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Mindfulness in Sport
October 2019
By Natalie Christensen, RDN, LD, CSSD
Sports Dietitian, SCORE
This year will be a good year for the Idaho State Women’s Soccer team and I don’t just mean on the field. New head coach, Debs Brereton, is putting a whole new emphasis on Mindfulness and mental health and wellbeing of her athletes. “I want them to be happy and healthy human beings, not just great soccer players” Debs says in her fabulous English accent. She is sitting at a table with campus mental health professionals, athletic trainers, academic advisors, administrators and of course, the sports dietitian.
We have been meeting together all summer with hopes of creating the framework for a campus-wide, collaborative wellness program, but we have decided to start with Athletics, and even smaller, women’s soccer. With feedback from athletes, coaches, trainers and other professionals working with our athletes, we have placed Mindfulness at the core of our framework.
Mindfulness is awareness that arises through paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, mindful.org)
There is substantial research now supporting the use of mindfulness practice among student athletes. Engaging in Mindfulness has been shown to reduce stress, reduce reactivity to negative emotions, and increase feelings of well-being in college students. Research has also found that it can improve focus, wellbeing, and cognitive awareness in athletes. (Goodman et al., 2014; Kabat-Zinn, 2003; Ramier et al., 2016; Thompson et al., 2011)
What does Mindfulness have to do with Nutrition? Mindfulness has to do with everything! Being mindful in our food choices, our emotions surrounding food and our food relationships is essential for creating healthy eating patterns. In our first mindfulness session with the women’s soccer team, we held a Mindful Eating exercise!
As this program continues, we will hold mindfulness sessions and connect them to many different aspects of wellness, ranging from injuries to academics. And guess who is at the center of making these things happen? The sports dietitian! Food and nutrition is interwoven through EVERY aspect of wellness and as RDN’s we must always be aware that our best work is done when collaborating with other professionals.
