Novak Djokovic Reveals his SECRET for Mental Strength

   

Novak Djokovic Reveals his SECRET for Mental Strengtη

What is flow and what does it feel like when you are in flow? - Atman Nityananda

 What is flow and what does it feel like when you are in flow?

Flow is the state that has been observed in athletes, musicians, dancers and others, and which according to their description corresponds to what in spiritual teachings is called Samadhi. Flow is something that occurs without being sought by athletes, etc., and is achieved through action, by the absorption of mind and consciousness in action. Whereas Samadhi is deliberately sought by spiritual practitioners and is achieved primarily by abandoning all action by sitting in a position of stillness. But there are also traditions and teachings that use some action to achieve Samadhi, such as the dervish dance in the Sufi tradition.

Psychologists claim that the flow state can only occur when the activity is very interesting, challenging and the practitioner is highly motivated and has a very high capacity to perform the activity. Indeed, these factors are very important, obviously the most important for athletes, dancers, etc., but in my experience speaking they are not exclusive for entering a flow state or Samadhi. We can enter a flow state even when what we are doing does not have the above conditions. That is, we can be in flow even when we are walking, talking, doing the dishes, etc. Of course, for this to happen, knowledge and skills are needed, which can be acquired through what we generally call spiritual practice. Among these skills, concentration is the most fundamental. However, purposeful, deep and steady concentration is possible when we develop some other important skills.

Csíkszentmihályi called flow "the secret of happiness". Similarly, for spiritual seekers, Samadhi is the state they aspire to in order to experience ecstasy, fulfilment, peace and limitless freedom.

Djokovic

Psychologists describe people in the flow state as being in a state of intense concentration, with their thoughts focused on the experience rather than on themselves. That the activity is done without intentional effort, that they are in control of the situation, have a clear sense of direction (clear goals) and that the experience is not physically or mentally exhausting. Also that they lose their sense of time, or that they have a concentrated perception of time (that time seems to fly quickly) and feel as if there is a merging of their actions and their awareness. That they have a reduced sense of self or even that they are losing their sense of self.  

Similarly, Samadhi is a state of deep absorption of the mind in the object of concentration, in which there is a total lack of effort and sense of agency (loss of the sense of self, -egoic self) accompanied by transcendence of the sense of time, and there is an experience of indescribable freedom and beauty (deep peace and bliss).  

Samadhi is the highest state through which we enter into complete conscious union with God and experience the freedom, peace, fulfilment and bliss of God. Prolonged Samadhi is also the means to completely dissolve the ego and attain full and uninterrupted union with God. This is what we call theosis, enlightenment, self-realisation or liberation.

The biomechanics of strokes in tennis - Atman Nityananda

 

The biomechanics of strokes in tennis

Technique is a movent or a serie of movements through which  we achieve the best possible result with the less possible effort without causing any injury and the capacity to repeat this movement consistently.

So, in tennis a good technique is considered the one that enables us hit the ball with high speed, accuracy, repeat this consistently without being injured.

The speed of the ball depends on the speed of the racket head at the moment of hitting the ball and the accuracy on the position of racket head the moment of impact.

The maximum possible racket head speed is mainly obtained through the legs, hips, trunk and shoulders and not through the arm and certainly not at all through the wrist. There must be optimal coordination between the legs, hips, trunk and shoulders so that one limb to transfer its speed to the next and finally the speed that is achieved through all these limbs is transferred through the arm to the racket.

The chain of movement  (legs, hips, trunk, shoulders, arm)

We initiate the stroke by pushing the ground with our feet, transferring the weight of the body upwards and forwards in the direction in which our racket is going to meet the ball.  

Just before the legs reach their maximum speed, the hips start their movement. They receive the speed of the legs and add more speed to the movement. Next, the trunk enters just before the hips reach their maximum speed, further increasing the speed of the movement, and finally, the shoulders increase the speed even more and this speed is transferred through the arm to the racket. 

