Sports and the Mind

It's More Than Just Game

Mental Mindfulness

The second pillar of mindfulness exercises builds upon pillar 1:physical mindfulness training exercises.  Once you realize that the goal is not to stop your thoughts from occurring but rather to learn how to redirect them, you can continue to excel as an athlete.  Think of this as mental flexibility or mental mindfulness.  Through the physical exercises of breathing and focused attention on a task, you will realize that you have choices and can decide which thoughts to focus on and follow. This is mindfulness: being aware of choices.

As performers, we think constantly during training and competition.  Those thoughts can be extremely helpful or unhelpful, and we may not even know how our thoughts influence us from moment to moment.  Many athletes hear from their coaches, peers, and parents: “You need to think positive!” However, many performers do not know how to move into positive thought.

Mental mindful training is a skill that helps performers gain awareness about their internal chatter.  We often have numerous thoughts occurring very quickly or at the same time.  Mindfulness training is about utilizing and giving more attention to those thoughts that are typically associated with better performance.

Here is a tool to utilize:

Traffic LightsThoughts: Think of them like a traffic light.

The thoughts in our mind operate like traffic lights, switching from green to red and back again.

  • Green Thoughts: In the flow, present in your workout or competition.

I can, I am strong, yes, the feeling of no negative thoughts.

 

  • Red Thoughts: Dwelling on what is wrong, worrying about or focusing on things you don’t like.

I hurt, I failed, that was horrible, I can’t.

Awareness is the mindful mental tool that can help you SWITCH those thoughts into something more directive or helpful.

Toggle Switch

Try Practicing Switch Thoughts:

When you are in a situation where you swing from positive mental thoughts to negative thoughts, imagine a YELLOW traffic light.

Yellow thoughts are:

  • Neutral and action-orientated
  • Counting steps or foot strikes
  • Focusing on a single task or action: breathing, pumping arms, practiced routines

 

Here are Switch Thoughts in action:

  1. Awareness of the negative thought
  2. Accept the thought without judging yourself-simply be curious.
  3. Action towards a yellow or neutral thought.

Practicing Switch Thoughts brings forth the following:

  • The ability to instantly change your mental state
  • Redirecting your mind to align with your body for greater efficiency in the moment
  • Switch thoughts quickly bring you into the moment and help identify mental lapses
  • Self-correcting mental tool

Pillar 3: Emotional Mindfulness

Pillar 4: Spiritual Mindfulness and The Big Picture

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About Colleen Hathaway, DC

Dr. Colleen Hathaway is a licensed chiropractor in the state of Wisconsin. Dr. Colleen is a native of Madison, WI and did her undergraduate work at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota obtaining a B.S. in Corporate Fitness Science and Athletic Training. She played basketball for St. Thomas for four years and was the starting point guard on their 1991 NCAA Championship team.
Dr. Colleen completed her chiropractic degree at the Northwestern College of Chiropractic from 1993-1997. She has been in private practice for over 20 years and adores working with people of all walks of life. Her philosophy is grounded in the principles of wellness, balance, support and human performance. She utilizes gentle chiropractic and cranio-sacral techniques, including light touch energy work. Essentially, she works with the body’s innate wisdom by helping to remove blockages of the nerve system. Patient education and home exercise routines are an important part of most care plans. Dr. Colleen also refers and coordinate care with multiple practitioners (massage, medical doctors, etc.) in an effort to accommodate individual needs.
Dr. Colleen is active in numerous chiropractic ventures and her most notable experience was a humanitarian mission trip to Fortelaza, Brazil where she was able to provide chiropractic adjustments to hundreds of people. She is a member of SOTO, a Reiki Master and trained Cranio-sacral therapist through the Upledger Institute.
On a personal note, Dr. Colleen enjoys participating in the American Birkebeiner cross country ski race, rollerblading, hiking, yoga, golfing and all things nature. She was inducted into the Edgewood High School Athletic Hall of Fame in 2013.

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