Learn how to meditate properly to drink the best results for your athletic goals and be absolutely calm in competition. Today in our country much less attention is paid to the development of sports psychology in comparison with the West. In many ways, psychologists themselves are to blame here, since they poorly study the problems of the personal education of athletes. This fact, in turn, significantly impoverishes the scientific potential of the educational work of coaches and teachers of physical culture.
For the formation of the science of acmeology, which studies the highest sports achievements, it is necessary to find new ways and methods of psychological training of athletes. Specialists in the field of psychology are sure that a psychologist is not able to efficiently cope with his duties if he does not fully master the methods of influencing his patients. Today we will try to consider the principles of organizing meditation lessons for athletes from different points of view.
How to properly organize meditation lessons for athletes?
At the moment, the most effective, but still insufficiently studied method of psychological influence on a person is meditation. With its help, you can influence the inner world of a person, as well as develop new flexible behavioral stereotypes and protective behavioral reactions.
The word "meditatio" can be translated from Latin as mental contemplation, pondering or deep reflection. Simply put, it refers to the area of higher spiritual processes and the moral and motivational state of a person. Meditation has evolved over the centuries as a spiritual and religious practice in many Eastern cultures. Today it is being actively studied in many countries of the world.
In Russia, meditation was first used by sports psychologists in the nineties, thanks to the mastery of methods of psychological control, taken from the eastern martial arts. Today, one of the most common forms of meditation among athletes is psycho-muscular training.
Psychological training is based on four elements:
- the ability to relax muscles;
- the ability to present the content of the form of self-hypnosis, and to do it as vividly as possible, but without straining;
- the ability to influence yourself with the help of word forms;
- the ability to keep attention on the necessary object.
Training in this technique is carried out in the form of hetero-training and in connection with serious physical stress during training, meditation lessons for athletes are often well absorbed by athletes. First of all, it is necessary to relax all the muscles of the body, starting with the hands. Note that this technique has much in common with the Jacobson technique.
During inhalation, it is necessary to slowly tense the muscles, at about half the normal strength, and at the same time suggest - "my hands". After that, breathing is delayed, as well as muscle tension for two or three counts. The last step is a sharp release of tension and during a calm exhalation, the word "relax" is slowly pronounced.
Then take another breath, pronouncing the union "and" to yourself, and during a slow breath - "warm up". It is very important during self-hypnosis to imagine that warmth spreads through the hands. As the athlete progresses, he will be able to relax by saying the phrase "My hands are relaxed, warm and motionless." When the athlete reaches this level, then breathing exercises and muscle tension will become unnecessary.
As soon as the desired result with relaxation of the arm muscles is obtained, it is necessary to work on the muscles of the legs, neck, trunk and face. The principle of meditation is similar to that described above, and when the athlete achieves the desired result, it is necessary to begin to master generalized relaxation. The main formula for self-hypnosis at this stage is the phrase - "I relax and calm down."
When the pronoun "I" is pronounced, it is necessary to inhale and strain the muscles, while holding the breath for two counts. The simplicity of this method allows the athlete to quickly master it. The main task for the sake of which meditation lessons for athletes are conducted is to master the ability to enter a state of controlled drowsiness. You can end each lesson with the phrase "I feel great" or "My whole body is rested."
When the athlete has mastered all the basic exercises of meditation, it is necessary to move on to methods of influencing his sense of fear, fighting pain and mobilizing the psychophysiological state. This will provide excellent results and the athlete will quickly see an improvement in sleep quality. It is this effect that is most often manifested first.
If the athlete pays enough attention to psychological training, he will be able to quickly fall asleep and wake up at the right time without an alarm clock. Note that these meditation lessons for athletes can be used not only to improve the psycho-emotional state, but also to influence the work of the heart muscle with the vascular system.
During preparation for important competitions, you should actively use figurative representations, which can be divided into three groups:
- Combat condition.
- Representing those situations that are developing as well as possible.
- Perfect execution of the movement.
We recommend putting on each figurative representation in the most accurate word form, which will enhance the effect of meditation lessons for athletes. However, it should be noted that in most cases, verbal forms are extremely lengthy. According to leading experts in the field of sports psychology, such a widespread use of auto-suggestion is difficult to consider the right step. First of all, this statement is true in relation to the tasks of mobilizing exercises. This is due to the fact that they should be aimed at ensuring the athlete's prompt response in extreme sports situations.
Mental training is closely related to other types of meditation. According to one of the leading national experts in martial arts, Professor S. Gagonin, meditation is a European term that encompasses three concepts that are always divided in Buddhism. It is now about focus, wisdom and mindfulness.
At the same time, today meditation is actively used to solve certain problems, not only in sports, but also in medicine. Psychopedagogy in sports, in his opinion, should combine the theory of psycho-emotional impact with sports and pedagogical practice. Meditation should be studied as one of the most effective tools for psychological preparation of athletes, as well as self-education of their personality.
Most often, meditation lessons for athletes are viewed as a systematic and prolonged reflection on a subject. For this reason, the athlete's field of consciousness is significantly narrowed and all thoughts and objects that do not fall into this field cannot be considered. Thanks to correctly conducted meditation, a person's consciousness can be cleared of "extraneous noises". With regular meditation lessons for athletes, the athlete can reach a whole new level of thinking.
Based on all of the above, we can conclude that there are no fundamental differences between simple mental exertion and meditation. In fact, it's all about the degree of focus. This gives us a reason to assert that meditation is such a state when the forces of a person and a special kind of attention allow one to merge with the chosen object.
K. Jung is considered to be the founder of analytical psychology. In his opinion, meditation contains a special layer of our psyche, which allows us to control archetypes. By this concept, Jung understood unconscious programs of behavior based on human instincts.
However, it should be remembered that such a connection of archetypes to our consciousness cannot happen by itself. This becomes possible only due to the strong willful concentration of a person on a certain object. Note that consciousness cannot be suppressed by instinct, but, on the contrary, is enriched. All this suggests that meditation lessons for athletes can be an excellent tool for preparing an athlete for a competition, as well as a way to combat excessive fatigue, without which intensive training cannot do.
Great importance is attached to meditation in martial arts. This is not surprising, because the art of meditation has developed simultaneously with martial skills over the centuries. For example, an archer who has mastered perfectly Zen meditation is able to merge with the target and arrow while aiming. As a result, he is able to hit a target even in the dark.
Scientists in the course of numerous studies have found that this is due to the work of special parts of the brain. In Eastern philosophy, meditation is considered as a special perception of the world, due to which a person is able to plunge into cosmic emptiness. This formed the basis of modern methods of transcendental meditation. Note that they are all based on oriental techniques, for example, Ch'an or Taoism.
Experts recommend holding meditation sessions upon awakening, although this can be done at any convenient time. The duration of meditation lessons for athletes should be from 10 to 15 minutes. The best position for meditation is considered to be the "Lotus" position, but you can use other positions that are convenient for you.
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