Almost everyone has heard about meditation. Many however, may not know what it involves. Some may think that it’s very difficult, only done by the most elite or of spiritual minds.
In truth, meditation is extraordinarily simple to perform. People may argue that they don’t have the time to meditate or that it is, in fact, a waste of time. Both of those are excuses, and largely incorrect. Meditation only requires about ten minutes a day and can be the most rewarding ten-minute investment of your daily routine.
How to Meditate
All you need at your disposal to be able to meditate is a quiet, comfortable place. It’s recommended that you sit upright with your back straight. Once you have your seat, place your hands on your legs or wherever they feel most comfortable. Then, close your eyes and breathe. That’s it! The name of the game is to focus only on your breathing and nothing else. You should be completely aware of the rise and fall of your chest, and if your mind begins to wander, re-capture your attention and centre your thoughts back to your breathing.
If you’re new to meditation, 3 – 5 minutes at a time should be enough. Once you get better at focusing your attention, you can increase your meditation time up to around 10 or 15 minutes. Meditation should be done daily to maximize benefits. And speaking of benefits, there are plenty.
How Meditation Helps Hockey Players
There are countless benefits to daily meditation. It lowers your blood pressure and heart rate, makes you happier, slows your respiratory rate, etc. However, there are a few key advantages that can be very helpful for hockey players, or any athlete in general. Here are four of the most crucial benefits of meditation for hockey players:
1. It Reduces Stress and Improves Focus
Perhaps the most common reason that people decided to meditate in the first place is its ability to reduce stress. Stress levels play a crucial role in sports, and especially hockey. In a hockey game, players should have a clear head and be ready to react quickly to situations. Hockey players will also ideally go into every game relaxed and ready to win, not plagued by any worries.
Of course, we don’t live in a perfect hockey universe, so there will always be stress factors that affect players to varying degrees. Maybe you’re facing a team that crushed yours last time you played. Maybe you’re coming off a recent injury and are unsure how you’ll perform. Maybe you embarrassed yourself last game and feel like you need redemption. Whatever the case, regular meditation can help!
The affect that meditation has on clearing your mind can be immense, and while it may not completely get rid of your worries, it can calm your mind enough to stay focused during your practices and games.
Speaking of focus, meditation is essentially exercising your ability to focus. While you’re meditating, you’re practicing focusing on your breathing. This is a skill that translates directly to the ice when you’re in practice or in a game. Your reaction time will improve, you’ll make better decisions, and you can more easily keep your mind on the goal at hand: playing the best hockey you can and winning the game.
2. It Increases Endurance
Endurance is a key skill for all types of athletes. Hockey is a dynamic sport, where the players are constantly moving and reacting to new situations. Skating up and down the ice and racing the other players to the puck takes a tremendous amount of endurance. The most common way to prepare for this is to participate in activities that require endurance. Skating, running, soccer, etc. It may come as a surprise, then, that meditation can also improve endurance.
How, exactly? Well, meditation helps with cell regeneration and blood circulation. These two functions control how quickly oxygen and nutrients are dispersed throughout your body. Therefore, if these two things increase, then so does your endurance, because your body will be able to handle the physical exertion for longer.
3. It Improves Sleep
Sleep is important for any hockey player, especially the night before a game, and is a necessary component of any athletic lifestyle. The body and mind need to be well rested to be able to perform at their best. If you don’t get sufficient sleep and then try to play a hockey game, you’ll tire out faster, be less focused, and have slower reaction time on the ice.
Studies have shown that there is a direct link between improving mindfulness (through meditation) and improving your sleep. Not only do people who meditate daily get more restful sleep, but they also need less sleep on average.
This benefit of meditation coupled with the stress and anxiety reduction it brings can help ensure you get proper rest before even the most important of hockey games. That way, you’ll be able to bring your A-Game when it’s time to perform.
4. It Improves Your Mindset
Let’s face it: it’s easy to get steamed after a big loss. Losing a crucial game can be devastating to a hockey player at any age or skill level. It can leave you bitter and angry, and sometimes those negative emotions carry over into your next practice and game, preventing you from performing at your best.
Daily meditation can reduce the feelings of anger after a big loss and help you regain your focus much faster. That way, you will spend less time stewing on your negative emotions and can spend more time focused on improving your skills and getting ready to win your next game. Also, meditation will improve your mindset in general. Regardless of the result of your last game, you will always be more driven to succeed and give your peak performance every game. This is a direct result of a clear and focused mind that meditation creates.
The art of meditation can do wonders for any hockey player looking to improve their mental and physical ability. Not only will you be playing better hockey, but you’ll develop a more relaxed, controlled, winning mindset at the same time. All it takes is a small leap of faith to start doing it and trust in the process. It may be difficult at first, but once you get used to keeping focused on your breathing, you’ll be able to meditate longer and longer and will notice the benefits in full.
