MINDFULNESS AND ATHLETIC EXCELLENCE

This essay originally appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of USA Triathlon Life.

Consistent aerobic exercise promotes overall health – not just physical, but mental and emotional health as well.  Our healthy multi-sport lifestyle is closely correlated to the mindfulness we develop during our training.  Like aerobic capacity, our capacity for mindfulness enhances quality of athletic performance and quality of life.  In this column we define mindfulness and identify its functional value.

Mindfulness?  The term mindfulness appears frequently in Buddhist teachings and texts as the first of seven factors for enlightenment.  Jack Kornfield describes it very simply in “Seeking the Heart of Wisdom” as “a clear awareness of what is happening each moment”.  Mindfulness strengthens concentration and kinetic awareness.  We swim, bike and run more intelligently.  We go faster and farther with less effort and energy; we recover faster and minimize incurrence of injury.  Certainly these are primary intentions all endurance athletes share.  Mindfulness offers an effective and direct path to athletic improvement, regardless of age, gender, fitness or experience level.

Through mindfulness, we see directly and immediately for ourselves exactly what is present and true here and now.  Coaches are indispensable in helping us to construct a periodized training program, and they can point out areas where our awareness and perception are lacking.  However, only you and I can accurately perceive what is immediately present and true as we train.  We can have the perfect training program, and execute each and every workout, but if we train in “auto-pilot” without our utmost awareness, our precious time and energy will not yield the greatest possible dividends in sport or in life.  We’re just going through the motions.  Life is too precious for that! 

Motivating mindfulness:  That next high-priority race can give you a strong and passionate desire to excel, and a powerful incentive for developing mindfulness.  But it’s easy to slip back into “auto-pilot”, to settle back into a mediocre existence once you turn off the heart rate monitor and dismount the bike.  To truly enjoy the health and vitality of our multi-sport lifestyle, we must relentlessly pursue mindfulness each and every moment of our lives.  What powerful motivator exists in our lives for this relentless pursuit?

Carlos Castaneda wrote a series of books recording the experiences and teachings he received from his Yaqui Indian teacher Don Juan, a shaman from Central Mexico.  Don Juan spoke to him about the value of keeping death as a close advisor.  If we retain a constant awareness of our impending death, we are much more apt to be here now, to live attentively, impeccably and completely, without lapses in judgment or perception.

We go to great lengths to hide and ignore death, to maintain security and stability.  Yet, none of us escapes death.  We challenge our athletic limitations so we can venture outside the stagnancy of security, to embrace the exhilaration of uncertainty and, ultimately, death.  Through the perseverance of consistent training, we experience humility, develop patience, and find gratitude in the simplest things.  Humility, patience and gratitude enable us to embrace and befriend death as a powerful and somehow compassionate motivator.  With this motivation, we apply ourselves completely to each and every moment as we go through our day-to-day lives, with clarity and integrity.

It’s no coincidence that some of us find inspiration to train and race as a response to the death or terminal diagnosis of a loved one.  Mindful training and racing enable us to affirm and empower life, yet, at the same time, acknowledge and embrace death.  Our motivation to train and race faster, through mindfulness rather than desperate exertion, comes from the feeling that, with impending death, our time and energy are precious.  We make the most of each and every moment through mindfulness.  We are certain to experience tremendous joy, energy and satisfaction, regardless of whether we attain our desired athletic goals or not.  When we are fully engaged here and now, we feel alive and grateful for the gift of life.  This is truly the essence of our multi-sport lifestyle.  Joy, satisfaction, health, aliveness and gratitude are the rewarding assets that fuel our multi-sport lifestyle.  These attributes are more certain and gratifying than climbing the podium.

Mindfulness and the mainstream:  Do you recall any advertisements in your favorite tri magazine touting products that promise to enhance performance through mindfulness?  If mindfulness is this great and fantastic thing for athletic excellence, then why don’t we see more mention of it?    The reason for the obscurity of mindfulness is its lack of substance and tangibility, its lack of marketability.

Mindfulness is not something we can directly measure, grab a hold of, or bottle and sell.  However, if we experience improvement in our performance without an increase in perceived exertion, it may very well be improved economy, efficiency and grace – the result of proprioceptive mindfulness.  When we find ourselves deriving satisfaction and happiness from the simplest activities and accomplishments in our daily lives, it is mindfulness that delivers us here and now.

Training techniques:  Since it lacks substance and tangibility, since we cannot ingest it or mount it on our bikes, it’s a real challenge to strengthen mindfulness with the same certainty that we strengthen aerobic fitness.  The most effective technique to assure that we strengthen them simultaneously is our approach to training.  We take the time to clear our minds of all distractions and preoccupations, to set a clear intention each time we begin a training session.  With this clear approach, no training session includes junk miles, be it a high intensity swim interval set, an arduous long run, or a simple recovery bike ride.  With clear mindful intention, we execute each swim or pedal stroke, each run stride with perfection.  Conduct some of your training sessions in solitude to develop the inner focus of mindfulness through movement.

Yoga, T’ai chi and sitting meditation are three effective practices for developing mindfulness.  Conscious breath is the common denominator.  Even if our daily lives are too demanding to include one of these traditional disciplines, we can consistently progress towards mindfulness through conscious breathing – during our training sessions and during our daily activities.  It is the most effective way of disengaging the mind from that incessant commentary that prevents mindfulness.  Sustaining conscious breath is simple, but profoundly difficult.  Yet, we are endurance athletes, endowed with humility, patience, perseverance, gratitude, grace and mindfulness.  With these attributes, we accomplish miracles.

Every moment of your life counts.  Be mindful.