Guided Meditation for Triathletes – How it Benefits You

Meditation for Triathletes

Guided meditation for triathletes….why?  I asked the same question when friends of mine would tell me that they meditate.  Now …… I get excited when I meet someone that says they meditate.  I have a feeling that most people who don’t meditate or practice mindfulness, don’t understand the purpose behind it.  I have written this article to help you understand the purpose of meditating and mindfulness for not just anyone, but for us, triathletes.

Meditation literally means “mind chewing”.  But, in reality, meditation simply means experiencing each moment as fully as possible.  It is thinking that is directed in the present.  

It’s Simple…Not Easy

Meditation is very simple, but its not easy.  I would venture to say that many of us who work for a living, have kids, or are just busy with the thousand other things in our life have a difficult time solely thinking about what is going on right now.  

It’s not easy to think about the now while you are worried about the next deadline at work, or getting some new soccer cleats for Johnny, or just keeping up with what is going to happen tomorrow.

In turn, we often think about the past.  And often times, its thinking about times in the past that don’t make us feel good.  Maybe we often think about negative things that have happened to us or that we have done in the past.

Whether our thoughts are constantly in the past or in the future, living in the present moment can be challenging.  This is where having a regular schedule of meditating can help calm your mind to focus on what you are doing at this time, now.

My Experience with Guided Meditation

I have been meditating/practicing mindfulness for a little over 3 years now. One of my favorite authors and pod-casters, Tim Ferris, convinced me. Him and most of the highly successful people that he interviews have a meditative practice.

Top performers from basketball players to stock brokers and everything in between have a common daily practice, meditation.  I did find these top performers all practice mediation in different ways.  But, the point is that they all have a regular habit of meditating.   This includes triathletes and top endurance athletes.

Meditation has helped me in nearly every aspect of my life, because it has allowed me the ability to think within each moment I am having.  It has allowed me to step back and feel more emotionally, yet act more rationally. In a sense, it has humbled me so that I can learn and grow.

Triathlon Training and Meditation

In the past year of training for triathlons,  I have gone from being about to swim about 25 meters and then feel exhausted, to swimming 2K and feeling happy.  And most of this was because I was able to stick with a schedule and push through the “I don’t want to today.”

Meditation has helped temper my fears.  I feel like with a little time, I can figure out how to do most things that come my way.

My energy has been focused to this moment now.  Less of it falls to the past and the future.  In my last tri, I placed 3rd in my age group because I was able to focus about my race, not everyone else’s.  And I had to hold my self back because I didn’t want to injure myself. That was an incredibly difficult state of mind to maintain for a competitive person like myself.

How Can Guided Meditation for Triathletes Help Us?

It can help us focus and train more effectively.  It can also help us get through the tougher parts of races when your mind and body tell you to “give up”.  Being mindful and present when things get tough, can help us persevere.  And perseverance through pain with a goal in mind is always a great thing.

Here is a great article I found about endurance athletes and mediation.

Give guided meditation for triathletes a try. Give it a few weeks and see how you feel. Then stop.  See what changes you feel.  Then start again. Just give it a try.  You will probably find it helps like it helps top triathletes around the world.  Talk again soon!  Here is another article that you might like.