Over the last decade the elite athlete community has transitioned towards placing more of an emphasis on the mental aspect of sport. Sport Psychology, mental performance and even mental health are slowly gaining more and more traction for athletes across all levels.
Many athletes at both the collegiate and professional levels have started seeking out additional support and even one-on-one coaching in order to enhance the mental side of their game. The best part about this is that there are hundreds of ways to train your brain to be more resilient, handle emotion more efficiently and navigate one's own self-talk. I personally believe that it’s up to each athlete to find what resonates with them and what works BEST for them. When it comes to the mental aspect of sport and performance there is NO one size fits all.
Although I may be biased I do believe that there are some foundational skills that are beneficial for everyone regardless of if you are an athlete or not. Mindfulness is one of them.
When I begin working with an athlete I generally ask if they have seen The Last Dance on Netflix. This 2020 documentary series featured the rise of Michael Jordan, the Bulls and their coach, Phil Jackson. Although Mindfulness and Meditation have slowly started to become more mainstream I believe this documentary was one of the first to highlight elite athletes using these modalities to enhance performance. But, as these 2500 year old Buddhist and Hindu concepts have come into mainstream culture they have lost some of their true meaning. I am a huge advocate of taking the time to explain what Mindfulness is and breaking down in detail what this concept means to all my athletes and coaches.
Mindfulness is a way of being. We, as humans, can be mindful. It is also a quality that we can train ourselves to get better at. The definition I use comes from Jon Kabat-Zinn which states that Mindfulness is “paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and without judgment.”
This may seem simple and for the most part most athletes understand what it means to be mindful when they do something. But for the human brain this concept can be quite complex and very profound.
When we are being Mindful or practicing mindfulness we are intentionally choosing to tune in to our experience in the here and now. This is easier said than done because we have very short attention spans and we are very rarely in the present moment. I think most people will resonate with the experience of physically being in a location but the mind is thinking about something that happened three weeks ago! This is what the mind does.
But Mindfulness is not just paying attention. It’s not just being aware. It’s also not just being present. These are all very important things especially for athletes, but Mindfulness as a concept takes this a step further. We have to DO these three things in a very particular way: without judgment.
We as humans are a judging species. It is well known that we have what is called a negativity bias. We have inherently negative brains. This, through the thousands of years our species has been alive, has served us well. The negativity that our brain operates from is trying to, at all times, keep us safe. This is not a BAD thing but we can definitely run into trouble because of this. When we are operating from a Mindful lens we are asking ourselves to see if we can remove this judgment. This is what I call “Can we get a little less critical and a little more curious.” When we are viewing our experience from a Mindful lens we are committing to the attitude that it’s not right, it's not wrong, it's not good and it's not bad. It just is. Through Mindfulness we slowly learn what it means to view our experience from a more balanced perspective.
Now, this is not how we can show up to life and our lived experience all the time. The point is to be able to shift in and out of Mindfulness and use it to our advantage to relate to our experience in a different way. This can provide us with a profound amount of insight and awareness with regards to our thoughts, feelings and experiences in general. For an athlete in particular this can be an incredibly helpful skill when it comes to navigating the highs and lows of performance.
Again, I want to reiterate that this is a quality that we can train and HAVE to train. We as humans are not very mindful to begin with and this concept or way of being is quite counterintuitive to how we live our day to day lives. So where do we start?
Ironically, we do not start with meditation! Although many believe that mindfulness and meditation are the same, they are not. I am a firm believer that not everyone SHOULD be meditating. Meditation can be quite an advanced practice and we do not have to meditate in order to be Mindful.
The place I encourage athletes to start exploring Mindfulness is in their day to day lives!
- Pick a simple activity you participate in every day.
Examples:
- brushing your teeth
- washing your hands
- putting on shoes
- eating a meal or snack
- Slow DOWN while carrying out this activity.
- Focus on the step by step process you take to complete this.
- This will feel odd but trust me it’s worth it. When we SLOW down it makes it easier to observe our experience AND what we are thinking or feeling. This is key!
- Half the time we carry out these activities without even thinking about what we are doing. Slowing down is about shifting into a more mindful and present state.
- Remember mindfulness is about removing the judgment we apply to our experience!
- When athletes complete this activity, they find that their initial reaction or train of thought is something like “this is weird”. Can you view this from a more MINDFUL lens and get curious? This curiosity factor is how we begin to change our relationship to our experience.
- EX: “Huh, I notice I actually brush my teeth really hard”
- EX: “Interesting, when I slow down eating my meal I pick up flavors I didn’t notice before”
This is a simple exercise that allows us to explore what Mindfulness is and how we apply it to our day to day lives. Remember, this is a way of being that we have to train and the more we engage in the process of being Mindful the better at it we get! For an athlete, this is then what makes Mindfulness a more accessible lens and frame of mind within a performance setting.
If you are interested in learning more and diving into the concept of Mindfulness for performance sign up for a Three part Mindfulness series with Emily Perrin, LMSW and First Class Lacrosse.
Mindfulness Series for Athletes
Session One: Introduction to Mindfulness
Session Two: How to Stay Present at Practice
Session Three: Using Mindfulness to Enhance Recovery and Take Care of Ourselves
Emily is a licensed clinician located in Baltimore Maryland that has worked with collegiate and professional athletes around the country including members of the PLL, US lacrosse and more. For more Mindfulness, Meditation, Breath Work and Yoga for athletes check out Emily Perrin, LMSW on Instagram, Twitter or her website.
IG: Emilyperrinlmsw
Twitter: EmilyLPerrin
Website: perrinwellnessperformance.com
We hope you found this helpful. We started First Class Lacrosse because we believe in the power player development. We believe you can get exponentially better if you combine a great work ethic with the guidance of knowing what to work on and how to do it. Luckily, we experienced it firsthand as players and coaches. Our goal is to pass on what we have learned and experienced to future generations of lacrosse players, parents, and coaches. Join our Email List here.
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