Meditation and Peak Performance

"Imagination leads to innovation which leads to differentiation." - Bill Russell

You want peak performance. 

At the pinnacle of the performance pyramid is psychological strength. The Latin phrase, "Mens sana in corpore sano" translates to a sound mind in a sound body." Great. How do you get there? 


"Meditation is for the weak-minded." Really? 

What can it do for me? "Meditating consistently over a period of time can offer a steady stream of small victories: the ability to eat and sleep better, lift more, run longer, zone out competition and get done what you have to get done." Meditation increase focus (attention), allowing athletes to "play present". 

This Harvard Medical School presentation discusses health benefits of meditation. Stress hormones (cortisol, catecholamines - like adrenaline) surge under pressure. They increase heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and can lead to 'tunnel vision' where athletes lose focus of the bigger picture. Meditation lowers stress hormones. 

How do I get started? I recommend the Headspace app (the base application is free). The daily presentation (3 minutes) gets you started. As a minimum, I recommend a five minute "body scan" where you work on relaxation technique focusing one minute each on the head, neck, shoulders, front and back of the core. 

As for reading, I recommend Search Inside Yourself. You don't have time for the whole book, but here is an excellent summary. Highlights:

To begin training EI, we begin by training attention.

The ability to pay attention to attention itself. It’s the secret to concentration.

Our attention is the most valuable gift we can give to others.

Meditation demands investing time in yourself instead of spending it. Olympic volleyball champion Kerri Walsh-Jennings is a practitioner. 

Can you invest fifteen minutes a day in yourself?