﻿{"id":308982,"date":"2018-05-13T14:54:18","date_gmt":"2018-05-13T21:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=308982"},"modified":"2018-05-13T14:11:05","modified_gmt":"2018-05-13T21:11:05","slug":"how-mindful-swimming-can-unlock-your-potential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-mindful-swimming-can-unlock-your-potential\/","title":{"rendered":"How Mindful Swimming Can Unlock Your Potential"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By Abigail Sheridan, Swimming World Intern.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All athletes know that they&#8217;re supposed to think positively in order to do their best, but the day-to-day challenges can wear down their drive. As mindfulness training has become a hot topic in performance psychology, athletes can use mindful swimming techniques as a tool to unlock their potential.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_309130\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-309130\" data-attachment-id=\"309130\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-mindful-swimming-can-unlock-your-potential\/grace-kennedy-thinking-before-race-0020\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Grace-Kennedy-Thinking-Before-Race-0020.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"800,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"Grace Kennedy Thinking Before Race-0020\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;11\/27\/18&lt;br \/&gt;\nGrace Kennedy Thinking Before Race-0020&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Grace-Kennedy-Thinking-Before-Race-0020-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Grace-Kennedy-Thinking-Before-Race-0020.jpg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-309130\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Grace-Kennedy-Thinking-Before-Race-0020-700x500.jpg\" alt=\"Grace Kennedy Thinking Before Race-0020\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-309130\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan<\/p><\/div>\n<h3><b>Physiological Response to Stressful Emotions<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Coaches often say that negative emotions are destructive to performance; however, if negative emotions (such as unhappiness, anger, contempt, disgust, guilt, fear, and nervousness) are natural, then what\u2019s wrong with them in the context of swimming? It all depends on how the athletes focus their emotional energy.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The \u201cfight or flight\u201d response is the human body\u2019s natural reaction to a real or perceived harmful event, attack or threat to survival. The flow of sympathetic hormones increases heart rate, blood pressure and breathing rate. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While swimming a hard set and life-threatening situations are not the same, the experienced emotions and physiology of both can be quite similar. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Swimmers can use this heightened state of arousal to their advantage, as adrenaline from the sympathetic nervous system can increase speed and power. Blood shunts to the working muscles to aid in nutrient delivery and waste removal, which is crucial to elite performance.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Researchers claim that these negative emotions can focus thoughts and reduce distractions in order to elicit an appropriate response to the current situation. These emotions of fear, stress and anger are key in the \u201cfight or flight\u201d response, so it it is logical that the brain ignores other stimuli in order to best respond to the present situation.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_209812\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-209812\" data-attachment-id=\"209812\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/the-week-that-was-a-review-of-top-performances-and-more-from-2021\/michael-phelps-44\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/michael-phelps-2016-o-trials-4051-e1587587628855.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"1000,667\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;2.8&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;NIKON D5&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;michael-phelps-&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1467115392&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;Peter H. Bick&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;400&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;1600&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;michael-phelps-&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"michael-phelps-2016-o-trials 4051\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;6\/29\/16&lt;br \/&gt;\nmichael-phelps- 2016, Olympic Trials, Omaha, Swimmers, USA Swimming&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/michael-phelps-2016-o-trials-4051-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/michael-phelps-2016-o-trials-4051-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-209812\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/michael-phelps-2016-o-trials-4051-700x500.jpg\" alt=\"michael-phelps-\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-209812\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Yet coaches have differing opinions of whether this response is beneficial or harmful to performance. In the <em>Coaches Guide to Sport Psychology<\/em>, <strong>Rainer Marten<\/strong>s says, &#8220;When athletes enter a state of fight or flight, their athletic skills and abilities may derail, creating additional frustration around sport participation.&#8221; Martens found that in extreme cases, it caused the athlete to give up the sport completely.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, thinking about how long or difficult a set is would prevent the realization that it is not as hard as it seems, or that you could be working harder or swimming faster. <strong>Michael Phelps<\/strong>, the most decorated Olympian of all time, said, \u201cIf you say \u2018can&#8217;t,\u2019 you&#8217;re restricting what you can do or ever will do.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is also applicable to thoughts during practice. Thinking negatively in practice, such as <em>this set is too hard<\/em>, <em>too long<\/em>, or <em>it can\u2019t be done<\/em>, prevents the accumulation of feelings of success in the set. Levels of motivation decrease, and your chances of working as hard as you&#8217;re capable of are slim to none.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_309361\" style=\"width: 583px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-309361\" data-attachment-id=\"309361\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-mindful-swimming-can-unlock-your-potential\/thoughts-results-actions\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/thoughts-results-actions.png\" data-orig-size=\"573,441\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"thoughts-results-actions\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;thoughts-results-actions&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Kristen Kinzer&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/thoughts-results-actions.png\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/thoughts-results-actions.png\" class=\"size-full wp-image-309361\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/thoughts-results-actions.png\" alt=\"thoughts-results-actions\" width=\"573\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/thoughts-results-actions.png 573w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/thoughts-results-actions-533x410.png 533w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/thoughts-results-actions-260x200.png 260w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 573px) 100vw, 573px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-309361\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Kristen Kinzer<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><strong>Elizabeth Gilbert<\/strong>, an American author, said, \u201cYour emotions are the slaves to your thoughts, and you are the slave to your emotions.