Very often we use distraction to avoid pain. It’s easy to understand…pain is typically seen as negative, something we want to get away from. The problem with ignoring pain is that it can often turn into a full-blown injury. For example – I start to feel pain in my knee while running. Often those aches & pains come from technique that’s getting worse with fatigue. If I ignore that pain & distract my mind so I don’t feel it…well…technique gets even worse & I risk a major injury. Mindfulness, on the other hand, encourages us to go to the pain, to feel it, to analyze it & then to work to diminish it. There is no judgement or ego in this – no sense of failure if I have to walk to minimize the pain. Mindfulness is only about acknowledging the pain as valid & then respecting what it needs. When we do this we decrease our injury risk because we listen to what our body needs rather than forcing it to comply with what our ego wants!
Cheers,
Coach Michelle