Mindfulness practice has become a part of psychology with no doubt. Mindfulness has meet the gold standard as an evidenced based practice in both the Psycho-therapy world and the Applied Sport Psychology world. Although mindfulness is an ancient practice that has benefited humans for some time now, it seems like the world forgot about mindfulness and only was being utilized by a few.
Mindfulness for sport performance has so many victories today and that is exciting. I am a true believer in the power of mindfulness. Research has even showed that mindfulness practice may result in bouts of rapture! Wow!
I am looking forward to teaching a course on mindfulness for sport performance this May into June. It will be a fun group that is open to the public. I am basically utilizing a program titled Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) by Dr. Kaufman as the framework for the course. However, I will be bring my yoga teacher training and training on mindfulness from UCLA to add some flavor. As Anderson explains in his article, "If you meet Buddha on the football field, tackle him!", the use of story telling is also very useful in this type of training.
Benefits of mindfulness practice 4 sport performance may include:
1-Increases in mental health : a-decreases in cognitive and somatic anxiety, b-decreases in body image issues, c- improvement in sleep quality.
2-Increases in the likelihood that an athlete will experience being in the "zone" more often.
3-Gains in attentional powers for the here and now.
Here is a link to a video I made about the up coming training on May 26th, 2020 @ 7 pm pacific time. It is a FREE training.
I was recently able to Zoom chat with Dr. Z Vidic who is a wonderful researcher and colleague of mine. Dr. Z Vidic recently published an article titled "Mindfulness Intervention With a U.S. Women’s NCAA Division I Basketball Team: Impact on Stress, Athletic Coping Skills and Perceptions of Intervention" which was featured in the Sport Psychologist Journal by Human Kinetics. I need to follow up with Z soon!
Below I am listing a number of references that I have recently been able to review. However, this is not an exhaustive list. Thanks! Stay safe and do not hesitate to reach out to me for coaching on mindfulness, sport psychology, and/or psycho-therapy.
References:
Andersen, M. & Mannion, J. (2011) If You See The Buddha on the Football Field, Tackle Him! Critical Essays in Applied Sport Psychology. Champiagn, IL. Human Kinectics.
Baltzell, Amy (2019). Mindfulness & Self-Compassion for Performance. Association for Applied Sport Psychology. DOI:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZvFn0428Pc
Chen, J.,Tsai, P., Yin, C., Chen, K., & Chen, Y. (2019). Mindfulness training enhances flow state and mental health among baseball players in
Taiwan. Psychology Research and Behavior Management. May 24th, 2019.
Claspell, Emily (2013). Cognitive Behavioral Therapies. Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology. New York: NY.: Routledge.
Gardener, F. & Moore, Z. (2012). Mindfulness and Acceptance Models in Sport Psychology: A Decade of Basic and Applied Scientific
Advancements. Canadian Psychology. Nov. 2012, 53, 4.
Gardner, F., & Moore, Z. (2010). Acceptance-Based Behavioral Therapies and Sport. Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology. New
York: NY.: Routledge.
Greenberg, J. & Weise, D. (2013) What Happens if you Introduce Existential Psychology into Sport Psychology? Routledge Handbook of
Applied Sport Psychology. New York: NY.: Routledge.
Hanrahan & Andersen (2013). Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology. New York: NY.: Routledge.
Kaufman, K. (2019) Personal Communication. Aug. 1st 2019.
Kaufman, K., Glass, C. & Pineau, T. (2018). Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement. Washington, DC: AmericanPsychological Association
Kee, Y. and Wang, C. (2008). Relationship between Mindfulness, Flow Disposition, and Mental Skills Adoption: A Cluster Analysis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9 (2008) 393-411.
Matarelli, D., Cocchinoi, M., Scuri, S. & Pompei, P. (2011). Diaphragmatic Breathing
Reduces Exercise-Induced Oxidative Stress. Evidence Based Alternative Medicine. DOI: 10.1093/ecam/nep169
Mumford, George (2015). George Mumford On How To Be Mindful. WGBH News. DOI:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzcWw76B6ZQ
Roll, R. (2014). High Performance Psychologist Michael Gervais on How to Master Mindfulness in Sports and Life
[Podcast]. Retrieved from: http://www.richroll.com/podcast/high-performance-psychologist-michael-gervais-on-
how-to-master-mindfulness-in-sports-life-rrp-120/
Witkiewitz, K.; Roos, Corey; Colgan, Dana & Bowen, Sarah (2017). Mindfulness: Advances in Psychotherapy Evidence-Based
Practice. Boston, MA.: Hogrefe Pub.
Zinn, John Kabat (2013). Mindfulness 9 attitudes - beginners mind. DOI: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssqclf52ZpY
Zizzi, S. & Andersen, M. (2013). An Eastern Philosophical Approach. Routledge Handbook of Applied Sport Psychology. New
York: NY.: Routledge.