Tag Archives: meditation
Meditation can accelerate and nurture the development of some of the inner-mental skill necessities for transcendent-zone experiences in golf. A brief story…
In 2001, sparked by a stagnant bowling average, a trek to learn to meditate was launched at Naropa University. As relevant literature had revealed, a desired result was to begin to experience the connection between the body and the mind through the breath. By early 2004, the bowling passion had expired and as a three-year Tibetan Buddhist trained, novice meditation practitioner, the search was expanded to discover a connection between meditation and golf. At the time golf had been a part of my life for 60-plus years; and son, Doug, and wife, Cindy, wanted to learn to play golf. I was up for the challenge and opportunity; and was to discover that the game of golf could be a genuine classroom of self-awareness for a willing and open student.
The treasure hunt produced gold in 2017, and although the journey to understand and experience the meditation-golf link continues to blossom, the connection is quite simple. Meditation can quicken the process of learning:
- to quiet the mind;
- to focus attention;
- to expand awareness;
- to visualize and create multi-dimensional images;
- to increase the likelihood for zone-peak-paranormal-mystical experience to emerge;
- to heighten concentration;
- to deepen center for a more effective level of physical and mental functioning;
- to facilitate harmony with surroundings;
- to enable relaxation;
- to create, at will, a peaceful state of nothingness-quiet obliviousness-offering increased confidence and insight;
- et al.
If you are up for the challenge and opportunity, recommend that a first step be to find a meditation coach who understands your purpose and individual uniqueness with respect to contemplative practice; and with whom you have good chemistry. In future blogs, the intent is to discuss the above mentioned experiences with respect to golf.
As Fred Shoemaker suggests, a purpose of games is to help us learn about life and our relationship to this exceptionally wonderful gift. However, an on-going experience is that a really tough challenge is to be “awake” for the multitude of messages these games, including golf and the occasional two shanks in a row, have to offer us. The purpose of this blog is to share a recent on-the-course experience and the subsequent re-awakening.
Sunday’s round of golf was total chaos, buried irritation and unrecognized physical tension! As a diehard perfectionist-reformer and dinosaur of our American culture and the culture of golfers, it would be easy to blame the playing partners for the distractions. However, as Michael Brown eloquently reminds,
Whenever the effects of our thoughts, words, and deeds (ego) are significantly delayed by time (the evolving years of life), they appear to us to occur independently of any cause. The consequence is that we then assume that many of the circumstances of our life are happening to us and not because of us. This enables us to enter victim or victor mentality. Being a victim or a victor means that we are either complaining about our experiences or competing with the experiences of others. Because of the pauses between cause and effect manufactured by time, it never occurs to us that we are actually complaining about ourselves and the consequences of our own actions, or that we are actually competing with ourselves because of obstacles that we have placed in our own way. Being a victim or victor is no different than the behavior of a dog chasing its own tail. The only difference is that the dog has more fun.
Reflections after Sunday’s golf generated a nice juicy question: What is the mechanism that inspires the “inner caddie” to acknowledge an upset, to take time-out, to go to the breath and to re-focus before the next shot? As discussed in Golfer’s Palette, the answer is evolving mindfulness and awareness; and one can develop this skill with the practice of daily meditation. Through practice, the “inner caddie” acknowledges personal reflections, people, events and behaviors. We become the watcher of the thoughts, words and behavior; and we begin to respond as opposed to reacting. Just go to the breath; and in silence and solitude, re-focus. For this dinosaur, the practice tee for meditation is daily sitting practice. John, just sit!
SOURCES
Brown, M. (2007). The Presence Process. New York, NY: Beaufort.
Shoemaker, Fred. (1996). Extraordinary Golf. New York, NY: Perigee.
Hudson, R. & Riso, D. (1999).The Wisdom of the Enneagram. New York, NY: Bantam.
Goldstein, J. (1994). Insight Meditation. Boston, MA: Shambhala.
As our golf game evolves, literature suggests that 80-90% of on-the-course performance becomes mental because of the continuous flux of external conditions. Learning and practicing a meditation skill can enable the golfer to be in chaos and yet deliberately calm the mind and trust the club and body mechanic skills to unleash the artist within to deliver a shot to a visualized target. As Tim Gallwey offers in The Inner Game of Golf, “I am convinced that the happiest and best golfers are those who have realized that there is no single gimmick that works and that good golf is attained only by patience and humility and by continually practicing both Outer and Inner skills.”
