The Power of Mindfulness Practice

It is still winter in the UK and perhaps you cannot practice your swing as you would like. You can, however, practice concentrating your mind, or mindfulness. Why?

Well, when you play well, you probably notice a quiet calmness comes over your mind. Sure, you are swinging the golf club well, but your mind is also very focused.

Would it be worth practicing taking your mind into more focused states?

That is what all these golf visualization cd’s are all about really. Never mind imagining playing your best golf and so on, I believe the real benefit comes from relaxing yourself and quietening the mind. If you want to discover what is really going on in your mind, all the time, then do this.

You should be in a quiet place, with no distractions. Then you can turn your attention from the outer world to the world within as you close your eyes and mouth and simply pay attention to the breath as it enters through the nose and exits through the nose.

This is not a breathing exercise; it is an exercise in awareness. Make no effort to control your breath, deep breathing is not necessary, just observe it as it is, in and out, in and out. Allow it to be, just as it is.

Keep your attention on the breath for as long as possible without allowing any distractions to break the chain of awareness.

Do this for just 5 minutes to begin with.

Notice how often your mind wanders away. Be patient and bring it back to the breath.

By observing your mind in this way it will begin to settle and sharpen. Increase the time gradually. Do this
morning and evening.

Practicing mindfulness will help your golf when the season starts again.

photo credit: edosbornphotography

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