How to meditate like an Olympic athlete

Peak performance requires body and mind training, something known well to Olympic athletes. They employ various mental strategies to increase their focus, endurance, resilience and to handle the intense pressure.

Olympic athletes utilize meditation to be calm from within, not being disturbed by the noise outside.

• Many of us scoff at the word meditation as we cannot think of just sitting idly with our eyes closed, doing practically nothing.
• There are various misconceptions about what meditation is and are the root cause of agitation and the inability to meditate.
• Most misconceptions arise because we think of meditation as an activity, something we have to do.

We need to forget all we have learned about meditation and:

1. Start small by stopping a few moments to close our eyes and take a deep breath.
2. Remove any prejudice of what meditation is supposed to be.
3. Don’t expect any grand result.
4. Create your own version of meditation that can be relaxing and empowering.

To meditate actively:

1. Focus on your breath and the rhythm of the current movement.
2. Feel completely present in your mind and body, not being carried away by random thoughts.
3. Breathe in and take four steps, followed by breathing out and another four steps, resisting the mind's need to distract itself with thoughts.
4. Daydreaming can also be a good meditation, when we visualize a positive outcome with utmost detail, helping us align with our goal.

1. The speed of our daily work increases, along with the quality.
2. There is an increase in resilience along with a decrease in emotional turmoil in case of failure.
3. Meditation helps our mind rest and restore itself, reducing stress and anxiety(but we knew that already!).
4. Only a few weeks of meditation can provide us with renewed energy and a refreshed perspective about life.