Boxing and meditation in the same sentence? As crazy as it may sound, boxing can be a sort of meditation and at the same time, boxers can benefit a lot from meditation as well. Even if you think that to meditate you need to sit on a mat at sunrise and greet the sun, it is not necessarily like that and we’ll tell you why.
Henrietta Gym published her experience with boxing on the website Medium where she comments that boxing for her gives her large amounts of inner peace, especially when sparring and fighting.
“Combat offers me peace, it is the one place in the world I feel completely at ease. As an early teen I was petrified of violence, in my early 20’s I was fronting some of the most troublesome nightspots and by my mid 20’s I was trading punches with the most destructive punching boxers on the planet — a somewhat cataclysmic transformation. In my experiences, I have found that combat no-longer causes me fear, rather it gives me definitive focus,” she wrote.
What is meditation?
According to the website Mind Works, meditation consists of learning to work with the mind. They cite the definition of the Cambridge dictionary that says that it is “the act of giving your attention to only one thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of becoming calm and relaxed,” or “serious thought or study, or the product of this activity.”
Meditation is not about zoning out or setting the mind blank, and it also is not about controlling your mind. It is more about mind training and awareness to have an improved sense of presence, calm and attentiveness. It also helps achieve better control of the emotions and reactions as you learn how your mind works and to focus better.
When people practice meditation they usually focus on breathing. You are aware that you are breathing in, and then you are aware that you are breathing out. When you are boxing there are times when you can be so focused that you are only aware of punching the bag, your technique or what your sparring partner is doing. Your mind is not focused on anything else besides the present moment. This is why boxing can be a form of meditation and give you all of the benefits we listed above that usually come with practicing meditation.
“Switching your mind off from the stresses of the world and escapism is a very rewarding experience. That moment of ‘clearing your desk’ of all the clutter in your head gives you a new starting point and a fresh perspective on things,” says Henrietta about her experience.
Do you think boxing is a meditation for you as well? Tell us about your experience in the comments below!
Benefits of meditation for boxers
Even if boxing is a sort of meditation for you or not, you can still practice conventional meditation to be a better boxer. Everyone constantly searches for ways they can improve their sports performance and we are sure you do too if it is a practice that is important to you.
According to an article published in Fight Camp Conditioning, there is an overlooked tool that helps fighters and that is meditation. “Ironically the core of all Martial Arts was the focused development of the warrior within, but today this is very rarely practiced or spoken about,” they said in the article. However, many boxers may believe that they are too “tough” for meditation and they do not need that in their lives while the truth is that they could benefit immensely from this practice in every aspect of their lives.
Some of the ways meditation can help in boxing are that it can help you step away from feelings of fear, doubt, uncertainty and other unconscious blockages that can manifest as slow reactions and early fatigue, to mention two. What boxer out there wants to be slow or feel tired all the time? You’re right, probably none.
As we said above, meditation helps you control your mind, your reactions and emotions as an inner discipline that will not let yourself be controlled anymore by fear, doubts or by your opponent.
“Conor McGregor, Lyoto Machida, Jon Jones, Diego Sanchez, Anderson Silva are just a few of MMA champions who have admitted for having regular meditation practice to improve their game. Meditation has a lot to offer for the professional and the novice competitor. In fact, only four days of meditation can significantly improve the creativity and cognitive flexibility according to the research of psychologists at the University of North Carolina in 2009,” Fight Camp Conditioning explains.
They also say that after just four days of meditation training a boxer can obtain a 200% boost in creativity, a 490% boost in learning and a 500% boost in productivity. In other words, you can become the best fighter you can be thanks to this regular practice.
What Henrietta described as “being in the zone” when she fights is also known as the Flow State, which is a mental state where the mind is 100% focused on the task at hand, with no distractions outside. All your worries, those debts you have to pay, the argument you had earlier with your boss… gone. At least while you are in that state, which can be achieved in boxing.
“Our brain waves are in Alpha Theta bridge, the sweet spot of performance. This Flow State replicates very similar brain patterns that Buddhist monks attain during meditation. So when you’re moving in Flow, you are in a meditative state”, Fight Camp Conditioning assures, and it can be achieved through regular practice and training.
In summary, some of the benefits a boxer can receive by practicing meditation regularly are:
- Brain preparation
Those who practice meditation are able not only to relax the body but also their minds and therefore, increase their ability to focus on performance. Athletes who meditate are also able to increase their alertness and attention span.