The arm transfers the speed generated by the whole body to the racket, which accelerates and moves at high speed towards the ball. Since the racket moves away from the pivot point of the body (shoulder) due to the length of the arm and the length of the racket, the speed of the racket head is much higher than the speed achieved in the body. That's why taller players can achieve higher speed strokes.

The role of the arm and hand is to correctly direct the racket head towards the ball to get the shot we want (topspin, topspin, flat, etc.) and to control the trajectory of the ball so that it lands exactly where we want it to. The wrist does not add speed to the ball. It must be stable to avoid swinging the racket, which will affect the accuracy of the ball when it does not touch the sweet spot of the racket.

Always Do Your Best

Always Do Your Best

This is my very favorite agreement and a mantra of mine.

Ruiz says doing your best, regardless of quality, is the only thing you must ask of yourself.

You only ask of yourself to do your best given the conditions of the environment and of yourself.
That means that, in some conditions, your best might very poor. Or very poor even compared to your previous actions.
And that’s great because you don’t demand success or perfection.

Doing your best also delinks the action from the reward. It means that you come to enjoy the action without expecting any external prize.
And that’s when you reach full outcome independence.
When you demand your best with full outcome independence, you will also avoid self-judgment, self-abuse, and regret.

But don’t forget, the fact that you don’t depend on the outcome doesn’t mean you do nothing.
Action is the main differentiator, says Ruiz. Stick to doing your best and your personal improvement and transformation will become an obvious consequence.

The Fourth Agreement allows you to practice and make all the other agreements become a habit.
Whenever you fail to implement an agreement, don’t sweat it. It’s OK. Start again. And then again. Until it becomes ingrained in who you are.

Enjoy the path and the destination will take care of itself

~~
Extract from a Summary of
The Four Agreements of Don Miguel Ruiz

 https://thepowermoves.com/the-four-agreements/

Novak Djokovic and Pepe Imaz - Event of Love and Peace

Sports, tennis, inner development, meditation, love 

A very interested event. with Pepe Imaz and Novack Djokovic about inner development, meditation, love, knowledge of our spiritual or Divine Self which is a source of peace, love, plenitude and wisdom

Self-knowledge, meditation and inner development, is the basis of true success in our life. External success in itself cannot give us deep fulfilment, peace and love which are the essence of life.

Sports and tennis especially can be a vehicle of inner development and awakening of our inner potential, which is to live fully connected with our divine nature, with unity, peace love and harmony within us and with all beings.

The next step of sports, is to be used as a mean for an integral development of human beings and contribute to the awakening of all humanity to the higher values of life and the conscious living with our divine nature.

Novack Djokovic y Pepe Imaz. Acto Amor y Paz

Ways Mental Training Can Help

Ways Mental Training Can Help

If you are an athlete, you have probably felt the pressure to win or experienced the fear of being beaten by your competitors.  Mental training can help athletes achieve their goals by:

• Enhancing performance by using various mental strategies, such as visualization, self-talk and relaxation techniques, to help athletes overcome obstacles and achieve their full potential.
• Coping with the pressures of competition, dealing with pressure from parents, coaches, or even their own expectations.
• Recovering from injuries, adhering to their physical therapy regimens, or adjusting to being sidelined.
• Keeping up with training regimens by increasing motivation and tackling any related concerns.

Examples of specific issues for athletes and coaches that mental training can address include:

• Boosting self confidence,
• Staying motivated and committed,
• Maintaining emotional control during competition,
• Reducing competitive stress and anxiety,
• Performing "in the zone", 
• Improving communication between the athlete and coach, and
• Reducing the fear of failure or success.

What are the causes of the faults?

What are the causes of the faults?

Having assessed the performance and identified that there is a fault then you need to determine why it is happening. Faults can be caused by:

• Incorrect understanding of the movement by the athlete
• Poor physical abilities
• Fatigue
• Doschic (Vata, Pitta, Kapha) imbalances
• Emotional disturbances (anxiety, fear, anger, irritability, lack of self-confidence etc.)
• Poor co-ordination of movement
• Incorrect application of power
• Lack of concentration
• Inappropriate clothing or footwear
• Inappropriate equipment
• External factors e.g. weather conditions
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