I think that the Women’s and Men’s Teams should incorporate mediation as part of their daily ‘trainings’ and ‘nutrition’ regimen.

As someone who has been meditating for a while, I personally can speak to how powerful and beneficial it is. Mediation allows the individual to ground themselves in the moment and in reality.

Too often do people, myself included, struggle with the burdens of excessive, thoughts, emotions, and the overall feelings of helplessness and being disconnected from yourself, your environment and the present moment.

This can be unraveling and upsetting on so many levels, especially if you are under the physical, mental, emotional, psychological and spiritual demands of being National Team Athlete. An athlete who is competing in the upcoming world cup, a contest which only occurs once every four years.

This is true for coaches, staff, commentators, pundits, bloggers and frankly anyone who is involved in any sort of stress inducing, or taxing situation/ environment, not limited to the world cup, or national teams.

My recommendation is simple and has already been stated in the first paragraph. Incorporate meditation, specifically meditation with an ‘eastern’ focus, as part of the teams daily practice. For example, Vedic and Yogic styles and approaches to mediation.

These styles include different breath and bodywork practices alongside various focusing and grounding techniques. Long term, the practice of Meditation will give those who practice it the capacity for sharper mental focus and awareness, a deeper understanding of the mind, body, self and spirit, as well as a stronger understanding of how all four are connected. All of which is super beneficial to athletes and their similarly associated personnel, i.e., coaching staff.

Now the mediation program I have been using comes from Dr. K, a mental health specialist who is familiar with both eastern and western approaches to medicine, psychiatry, as well as mental, emotional, physical, psychological and spiritual health. His website is listed here: https://www.healthygamer.gg/

His focus has been on helping the ‘internet’ generation deal with their mental health struggles and hurdles in this new internet age. He previously struggled with video game addiction and now uses his experience and unique exposure to both eastern and western psychological practices to help provide all people, video gamers or not, a deeper understanding of their self and their place in the world.

I would recommend Dr. K’s ‘mental health guide’ as a solid primer to meditation practices you can use, as well as solid primer to many issues regarding, ADHD, Depression and Anxiety.

For a link to to Dr. K’s mental health guide, try this: https://www.healthygamer.gg/about/guide

I would personally love to see all sports within the U.S. and around the world use mediation as a more integral part of their programs. I think it really would be beneficial, especially for individuals or teams that are struggling with a bunch of deep seated issues, issues which are hard to address.

As we know in the U.S., emotional, psychological and spiritual health are still quite taboo. Meditation, while useful in addressing these areas, isn’t too controversial or taboo, which is why I think it’s great tool to incorporate.

When considering development of your meditation program for the National Teams, I think you should focus on eastern mediation practices, i.e., those emphasized in Dr. K’s mediation guide. I think they are key for the success of this program and should be intentionally incorporated.

You could also consider consulting with Dr. K, or someone similarly associated, in development of this sports meditation program and/ or of a more holistic mental/ emotional health program for the team. I think sports team’s should have dedicated mental and emotional health correspondents and programs, for their players and staff. Meditation could exist as a part of this and/ or alongside it.

For a link to Dr. K’s contact info, try this: https://www.healthygamer.gg/contact

Welp, that’s all for now. I hope the National Team staff and players truly consider adopting these meditation practices and take the overall well being of their athletes and staff seriously.

If anyone reading this post is looking for more information and resources to start working on their own mental and emotional health I’d recommend author Nicole Le Pera’s book titled ‘How To Do The Work.’

As someone who has struggled with mental health issues and gone through quite a few therapists, this book was really ground breaking for me. It provides a new approach and perspective to many issues and traumas anyone may experience and isn’t super complicated to understand. I can’t recommend it enough for people who are starting their self healing and self discovery journey.

I will link Nicole Le Pera’s information, alongside Dr. K’s, in the ‘References/ Resources’ page on this website. Cheers!