Having experienced that awareness and simplicity are my best coach and caddie, the inner and outer seeds that bear fruit and are deserving of continued nurture are daily meditation practice and practice of set-up and one-piece take-away. As golf technical literature offers, 80-90% of a decent golf swing requires good set-up and one-piece take-away.
A checklist you can find on the steering wheel of my golf cart:
SET-UP [GASP: grip, aim, stance and posture]
-Flat back
-Stable base
-Free arm swing
-Stable right side
CONNECT body, club, ball and target
•Through the breath, quiet the mind
•One pointed focus
•Trust the subconscious
•Release sensed tension
•Pull trigger to unleash artist to create desired shot
ONE-PIECE TAKEAWAY
-Left shoulder active: push with shoulder
-Hips still at start
-Hands in front of toes
TURN AND LOAD: finish backswing, there is no hurry; length of arc is key
-Left arm straight; width of arc is key
-Right leg stable-flexed while turning lower body; full shoulder turn and shoulder tilt
-Stop: left shoulder under chin
TRANSITION: activate with right foot, knee and hip
ATTACK [Caution: stress potential]
-With the club through the ball to the target
As the mind goes, the body goes; as the body goes, the mind goes. As Joseph Goldstein & Jack Kornfield offer in Seeking the Heart of Wisdom, meditation is a journey of understanding our bodies, our minds and our lives, of seeing clearly the true nature of experience. Consequently, through meditation and by giving full attention to one thing at a time, we can learn to deliberately direct attention where we choose. As a golfer, the experience has been that as set-up nears completion, focus on the breath allows the mind to become quiet, the body to become relaxed and a balanced body-mind is enabled to connect with the visualized target. All that remains is to pull the trigger and trust the human system to perform as it has been mentally and mechanically prepared. We essentially have created conditions for peak performance to become reality. Even though zone performance may be an infrequent occurrence, we can celebrate because we have done the best we could on every shot.
Give the inner golfer a big hug!
Peter Kostis, a Golf Magazine Top 100 Teacher and CBS Sports Analyst, nailed the concept of unleash the artist within in a May 2015 Golf Magazine article, “Embrace the Golfer Within.” Today, since the majority of golf instruction has become technology and technical skills driven, it feels like instructors may have left the human being behind. Perhaps it is time to re-focus on the person swinging the golf club, as Tommy Armour, Tim Gallwey, Bob Toski, Bob Rotella and Fred Shoemaker have helped this student of the game begin to understand and experience.
As a Naropa University trained meditation practitioner, coupled with learning to play the piano and having studied in India with a Tibetan Buddhist thangka painter, it has become quite clear that each of us have an inner artist that is waiting to be unleashed to use a golf club to hit a golf ball to an emotionally embraced target. We just need to have an inner experience of the shot and then trust the inner golfer to deliver the shot.
How does one uncover the artist? As with club and body mechanics skills, our mental skills need training and practice, too. As a golfer, my experience has been that during set-up, learning to go to the breath, deliberately quieting the mind and “connecting” with a target is of exceptional value to a decent golf shot. “Connecting,” at will, in the moment, with a golf target, a loved one, or Beethoven’s spirit when he composed Fur Elise, can become a priceless treasure and skill.
As my golf learning has evolved, about 80-90% of a successful round of golf today requires good mental skills, coupled with absolute trust of the subconscious to deliver the necessary club and body mechanics. Add to this equation a well-fitted golf club, a golfer is now ready to unleash the artist to create a golf shot that hits through a golf ball to a passionately visualized target. Embracing these skills and talents demands learning, reflecting, practice and play, one step at a time.
With respect to mental skills, a first-step suggestion is to search for and uncover a meditation coach and skill that works for you and helps quiet your mind. If your mind is anything like mine, it is very busy and takes daily practice to be able to deliberately quiet its constant chatter. A second idea is to have a good golf coach, as opposed to a teacher. A teacher desires to have golfers learn the teacher’s system their way. A coach helps the student uncover a vision for their game and then helps the student move from current reality toward the student’s vision. As Peter Kostis remarks, “Don’t fear being the best golfer that you can be…embrace your authentic swing. With time and work, the rest will fall in place.”
Why write Golfer’s Palette?