2. Increased performance
Athletes who meditate can practice visualization which is a state where they imagine themselves achieving or doing something they desire. This is something that can be done while meditating.
“During visualization, the brain sends out low-level impulses through the nerves to the muscles that are being activated in one’s imagination. This low-level nerve encourages help to establish a mental blueprint of what is required to perform an activity, making the movement easier to execute,” Fight Camp Conditioning says about this benefit.
3. Flow state
As we mentioned above, meditation can help you enter the Flow state where your mind is focused and does not pay attention to any distractions.
4. Faster recovery
Boxers can get bruised and can also experience pain in practice and in fights, which is why they need the appropriate recovery time to heal. Meditation can be used to accelerate this process, which is similar to the one that occurs during a sleep or rest session. According to information from Fight Camp Conditioning, meditation can also help boost the immune system and help prevent injuries and illnesses that may affect the athlete’s performance.
Meditation techniques you can use in boxing
Many boxers out there are beginning to change their mentality and realizing that if they consciously train their nervous system, and mind, through exercises like meditation, they can perform better at their sport. We have also told you before how boxing can help you overcome anxiety.
For this reason, we have decided to share with you several meditation exercises you can use as a boxer recommended by Medical News Today. There are many different types of meditation exercises and people differ about how frequently you should practice it so you should try to find what works best for you.
- Metta meditation
This meditation is also known as loving-kindness meditation and the goal is to cultivate an attitude of love and kindness toward everything you do and anyone who surrounds you, even if it is someone you do not like or if it is a situation of stress.
You start by breathing deeply, closing your eyes and opening your mind to receive love and kindness and also send the same positive feelings to the world, specific people or situations. You can choose to repeat the same message many times until you feel love and kindness.
According to Medical News Today, this meditation can help those that are affected by anger, frustration, resentment and/or have an interpersonal conflict. “This type of meditation may increase positive emotions and has been linked to reduced depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress or PTSD,” they say.
2. Progressive relaxation
This is also called body scan meditation because it encourages people to check their bodies mentally for areas of tension and allow them to release. Start by laying in a comfortable position and start at one end of the body with your eyes closed, for instance, your feet and work through the entire body gradually.
“Some forms of progressive relaxation require people to tense and then relax muscles. Others encourage a person to visualize a wave drifting over their body to release tension,” you can read on the aforementioned website.
This type of relaxation and meditation can promote feelings of calmness and help with chronic pain because it slowly relaxes the body.
3. Mindfulness meditation
This is a form of meditation that urges practitioners to remain aware and present in the moment and not focus on the past or future. You should not judge, just take note of the information that comes to you during the meditation.
Many people choose to practice this while they are waiting in line at the grocery store, for example, by calmly noticing their surroundings, smells, sounds, etc., because you can practice this meditation anywhere.
This type of meditation can help you reduce fixation on negative emotions, improve your focus and memory, lessen impulsive and emotional reactions and also better relationship satisfaction. “For example, a study of African-American men with chronic kidney disease found that mindfulness meditation could lower blood pressure,” Medical News Today reveals.
4. Breath awareness
This meditation encourages mindful breathing. Sit or lay comfortably and breathe slowly and deeply. Count your breaths or focus on them, the goal is to stay focused solely on this activity and ignore other thoughts in your mind.
You will benefit from improved concentration and greater emotional flexibility, as well as reduced anxiety.
5. Kundalini yoga
This type of yoga is an active meditation that combines movements with deep breathing and mantras. It helps reduce pain and improve mental health by reducing anxiety and depression.
You can sign up for a yoga class or look up exercises online. There are many yoga YouTube channels where you can find Kundalini yoga exercises.
6. Zen meditation
Sometimes called Zazen, this is a form of meditation part of Buddhist practice and it involves specific steps and postures, which is why many prefer to sign up for classes.
This meditation consists of finding a comfortable position, focus on breathing and observe your thoughts without judgment. It is harder than it sounds! And as you can see, it is similar to mindfulness meditation.
7. Transcendental meditation
Finally, transcendental meditation consists of being seated and breathing slowly with the goal to transcend or rise above your current state of being. It is a spiritual practice where mantras are sometimes used for different reasons. However, a mantra does not have to be in Sanskrit, it can be, for a boxer like you, something like “I am not afraid to face X person in a fight” or “I will improve my footwork”.
As always, we want to hear from you. Have you practiced meditation before and if so, what benefits can you recall? Do you find in boxing a sort of meditation? Let us know your answers in the comments!
