In my last Breath and Mind Workshop at Jungle Brothers, I talked about “neuroception” – how we can alter our sub-conscious “perception” of our environment and our actions.
When I have worked or trained alongside professional athletes, the one word that I keep coming back to is “composure.”
The professional does the easy task impeccable well, and the difficult task easily.
This doesn’t mean they aren’t trying, or aren’t “outputting,” but rather they have learned to complete the task with “ease and grace.”
Even with a simple task, the beginner will have a more difficult time and send a message to their physiology of “difficulty.”
How do we send these messages? Through bridges from the conscious to the subconscious mind:
1. We relax the face, jaw and neck as much as possible, rather than straining
2. We relax the eyes, the gaze, allowing ourselves to blink, rather than straining our eyes
3. We relax from the hips to the toes* rather than tensing
4. We relax the pelvic floor and diaphram
5. We relax the shoulders, forearms and hands, rather thank holding tension and elevating
6. We relax the breath and come to a natural breath, using a nasal breathing pattern rather than the mouth
When we hold tension, mouth breath, strain, yell, we are sending stress signals to our system – letting it “know” that the environment is stressful.
When we have relaxed composure, we outline an abundant situation, where our physiology is ready to adapt and perform.
This applies not only to movements, but to any situation.
*Of course, when the task/movement requires a certain level of tension in certain areas, we must prioritise that for safety. This goes for all of the areas.
