Tip:
• Even though you aren’t judging any
thought that will arise, still make a
mental note about what did come
up. Once you’re done with a mind-
fulness session, then think about
what might have caused those
thoughts to come up. Whether
positive or negative thoughts, the
time to think about them is when
it’s appropriate.
Muscle Relaxation
“When the body is stressed, anxious
or excited, muscles tense up. Muscle tension is almost a reflex reaction
to stress”
-American Psychological Association
Many studies over the years have shown stress, anxiety and excitement, to name a few, can cause muscle tension and coordination interference as well as generalized fatigue, muscle inefficiency, reduced flexibility, and motor problems. Simply, when the body is tense your muscles are tense and it becomes more difficult for your body to move. Therefore it will affect your coordination and movement. Your actions will be jerky and misplaced, affecting your performance in a negative manner.
In this section we will teach you basic progressive muscle relaxation. But in a game you will probably not have the time to do progressive muscle relaxation nor will it be appropriate. So single area muscle relaxation will be shown in the example. Progressive muscle relaxation is what you probably want to practice away from the field.
By practicing progressive muscle relaxation, you will learn what areas of your body help you relax better or quicker. You then can take that knowledge into the game and only relax the area(s) that seems to work the best for you when needed.
How to practice progressive muscle relaxation
If you are just starting out or want a reminder, start by sitting in a chair or on your back in bed. You will be doing muscle relaxation in combination with belly breathing. It doesn’t matter what body part you start with. For this example, we will start with both feet and move up.
• Turn off all electronic devices.
• Get comfortable.
• After a couple minutes of only belly
breathing, you will start adding
muscle relaxation.
• On an inhale, gradually curl your toes
and clench your feet all though the
inhale. The best timing for this is to
be at peak foot tension at the same
moment of peak inhalation.
• At the peak of your inhale, pause
your breath for a second while also
holding the tension in your feet.
• As you slowly exhale, gradually
release the tension in your feet at
the same rate as your exhale.
Relaxing the feet completely.
• Take notice on how relaxed the
muscles feel in your feet become.
Move up the body using the same technique as above. Follow the steps above for:
•Calves •Upper legs •Buttocks (clench tightly) •Chest •Shoulders/ Back (hunch up towards the ceiling while also squeezing shoulder blades together)
•Arms •Hands (squeeze fingers making a tight fist) •Face (yawn, pout and frown to clench the various muscles in your face).