Meditation For Athletes – Boosts Focus & Recovery

Here’s a straight forward question for you - are you training your mind as hard as your physical body? 

Enter into the zone where the crowd is no longer present, you do not hear anything but the sound of your breath or your body in motion...that is the power of meditation. Meditation is more than just being still; it allows for your sharper edge.

While athletes are constantly training their muscles, they are neglecting one important part of their training... the mind. Meditation is the hidden workout! Unleashing focus, mental resilience and recovering quickly from your workouts. Meditation is the pause that powers your push.

• Think about stepping into a workout with intense focus and zero distractions.
• Think about having the ability to recover quickly after an intense workout, and your mind is programmed to reset.
• Think about walking into competition with calm confidence, regardless of the situation.

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Why Athletes Need Meditation

Athletes understand that in addition to being a physical fight, competition is also a mental struggle. All athletes know what it's like to have a scattered mind versus a focused mind while playing their sport of choice, and meditation strengthens the mind in the same way that physical training strengthens the body. Meditation helps improve focus, reduce anxiety/stress levels, and increase emotional resilience. When your mind is at peace, your body functions at peak level and thus far, studies have shown meditation aids in lowering cortisol levels (the stress hormone), provides better quality of sleep, and improves anabolic recovery following activity. It is not simply a technique to slow one's self down; it is an opportunity to develop greater speed, power, and endurance from the inside out.

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Focus: Entering the Zone

For many athletes, they can readily recognize the state of “flow” they achieve when they are competing well; that feeling when everything goes right, you move with precision, and the noise around you fades out completely. You can gain access to the zone through one of the most effective techniques, which is meditation. When you practice mindfulness, it allows you to develop a controlled focus on the moment. Meditation allows you to learn to keep your focus on the moment you are in vs. worrying about the last shot you missed or the next weight you will lift. This greater level of focus translates directly to improved athletic performance.

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Recovery: The Hidden Advantage

While hard work is an essential part of becoming stronger, it’s important to remember the role that recovery plays in helping individuals grow. Meditation can help speed up recovery time by relaxing the nervous system so that there is less inflammation present in the body and better sleep quality. In addition to this, taking a few minutes after a workout to perform some type of breathing or visualization exercise will help your body to move from “fight or flight” mode to “rest and repair” mode through the calming effects of meditation. When doing this, you can think about it as being just like stretching after performing physical exercise. Stretching does much more than keep you flexible; it will also allow your body to recover faster and reduce the amount of fatigue you experience, consistently giving you a good chance at performing at your best.

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Different Styles of Meditation for Athletes

There is no one perfect meditation style that works for everyone but different styles of meditation can help people find what works best for them so they can perform at their highest capacity as athletes. For example:

• Mindfulness meditation — Focus on the inhale /exhale of your breath and observe thoughts non-judgmentally (will improve focus)
• Visualization — Picture yourself doing the physical activity perfectly (this also builds confidence and prepares your brain for success)
• Body scan — Focus attention on all muscles of your entire body so to release tension (fits perfectly as both a recovery tool and a relaxation technique)
• Mantra meditation (repeats a word or phrase to keep focus); this is essential for blocking out distractions while competing under pressure.

There are unique benefits associated with each of the different forms of meditation and the ability of the athlete to combine various styles of meditation can vary (i.e., their need for focus just before competing or recovering successfully following competition).

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The Science Behind Meditation

Research indicates that the brain is altered by means of meditative practice. The brain develops more gray matter, in regions controlling emotion and attention, as a result of regular meditative exercise. Heart rate lowers, anxiety is diminished, and sleep quality improves—all of which are essential for athletes. Also, studies show that reactions and decision processes can be enhanced by meditation. In fast-moving sports, the ability to make split-second decisions can mean the difference between winning and losing.

Making Meditation a Ritual

One of the great things about meditating is the fact that no equipment is needed; there’s no gym or schedule - you can meditate wherever you want (before exercise, after exercise, or while travelling).

Begin with small amounts of time:

· 5 minutes of deep breathing before your warm-up.

· A few minutes of visualising success before competing.

· A few minutes of doing a body scan to relieve any stress after training.

Building consistency will have a better long-term impact than the length of time spent meditating. Just as muscles grow from repeated use and training, the mind grows and improves with regular practice using meditation techniques as a part of your training routine.

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Lifestyle Connection

Meditation can be a way of enhancing life, and not simply a tool for fitness-minded people. When athletes use meditation, many say they have better moods, are more well connected to those around them, and develop a more resilient nature even outside of their sport. The same level of calmness and confidence developed during meditation will help you throughout every day of your life. Picture yourself handling life's stressful situations the same way you would handle a competitive scenario. You would handle your setbacks with the same level of patience that you developed during training. Meditation is what enables you to develop that mindset.

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The Bigger Picture

Strength alone isn't enough to succeed in athletics; mental strength is also necessary for many sports. When a person combines meditation with physical skill, they can become not just physically strong, but also have the mental capability to become an exceptionally well-rounded competitor (like most runners).

When going onto an exercise session or competition, always remember that the greatest muscle that you could train could possibly be your mind…

Meditation may represent the missing workout that has the ability to sharpen your concentration, allow you to recover more quickly, and ultimately can change the way you compete…

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