Akash K. and Ryuma M.

Do you like sports and mindfulness? Mindfulness is growing in popularity all over the world, from Maine to California, Syria to Japan, Gabon to Kenya, and much more! Do you know what mindfulness is? According to Gale in Context, “Mindfulness is a skill or ability to keep one’s mind focused on the present. A mindful person can pay attention to what is happening in the moment.” Mindfulness is becoming popular in the world and did you know you can also use mindfulness in your classroom?

At Hackley School, students use mindfulness while doing sports. For example, in the middle of a game players can take a water break and that’s a way of showing mindfulness. In football, the players show mindfulness by taking breaks to discuss the next play or in soccer they have halftime to rest their bodies by taking deep breaths. This allows the athlete’s body to calm down and relax. Golf players use mindfulness by taking deep breaths if they miss the hole. In baseball some teams show mindfulness by taking a break and singing the song YMCA by the Village People. 

For this article, we interviewed a Mr. Frolo, PE teacher at Hackley. According to Mr. Frolo, ”Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where and what they are doing as they are playing in their games. This helps an athlete to not be overly reactive or to be overwhelmed by what is going on in the game they’re playing. When an athlete is mindful, they are able to reduce stress.“ We asked Mr. Frolo what specific mindfulness techniques do athletes use. He said, “It depends on the athlete. Some will use meditation, while others use yoga. Taking slow, deep breaths can be very relaxing. The important part is to just do it!” We hope you have learned a little more about sports and mindfulness!