The Baseball Observer - Mental Skills Issue
Mindfulness
Mindfulness is also simple, but it’s not necessarily easy. Our minds are meaning making machines.
“Mindfulness is the act of being intensely aware of what you’re sensing and feeling at that moment – without interpretation or judgment.”
-The Mayo Clinic
As an athlete you’ve probably heard “stay-in-the-moment”. Practicing mind -
fulness will help you learn how to do this better. You’re not thinking “what if” or “maybe” or guessing about "what will happen next” or “what just happened”. You allow thoughts and feeling to come into the mind but let them pass by.
It’s like standing on a street corner watching cars pass by. You’re not saying: “There’s a silver Accord. I bet he’s late for work. There’s a red Ferrari. I know he’s rich and I’m poor. Wish I had a Ferrari.” And so on.
No, mindfulness is like standing on the street corner and as each car passes no matter what type you see you say “That’s an Accord…that’s a Ferrari…” and that’s it.
Sounds kinda “fluffy bunny’ish” but it’s not. Research shows on average people spend almost half of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing. The researcher’s state:
“They are contemplating events that happened in the past, might happen in the future, or may never happen at all. Mind-wandering seems to be the human brain’s default mode of operation. ”
Basically our attention is absorbed in our wandering minds and we are not really ‘present’.
How to practice mindfulness
• Turn off all electronic devices.
• The aim of mindfulness is not
quieting the mind or attempting to
achieve some state of eternal calm
or ignoring any negatives. The goal
is simple: you want to pay attention
to the present moment, without
judgment.
• Do with “belly” breathing. Focusing
on your breathing can act as an
anchor to the present moment.
• Your mind will wander and you’ll
find that thoughts will arise. That’s
o.k. As previously stated , it’s the
human brain’s default mode.
• When you notice that your mind has
wandered, you can consciously
bring it back to the present moment
by turning your focus back on your
breathing – the anchor to the
present.
• It’s all about returning your
attention again and again to the
present moment.