In the summer of 2004 Doug, my son, with his very competitive spirit, expressed his desire to learn to play golf. Having played golf since I was seven years old, it felt like it would be feasible to help Doug start to learn the game of golf. We started with a first lesson at Indian Tree Golf Course, Arvada, Colorado. Doug’s interest sparked an interest in wife, Cindy, to learn the game, too. Together, Cindy and I we took lessons from Tom Thorne at Indian Tree Golf Course. Very soon, the three of us were frequently playing together. Because Doug started to beat me, I decided to hone my skills by working with seven different GolfTEC instructors, year-round, for five years.
Following a divorce and a tumbling economy that caused his construction business to experience financial difficulty, Doug decided in 2006 to change careers, move to Arizona and attend the Motorcycle Mechanics Institute. Following graduation Doug went to work for Bourget’s, a custom motorcycle manufacturer. The economy was not kind to this business either; and Doug took his Harley Davidson mechanics training and went to work for Hacienda Harley, Scottsdale, Arizona. Again, a faltering economy took its toll on this business.
In the winter of 2008, Doug called from Phoenix, Arizona and said, “Dad, I am thinking about a career change and attending the Golf Academy of America.” My immediate response was, “Why don’t I come to Arizona and attend the Golf Academy of America with you?” We chatted about it for a few minutes; and the decision was made. In January 2009, it was off to Chandler, Arizona and 14 months living with Doug in an apartment adjacent to the second green on San Marcos Resort Golf Course. Golf Academy of America student life was exciting; playing weekly tournament golf was challenging; and studying the business of golf management was fun. Doug and I graduated in April 2010; and in early 2013 I returned to the Golf Academy of America to study Advanced Teaching.
Having been immersed in the Naropa University contemplative environment for three years, coupled with the training and practice of meditation, the very focused Golf Academy of America golf technical skills training and practice offered a fantastic opportunity to evolve a personal bridge between body-mind mastery skills and the technical skills associated with moving a golf club through the ball to a target. The genesis for Golfer’s Palette was the collection of reflection papers created during the 20 months of learning, practicing and experiencing the art and science of golf. Coupled with having played golf for some 68 years, the unique, central message in Golfer’s Palette is that uncovering and unleashing the artist within really works for golf and everything we choose to do. The formula is simple: go to the breath, quiet the mind and connect, in-the-moment, with things that make a real difference in our intended quality of life.
Why write Sitting in the Flames?
After retirement in 1993, bowling felt like a really neat activity for a new senior citizen. Three leagues per week, coupled with 40-50 games of practice per week, moved the average to 208. When the average peaked, burn-out and boredom arrived; and bowling was no longer fun. This triggered the search to discover a key to re-spark an interest in bowling and produce a higher bowling average. Competitive bowling was soon to fade from the journey; and sports literature became the menu.
Some of the literature included: Body Mind Mastery: Creating Success in Sport and Life by Dan Millman; Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior by Phil Jackson; The Warrior Within: The philosophies of Bruce Lee to better understand the world around you and achieve a rewarding life by John Little; and The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living by His holiness the Dalai Lama and Howard C. Cutler, M.D.
What did the reading uncover? My athletic experiences were absent a link between the body and the mind. It appeared that the literature was offering that connected breathing might be the bridge between the physical and mental-emotional bodies, with an added benefit of improved performance in sport and perhaps even life. In one of the many books associated with connected breathing, Naropa Institute was mentioned as an academic institution where the student could learn to meditate. Little did I realize that Naropa Institute, now Naropa University, was located in Boulder, Colorado, a 30 minute commute from home in Arvada, Colorado. Starting in 2001, I was to spend three years in the contemplative environment at Naropa University studying meditation and the five wisdom traditions. This three years re-directed and may have saved my life; and added meditation practice to my daily ritual.
Sitting in the Flames was sparked during a Spiritual Models of Social Action class at Naropa University. Under the leadership of Dr. Judith Simmer-Brown, we were studying Martin Luther King, Jr., Sulak Sivaraska, a Thai social activist, Gandhi and Tich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk. One day Dr. Simmer-Brown brought a book to class, placed it on her desk, pointed to the book, looked at me and said, “John, you need to read this book.” The title of the book was War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges, at the time a journalist for the “New York Times” and a professor at Princeton University. This book, complimented by the study and inspiration of Thich Nhat Hanh and his spiritual partner Chan Kong, gave rise to re-visiting, through study, reflection papers and sitting meditation, my two years of combat during the Vietnam War. These reflection papers became quite therapeutic and became the genesis of Sitting in the Flames when it occurred one day that perhaps sharing my experiences with finding freedom from the residual pangs of emotional chaos associated with combat, may help others who suffer from similar trauma associated with the reality of war.