Sportsmanship: Softball Story

Centering: Focusing Your Energy

 

Now that you are improving your ability to stay centered and have a better awareness of your body, let’s try to focus your energy in a specific manner. You will need a partner to help you out with this. First, make a circle with your thumb and index finger. The fingers should be fingertip to fingertip, not pad to pad. Squeeze your fingers together as tight as you can and have your partner try to pull them apart. Most likely this can be done quite easily. No matter how hard you squeeze, it is highly likely that your partner can pull them apart.

 So now, lie down on your back. Begin to circle breathe and center your qi. Once centered, you will try to do the same thing again but with a little different focus. When making the circle, imagine that the circle is a never ending piece of steel. It has no openings, no beginnings and no ends. It is a solid circle that can not be pulled apart. It is impossible. When you have this focus down and you still have your body centered, have your partner try to pull your fingers apart again. As long as you maintain your focus and centering of your body, your fingers will not be pulled apart. As soon as you lose your focus or your center, it will be pulled quite easily. Many times while doing this, people will state that they feel they don’t squeeze as hard and they don’t feel their fingertips. It is as though it became one finger looped together.

 Exercises such as this will help with focus during athletic events.

Centering: Gaining Body Awareness

Hopefully you have been practicing the last technique of centering the body. We will now expand upon this. While lying down, center yourself again. Start with the ball at your forehead. Begin circle breathing and bring your qi down to your belly. Once it is there and you can keep it there, let’s begin the next part, becoming aware of your body.

 While lying there and your eyes are closed, let’s find out how the body is functioning. We will start with your feet. I want you to contract your feet and toes. Squeeze them as well as you can and hold it for about 2 seconds. Now, let them relax and feel the energy exit out the tips of your toes. Move up to your calves. Contract your calves and feet. Feel how they are. Then relax and let the energy flow down your calves, through your ankles, feet and exit out your toes. Now your thighs are next. Contract your quads and hamstrings along with your calves and feet. Feel how they are and hold it. Then relax. Let the energy exit your thighs through your knees, calves, ankles, feet and toes. Next is your glutes. Tighten your glutes and legs down to your toes. Hold for 2 seconds then relax. Let the energy travel down your legs to exit your toes. Moving up to your abdominals and low back, contract your abs, low back, and glutes down to your toes. Hold, then relax, exiting through your toes. Now contract your upper torso. This is your chest and upper back. Do this along with your abs, low back, and down your legs. Relax letting the energy exit your toes. We will move to your fingers and hands. Contract and squeeze your fingers and hands. Hold it for about 2 seconds and let the energy exit out your fingers. Next contract your forearms and hands. Hold and then feel the energy exit your fingers. Now your upper arm (biceps and triceps) will be contracted with the rest of your arms and hands. Let the energy exit your fingers again. We will move up to your shoulders next. Contract and squeeze the shoulders all the way to your fingers. Next relax and let the energy go down your arms and out your fingers. Move up to your next and face at this time. Squeeze your neck, face, shoulders, and arms to fingers. Let them relax while the energy exits your fingers. Lastly, we will contract your whole body. Hold and feel everything in your body and then relax and let the energy exit your fingers and your toes.

 While doing this, make sure you keep your qi centered. Keep circle breathing and be aware of your body at all times. Practice this and gain better awareness of your body. This increased awareness will increase your ability to move and react when performing your sport.

Centering

Centering your body or qi (pronounced chee), is helpful in many ways. When the body is properly centered it responds the way you would like and better. Reaction time improves. Control of the body improves. Focus improves. Clarity improves. Breathing improves. Mechanics improve. You are in the zone and will stay there.

 

In order to center the body, you want to bring your qi down to your belly button or slightly lower. To do this here is where we will begin. First, find a spot to lie on the ground on your back. Get in a quiet area to where you can focus on what you are doing. Place your hands on your belly. We will begin by circle breathing. Circle breathing is breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth utilizing your diaphragm. So take a deep breath in through the nose. As you breathe in, your belly should expand out and your hands should rise up. As you breathe out through the mouth, your belly and hands should go down. Take some deep breaths in and out. Focus on your breathing.

 

Once you have this down, we will work on bringing your qi down from your forehead to your belly button area. To do this, visualize your qi as a ball. It is sitting in your forehead. It might be helpful to take one of your hands, place it in a fist and just above your forehead. Close your eyes. Focus on this ball and your breathing. When you breathe in, the ball stays where it is, as you breathe out, the ball slowly moves down along your body on its way to your belly. With each breath it moves down to your face, then throat, then chest, and finally belly button area. As you lose your focus, your qi will creep back up to your forehead. Regain your focus and bring it back down slowly.

 

When you get it down to your belly button, keep it there. Focus on the ball spinning around and around. It is getting faster and faster. My ball always burst in to flames and becomes a big ball of fire. Let your belly get warmer and warmer. Continue with your circle breathing and stay here for a while.

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Motivation & Well Being

In order to be the best, your body has to be prepared in all aspects. We have to prepare ourselves in mind, body, and spirit. Here you will find information on nutrition, motivation, breathing, clearing limitations, and much more.

Nutrition can be a complicated thing with many different individuals giving you advice and providing you with something that worked for them or something they read in the paper or a book somewhere along the way. We have all been told that we are what we eat and if you continue to eat junk, you will reflect that in your performance at some point in your career. If you treat it like a temple with the nutrients you provide it, you will reflect that in your performance. Food is fuel for your body. In order to perform at an elite level, the nutrients you provide it will need to be in a way that enhances this.

Nutrients can be broken down to protein, carbohydrates, and fats. All are essential for optimal performance and in the right combination for you, will propel you to a level that you only have dreamed of. Our body needs nutrients all day long in a way that can be easily used and enhances performance. Here you will find some very helpful tips that can lead your performance to excellence. Daily eating habits can provide you the fuel to achieve excellence.

What is your state of mind? How do you prepare yourself to achieve optimal performance? What are the things you do on a daily basis that can help put you in a state that propels you to excellence?

Breathing is something we all do from the day we are born to the day we die. It is not something we should hopefully have to think about to survive. But are we doing it in a way that can enhance our performance? Do we actually restrict our performance by the way we breathe?

What are your beliefs? Do your beliefs limit your ability to achieve all your goals? When you set out to do something, do you truly believe that you will accomplish it?