New Articles
10 Reasons Why Athletes Should Meditate
Huffington Post
It doesn't matter what sport you play, any athlete can benefit from the positive benefits of meditation. Mindful meditation research on athletic performance is starting to grow. Meditation has been shown to help athletes,(#1) improve focus, (#2) cope with pain, (#3) deal with setbacks among other benefits.
Meditation could be that extra edge that helps you win the game-winning point or helps you go the extra mile when you think you can't. Why not incorporate it into your training regime? It just might make you a better athlete
The GMU Mindful Basketball Athlete
Washington Post
George Mason University Division I Basketball Team was part of a study that tested the benefits of a “mindfulness-based intervention for athletes". Fallon Goodman, the doctoral researcher at GMU's Center for the Advancement of Well-Being, oversaw the study of the entire men's basketball team in 2013.
The team participated in a brief mindfulness-based intervention over a 5 week period. The team attended eight 90-min group sessions immediately followed by 1-hr Hatha yoga sessions. Participants reported greater mindfulness, greater goal-directed energy, and less perceived stress than before the mindfulness-based sessions.
Perfectly Placed to Win Olympic Fencing Mental Game
Washington Post
Katharine (Kat) Holmes, the second-ranked fencer in the United States, works out as she prepares to compete for a spot on the 2016 Olympic team. While she trains six days a week, she works on her mental game around the clock. “I will literally visualize myself fencing them, visualize what actions I’ll take when they do this or that,” Kat said.
Holmes has paid particular interest to likely Olympic foes. She has spent the past 10 months studying hours of video of each major opponent, and using a program called Dartfish — also used by soccer, hockey and basketball teams around the world to time their moves and attack patterns.