As I was reviewing the recent blog posts on my Google Reader I came across and article about meditation by Patrick Stinson (http://fasterskier.com/2009/10/meditation-as-a-recovery-tool/). This article reminded me that one of the most ignored and important part of training, behind but closely related to recovery, is the mental game.
The mental game is interesting because some people believe that it's you really need, "If you want it bad enough!" and it is important but it has to be accompanied with the physical game. I believe that when two similarly trained and talented athletes compete it will often come down to who is mentally tougher but that the real 'Mental Game' happens every day.
Every single day an athlete makes choices that will ultimately help her/him become successful or lead to their ultimate downfall. For most athletes it is relatively easy to tough out a workout, push through the end of a race, or do that last rep in strength. It is not easy to then lie down, go to bed early, eat the right stuff AND give your brain a break. Small choices snowball into huge avalanches when the season starts and it is the athletes that, because I'm also in Wyoming, just "git er done!" every day, all year long, that will ultimately see the success for which they strive.
This is one of the things I like about Patrick's blog post, he is acknowledging the importance of dealing with your mind to increase your ability to recover. Being mentally able to deal with the everyday trauma of training is extremely important but in many ways dealing with the everyday stresses of life is more difficult and finding the balance between the two is the most difficult.
Patrick gave us one example of mental work that athletes can do. Our team started doing yoga last fall for the same reason. The mental part of yoga is extremely important but it also has the advantage of increasing flexibility, balance, strength and provides a great opportunity for active recovery. It's a win-win!
Whichever method you choose, it is important for you to consider the mental part of your training. In the long run what separates the dogs from the pups is not the ability to train hard on the interval days but the ability to recover from those days, make good choices and keep mentally focused.
Christi
Hi,
ReplyDeleteYoga is beneficial for the health in ways that modern science is just beginning to understand. Even though it has beenapplied with therapeutic intention for thousand of years, Yoga Therapy is only just now emerging as a discipline initself.
More health care practitioners are starting to include yogic techniques in their approach to healing -- andmore yoga teachers give a therapeutic intention to their teaching. People who have never tried yoga before are startingto consider including Yoga in their treatment plan.
As science begins to document the importance of understanding the interrelation of all existing things, it looks to Yogawith an intrigued eye, for Yoga speaks Unity in every word. As yoga techniques are researched and new data is gathered,it becomes easier for science and the medical establishment to understand and accept the benefits of Yoga Therapy.Yet there is still not one consensual definition of the discipline.
In order to arrive to an adequate definition and tocome up with proper standards for Yoga Therapy, it is crucial at this early stage to properly address some delicateprofessional and ethical issues. At the same time it is important to educatethegeneralpublic about Yoga Therapy'sbenefits and careful use.
so this article will really helpful to me..