Hi everyone, it’s Jayne Storey. I’m a Movement and Performance Coach and I help people who love sport and who want to compete, to train their mind-body connection.
Today I’d like to speak with you about time and space and their relationship to the zone or flow-state; but don’t worry it’s not a cosmology lecture it’s all about your training and the application of that training when you’re in contention.
You need to set aside time, daily if you can or weekly at the very least to do your training, do your practice. Now what I’m teaching, part of my method is based on ancient principles and training from the Eastern world, specifically seated meditation, standing practice and slow walking – all very traditional.
When you practice try to do it yourself; it’s an effort – it really is an effort to try to make everything quiet inside, to follow your breathing with a relaxed attention and to try to remember that you have a physical body rather than just being in the head.
So no apps please, no gadgets, no gizmos, just you and the effort you make and the time you give to your practice.
When you do your training, certainly what I’ve found and the feedback I get from many of my students, is that when you train to quieten your mind and follow your breathing you actually create a lot of space within yourself. There is mental space because your mind isn’t so cluttered with all the usual stuff that’s in there and you have some kind of detachment and freedom from anxiety and from negative emotions which can only be the result of practice, the result of effort .
When you’re in contention, let’s say you’re about to go and perform a gymnastics routine or you’re standing on the first tee in a golf tournament or you’re about to receive your opponent’s second serve which you just have to return – any of these situations naturally create anxiety but you can counter that anxiety by recalling your training.
You need to create the space to allow the zone or the flow-state which we know is so akin to the meditative state…you need to allow it to appear and if you’re doing your training and you’re making that consistent effort you can get into that same meditative state within just a few moment, a few deep breaths.
Please feel free to leave and comment or question for me and I will be sure to reply!
For all coaching enquiries (1-2-1 and Skype) please send me a message and let me know a little about yourself and the issues you’re facing in your sport. We can then set up a time to speak on the phone.
Happy training everyone!