\u201d Her words embody the never-ending feedback loop that your thoughts can control your emotions, and your emotions can control what you do.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In this case, harnessing your emotional response is one of the most important things you can do while practicing or racing. Being mindful of your thoughts &#8211; stepping back to be aware of these thoughts without judgment &#8211; during a set and a race is the first step to choose more beneficial thought-pathways.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>For example, you can choose to think <em>wow, this set is taking me one step closer to my goals<\/em>, rather than <em>ugh, when will this be over?<\/em> We always have the choice to refocus and retrain our thinking.<\/p>\n<h3><b>The Chemistry of Positive Thoughts<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Thinking positive thoughts releases endorphins and serotonin, both of which give a generalized feeling of well-being. These chemicals in the brain interact with the opiate receptors in the brain to reduce the perception of pain, while boosting feelings of pleasure and belonging, thereby giving swimmers the extra mental boost to perform. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Practicing in a happier mood is shown to increase motivation, which in turn allows hard work. Along with dedication and talent, this hard work is what enables success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_309101\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-309101\" data-attachment-id=\"309101\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-mindful-swimming-can-unlock-your-potential\/smiling-before-race\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/smiling-before-race.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"799,533\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1498586502&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;55&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;320&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0015625&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"smiling-before-race\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;smiling-before-race&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/smiling-before-race-700x500.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/smiling-before-race.jpg\" class=\"wp-image-309101 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/smiling-before-race-700x500.jpg\" alt=\"smiling-before-race\" width=\"700\" height=\"500\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-309101\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to <strong>Wade Boggs<\/strong>, an American baseball player who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2005, \u201cA positive attitude creates a chain of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst and it sparks extraordinary results.\u201d The creation of a positive mentality is what starts this extraordinary chain.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Applying Mindfulness &amp; Positivity to Swimming<br \/>\n<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>When applied to swimming, mindfulness translates to drawing awareness to a certain aspect of your training. Surrendering your mind to what you&#8217;re thinking and feeling in the moment &#8211; while making the smallest adjustments that align with your goals &#8211; can make a huge difference in your attitude at practice. The effort to remain positive and in the zone, even during the hardest of sets, will transform your swimming in the long-term.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_309112\" style=\"width: 648px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-309112\" data-attachment-id=\"309112\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/how-mindful-swimming-can-unlock-your-potential\/sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race-1.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"519,346\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;Canon EOS 7D Mark II&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;1499510918&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;200&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;100&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0.0008&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race-1.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race-1.jpg\" class=\" wp-image-309112\" src=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race-1.jpg\" alt=\"sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race\" width=\"638\" height=\"425\" srcset=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race-1.jpg 519w, https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/sarah-bobeck-rileigh-ellis-pre-race-1-280x187.jpg 280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 638px) 100vw, 638px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-309112\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo Courtesy: Colin Sheridan<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mindful swimming can be as simple as directing your energy and thought into your pinkie position during your catch, noticing how it feels to &#8220;get it right&#8221; with feedback from your coach.<strong> Robert Robitaille<\/strong>, the head coach of Parkland High School Swimming and Diving, tells his athletes to pick little things to achieve throughout the set in order to maintain a positive attitude. This is instrumental in coping with the struggles of practice each day. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Maybe it\u2019s taking three dolphin kicks off each wall &#8211; something you can achieve every 15 seconds &#8211; or maybe you focus on not breathing off each wall &#8211; something that requires determination through the whole set. It\u2019s up to the swimmer, but either way, mindful swimming makes keeping a positive attitude throughout practice much easier.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A positive, mindful attitude will enhance your performance during a set or a meet not only because of your body&#8217;s natural physiological response, but also because you have confidence in the work you&#8217;ve done. Mindful practicing allows you to turn off your self-defeating thoughts during high-pressure situations and channel your energy into perfect execution.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Work with your coach and teammates to cultivate a spirit of mindful swimming instead of mindless laps along the black line!<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff. <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Abigail Sheridan, Swimming World Intern.\u00a0 All athletes know that they&#8217;re supposed to think positively in order to do their best, but the day-to-day challenges can wear down their drive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6539,"featured_media":309128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17,7],"tags":[67772,67741,55384,67771,55110,63935,63934,67739,57592,67740],"class_list":["post-308982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-usa","tag-abigail-sheridan","tag-elizabeth-gilbert","tag-mindful","tag-mindful-swimming","tag-mindfulness","tag-negative-thinking","tag-positive-thinking","tag-robert-robitaille","tag-swimming-mindfulness","tag-wade-boggs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - 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