Mental skills tips from Natalia Franco

“To achieve optimal performance, the body and the mind have to be working together. Our bodies are always in the present, but our minds can be in three different places: the past, the present and the future.

 

Only in the present is where our body and mind work synchronously to achieve peak performances. It is where we have complete focus in the task at hand and therefore, we have more chances to pay attention to the things that matter the most that are under our control and that help us perform better and enjoy more.

 

Cycling is a great activity to practice mindfulness since while riding it’s you vs your thoughts and the environment. Mindfulness is like riding a bike, you see the environment changing and perhaps stop for a little if there is a beautiful view. On the other hand, you ride a little faster if you pass through an ugly place. You do not control your environment, you don’t do anything about it, you keep pedaling at the speed you want. Mindfulness is the same thing, you pay attention to your thoughts and if it’s a happy/positive thought, one that helps your performance, you strive for it to last longer. While if it is a negative thought you let it ride away faster to get to other pretty places. Who do you think gets more out of a ride physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?: the one thinking about all the problems/work/stressors or the one soaking all the moment while riding a bike?

 

How do I stay in the present?

 

I tell my clients that strengthening your self-awareness is the first step for a change.

1.   You become self-aware with your breathing, your conscious breathing is always in the present.

2.   You become self-aware with your body language and how your posture impacts your thoughts (think about a time where you were riding sluggish and how it impacted your negative thinking versus riding upright and in control of your body and how it impacted your confidence and performance).

3.   You become self-aware when you identify your 5 senses (what do I see, what do I hear, what do I taste, what do I feel, what do I smell?) they are always in the present.

 

The benefits of mindfulness are evident. Athletes have the power to give their best shot at success being in the present instead of letting fears/mistakes from the past or stressors/anxiety from the future impede performance. The past and the future are outside of our control, the present is a present because we can choose how we want it to play out and it is totally within out control. “

 

Posted

January 01, 1970

Author

Nicola Cranmer
More By Nicola Cranmer

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