The Relaxation Guide to a Happy & De-Stressful Life

The Lakers’ coach Phil Jackson to prepare for NBA games. Top mixed martial arts fighters like Georges St-Pierre and Diego Sanchez before fights. Even the U.S. Army .

Since endurance sports takes a whole lot of mental focus, pain management and rumination avoidance, you’d think meditation and running would go together like CrossFit and the Paleo Diet.

Although there have been several scientific studies published over the years about the , I couldn’t find anything but when it came to endurance sports in particular. Even the big running mags only covered just a smattering of times.

While we wait for researchers to study the connection between mindfulness and improving your running efficiency, there’s no harm in trying it out for yourself (unlike going paleo and eating a ton of bacon all the time, which CAN actually harm you).

I’ve recently started a meditation practice — more to help with sleep and reduce anxiety than to become a better runner, but I digress. I have to say, after three weeks of meditating for 10 minutes in the morning and for 20 minutes at night, I’m feeling much more relaxed and have been sleeping quite well. I’ve been using the to zone out, and though some episodes may be a bit too granola for some people (feel your chakras opening…), I find they help quell thoughts while you focus on the guided visualizations. As for improving my running efficiency, it will be hard to say as I’m not training for anything right now. Most of my runs are easy jogs along the waterfront or on the trails at the moment.

They way I see it, improved sleep quality = better rest and repair for my muscles. So even if this mediation practice just helps me sleep better, those 30 minutes a day spent “simply being” will be worth it.

And if I start running crazy fast and having out-of-body experiences on the trail, I’ll be sure to let you all know…

Do you meditate? Have you found it has helped your performance in sports? What meditation techniques do you use? Let me know in the comments section below.