{"id":119,"date":"2010-09-04T09:51:10","date_gmt":"2010-09-04T09:51:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/09\/mindfulness-in-sport-the-embodiment-of-awakening-part-two.html"},"modified":"2010-09-04T09:51:10","modified_gmt":"2010-09-04T09:51:10","slug":"mindfulness-in-sport-the-embodiment-of-awakening-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/09\/mindfulness-in-sport-the-embodiment-of-awakening-part-two.html","title":{"rendered":"Mindfulness in Sport: The Embodiment of Awakening (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s Sport Saturday. This entry continues an essay on using sport to awaken. Click here to read part one.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Non-gravity sports such as road running, road biking, and
\nswimming offer a ready opportunity to full body awareness. Instead of a
\ngravity-induced absorption, the immersion in the present moment includes the
\nentire body. <\/p>\n

Take running, for instance, where we can experience a
\nmoment-to-moment connection with our total body experience, even when this
\nexperience includes pain and discomfort. The challenge is to stay with the
\nexperience at the level of sensation. That is, experiencing it as a pattern of
\ngross and pointed sensations instead of labeling it “pain.” <\/p>\n

However, our minds
\nhave a tendency to move us out of the moment of experiencing sensation and perception
\nand to start evaluating and judging the experience. Ultimately, we start to
\ntell stories about the experience. “Oh, damn it, there is that pain again” …
\n“this is going to ruin my run” … or “I can’t take this anymore.” <\/p>\n

\"triathlon_2.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

When the mind
\nis engaged in those sorts of evaluative and judgmental thoughts and spins its
\nstories of suffering and woe, it is not attending the present moment. It is
\npulled into thinking about the future (or even reflecting on the past –
\n“remember what happened the last time??”). <\/p>\n

When we can be mindful of the
\npresent, the artificial distinctions between mind and body disappear and yield
\nto an awareness of being. Gravity sports such as snowboarding and skiing,
\nmountain biking, trail running, kayaking, and rock climbing require more exquisite
\nattention to the environment than non-gravity sports. <\/p>\n

For instance, when I am
\nrunning on the rocky trails behind my house, inattention or becoming engrossed
\nin my internal dialogue is met almost invariably with tripping on one of the
\nrocky protrusions that make up the trail. In this activity, as with
\nsnowboarding in the trees, awareness includes my body awareness and a
\nconnection with the terrain. While I might have the opportunity to get lost in
\nan extensive conversation while riding my road bike, any such diversion on the
\ntrails is met with a reminder (sometimes not so subtle) that exquisite
\nattention is demanded and required. Numerous bruises, sprains, and broken bones
\nare the living testament to the perils of my approaching sport without
\nmindfulness. <\/p>\n

One particularly instructive incident happened during the winter
\nof 1999 into 2000, which was a stellar snow season. Jay Peak reported getting
\n600 inches of snow (that is 50 feet!). On New Year’s Day, I was out enjoying
\nthe fresh powder on my snowboard. I did a run through Kitz Woods negotiating
\nthe turns around the trees with alacrity, fluidity, and velocity. <\/p>\n

Towards the
\nend of that run, things flatten out, and I relaxed from my vigorous turns of a
\nmoment ago. For whatever reason, I started having an imaginary conversation
\nwith my mother in my mind. With the reduced pressure of the environment, my
\nstorytelling mind encroached. <\/p>\n

It is exceedingly difficult to injure a knee
\nsnowboarding, given the way the feet are anchored onto the board. Somehow, in
\nmy distracted state, I managed to insinuate my ride between some saplings, and
\nin doing so, created a forward torque that gave me a grade 2 medial collateral
\nligament sprain. I missed the next six weeks of the best winter riding in
\nrecent history. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n
\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s Sport Saturday. This entry continues an essay on using sport to awaken. Click here to read part one. Non-gravity sports such as road running, road biking, and swimming offer a ready opportunity to full body awareness. Instead of a gravity-induced absorption, the immersion in the present moment includes the entire body.  Take running, for…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mindful-living","category-sport"],"yoast_head":"\nMindfulness in Sport: The Embodiment of Awakening (Part Two) - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2010\/09\/mindfulness-in-sport-the-embodiment-of-awakening-part-two.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mindfulness in Sport: The Embodiment of Awakening (Part Two) - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It’s Sport Saturday. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}