Brief Centering Exercise

Brief Centering Exercise

Please find a comfortable sitting position. Notice the position of your feet, arms, and hands. Allow your eyes to close gently. [pause 10 seconds] Breathe in and out gently and deeply several times. Notice the sound and feel of your own breath as you breathe in and out. [pause 10 seconds]

At this time, focus your attention on your surroundings. Notice any sounds that may be occurring. What sounds are occurring inside the room? What sounds are occurring outside the room? [pause 10 seconds]

Now focus your attention on the areas where your body touches the chair in which you are sitting. Notice the physical sensations that occur from this contact. [pause 10 seconds] Now notice the spot where your hands are touching the front of your legs. [pause 10 seconds] Now start at your head and do a scan of your body. Don't linger on any one part, but build up a picture of your whole self. [pause 10 seconds] Notice any areas of discomfort. Don’t try to alter these sensations; just accept them. [pause 10 seconds] Notice how the sensations, the comfort, the discomfort, all seem to change without any effort on your part. Simply let them parade along and accept that.

Now, let your thoughts focus on why you are doing this training. Who around you in life will benefit? How will your dedication affect your life for the better? [pause 10 seconds] Now allow yourself to focus on what you want your performance life to be about. What is most important to you? [pause 10 seconds] What kind of athlete do you want to be? [pause 10 seconds] What kind of teammate do you want to be? [pause 10 seconds] What do you value most about your position right now in this moment as an athlete?

Remain comfortable for a few more moments and slowly let yourself focus once again on the space around your body. Notice any sounds and movements occurring around you. [pause 10 seconds] Once again focus on your own breathing.  [pause 10 seconds] When you are ready, open your eyes and notice that you feel focused and attentive.

Mindfulness Exercises

• Positive effects?
• Struggles?

Purpose

When your head and body are not in the same place.

Focus on your breathing and your physical self. Arrive where your body and mind are in the same place, at the same time.

Learning Log 2

Did you do it?

What is the primary skill of an elite athlete?

Uncertainties

Dish washing

• Frustration
• Boredom

All the important things I could be doing.

Why are we doing all this in a program for performance enhancement?

• What is mental toughness?
• What really stands in the way of elite performance?
• Do you stay up late or get up early?

Michael Jordan

6x NBA champion

Kobe Bryant

5x NBA Champion

Shaquille O’Neal

4x NBA Champion

Novak Djokavic

Current world ranking:

Derek Jeter

5x World Series champion

Phil Jackson

Coached 11x NBA Championships

Value-driven Behavior

versus Emotion-driven

What do you really want out of your competitive experience?

Achievement Goals

Values

• Train harder
• Train more consistently
• Make better choices
• Face hardships better
• Overcome negative emotions better
• Persevere in day-to-day activities more
• Increase chance of achieving goals

VS.

Sport Mindfulness

Mindfulness vs Mindlessness

• Choose a relevant moment
• Focus on the major intention
• Be aware of the space,
  • your physical body,
  • and your parade of thoughts.
• Observe and experience

Sacrificed for Emotions

1. Think of a situation from practice, work-life, or competition that triggered a strong emotion.

2. What was the specific emotion that you experienced? And if it was a chain reaction try to go from the most basic, initial emotion to the ultimate destination.

3. What did you do to reduce the emotion or to satisfy it?

4. What were the short-term effects of your effort to control emotions?

5. What were the long-term effects?

http://goo.gl/forms/I5h3gLgJz9

Complete this form during the next week.

Performance Values

http://goo.gl/forms/HcWCcKl81j

Complete this form during the next week.

Mindfulness Exercise - Breathe

Mindfulness Exercise - Breath

This brief exercise will help you expand your mindfulness skills and will allow for further development of mindful awareness and attention. This exercise should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. It is suggested that this exercise be completed at a slow pace.

Please find a comfortable sitting position. Notice the position of your body, particularly your legs, hands, and feet. Allow your eyes to close gently. [pause 10 seconds]

Take several deep breaths and notice the air going in and out of your body. Notice the sound and feel of your own breathing as you breathe in [pause] and out [pause]. Allow your focus of attention to be on your abdomen rising and falling with each breath. [pause 10 seconds]

As you continue to breathe in and out, imagine that there is a pencil in your hand and that you are drawing a line upward with each inhale, and then a line downward with each exhale. [pause 10 seconds] Imagine the picture that these lines would create. [pause 10 seconds]

As you slowly continue to breathe in and out, notice that you may become aware of a variety of thoughts and emotions that enter and leave your mind. Simply notice them as though they are part of a parade, gently allow them to pass, and once again focus on your breathing and all the sensations that come. [pause 10 seconds] Having a variety of thoughts and emotions is not incorrect or in any way a problem, but simply reflects the reality of the human mind. There is no need to change, fix, or attempt to control these experiences. Simply note the parade of thoughts in your mind and refocus on your own breathing. [pause 10 seconds]

Allow yourself to continue to breathe gently in and out, focusing your thoughts on the physical sensations of each breath that you take. Whenever you are ready, slowly open your eyes, become fully aware of your physical surroundings, and continue your day.

Common questions

and problems

Understanding

• "Change" versus Acceptance
• "Content" versus Mindfulness
• "The Goal" versus The Path

Near optimal performance while also experiencing the full range of human emotions.

Lack of Examples

• Stop simply listing personal experiences
• Perfectionists - Have no fear of being wrong!
• Fear of reflection - It's a skill, have fun

Unable to elicit problematic emotions and emotion-driven behavior.

Goals vs Values

• Unwillingness?
• Extreme achievement orientation?
• Keep track of the pursuit of values in your day-to-day life.
• Start observing value-driven behavior in your role-models and champions.
• Recognize the efficacy of a life-time approach to life.

Cannot or will not see any purpose other than achievement of goals as a valid reason for their presence in sport.