The Mindful Athlete is a treasure trove of insights on meditation, mindfulness and high-performance. If you’re involved in any kind of sport, at any level, you’ll find plenty of tools inside to help raise your game.
I grew up playing a variety of sports and game day nerves was probably my biggest setback. I didn’t suffer too much in team sports, but when it came to athletics, most of all the sprint, that anxiety rushed through my veins and beat through my chest.
I was a half-decent runner and won some races, but I’m sure I would have ran quicker had I not been shaking so uncontrollably on the start line. Truth be told, I had no idea what was happening inside me.
There was never much advice in the ways of sports psychology offered to young athletes back then so it would have been nice to have such a resource to turn to.
You learn to cope with stressful events a little better as you age, often once your competitive days are behind you, but the right coach, and a book like this can take you to a whole new level of performance.
Who is George Mumford?
George T. Mumford is a leading expert on sports psychology and performance. He has worked with high-level athletes including Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Andrew Bynum, and Lamar Odom. Known as ‘The Performance Mindfulness Whisperer’, he helped propel Phil Jacksons’ Chicago Bulls to winning six NBA championships.
George helped me understand the art of mindfulness. To be neither distracted or focused, rigid or flexible, passive or aggressive. I learned just to be.
Kobe Bryant
It’s not been an easy ride for George though. An aspiring basketball player himself at the University of Massachusetts, injuries forced him out of the game. Relying on medications to manage his pain, and lost in the void inside, he turned to heroin.
Meditation was his salvation. It took a central role in his life and he enrolled in Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, before joining him to create the Inner-city Stress Reduction Clinic.
George has done a fantastic job of joining the dots between mindfulness and sports. He combines engaged mindfulness with performance psychology in a fluid and practical way.
You can learn more about George at his website georgemumford.com, and he has some great videos on his YouTube channel George Mumford Official.
Insights from The Mindful Athlete
From the stories to the exercises there’s a lot of insight to draw from The Mindful Athlete. Here’s a few ideas that I’ve been exploring:
1. The space between. “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” – George Mumford
2. The centre of the hurricane. “Respond from the center of the hurricane, rather than reacting from the chaos of the storm.” – George Mumford
3. The wisdom of the body. “When I’m in my body and I can be still and know or be quiet, I’m able to observe and maintain my center. But I have to let the body speak for itself in its own language. I have to listen to it. Not as I want it to be or as I think it should be but as it is in real time.” – George Mumford
4. One thing that scares you. “Do one thing every day that scares you. If there’s no romancing the discomfort zone, there’s no growth.” – George Mumford
The Mindful Athlete is a resource that I refer to often. It helps clarify certain ideas and strengthen my practice. I’ve been coaching my son with some of these techniques as well to help with his football and athletics. While he’s still quite young, he’s becoming more aware, and skilful at managing his mind.
Putting it into practice
Meditation and mindfulness are rooted in spirituality and the cultivation of enlightenment, but there’s no denying their positive application and outcomes in other areas like health, business and sports.
They can be a real boon to performance.
You are free to take the spiritual path, or pursue the path of excellence, that choice is yours. You may even find a way to marry the two together.
See if you can adopt just one new practice at a time and give it the attention it deserves. Repeat it daily, for a few weeks at least, so your skills improve and you begin to reap the benefits.
If you’re interest in high-performance you might also enjoy: flow state, how to get in the zone and the best books on flow state.