Submitted by:
Ryan Kasperowitsch
BRLS, MEd |
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Yoga is
about clearing away whatever is in us that prevents our living in the most full
and whole way. With yoga, we become aware of how and where we are restricted —
in body, mind, and heart — and how gradually to open and release these
blockages. As these blockages are cleared, our energy is freed. We start to
feel more harmonious, more at one with ourselves. Our lives begin to flow — or
we begin to flow more in our lives – Cybele Tomlinson (Ayurveda Wisdom, 2003)
When it comes to athletics, and
for the purpose of this article one must intrinsically believe that pool is an
athletic endeavour, every athlete uses a method of triangulation for sport
development. Approaching sport training
from a holistic perspective is something which trainers, coaches, athletes, and
sport medicine professionals have embraced.
So, when looking at current approaches to cue sport development, a
missed opportunity in pool improvement lies in the holistic and mindful
engagement of all available training practices.
Coming
from a background of high level sport pedagogy, and research in neurological processes
of education, I feel that a critical aspect which could hold optimal
development for any pool player is regular Yoga and meditation practices. The following will present my argument and
rationale for incorporation of Yoga for development of the physical, cognitive,
and emotional areas of the self for enriched cueing.
Connecting the Mind
and the Body
A
common exercise which I have engage many of my sport students in is sense
deprivation for enlightened body connection.
For example, I have used a blindfold on high level kayak racers to
improve focus on specific muscle efficiency for maximum water
displacement. Evoking a differentiated
perspective on body kinesthetic movements through a lack of sight is crucial
for building the nuanced fundamentals of body movement. But how can one develop this body and mind
connection through external training?
There must be something which one can do to become more in tune with
their own body, and the micro motions which your brain and body converse
through.
The
answer is through consistent Yoga practices.
The foundation of Yoga in Western culture is in physical positions. Asana is the practice of body postures for
finding balance and understanding of the self.
Without any analysis at all, immediately the prospect of being balanced
and self-enlightened should excite any pool player. Entrenched in the body postures, novice to
advanced, is the focus on posture, alignment, and balance. A brief inspection of Yoga fundamentals will
provide a rationale for improvement of cue kinesthetic movement.
Like any other sport, many
coaches work on physical technique from the ground up. Yoga starts in just the same, as one may
stand or sit in their first pose. With
eyes closed, stand or sit for a few moments with a pointed focus on how the
body feels over the contact points (feet or sit bones). Notice which side feels heavier, the natural
sway of your body to one side or the other, how your hips are uneven, lower
spine is curled and unsupported, upper back is hunched, and a supination of the
head. Everything is out of line, but
without the pointed focus, you have no idea.
Why is that? Much like anything
else, the brain needs to be conditioned to engage in any habitual
behaviour. Consistent practice of Yoga
can condition the brain to be more aware of body alignment, and ultimately
overall mind-body connection becomes a part of natural kinesthetic
processes. Imperative to fine motor
skills needed for pool, this connection to your own body can improve your
stroke by rewiring your neurological processes related to physical action.
Something which can be assumed as
an improvement for the physical self which Yoga can provide are improvements in
health and fitness abilities.
Flexibility, strength, and endurance are all developed through Yoga
practice, and I have observed the undeniable overall improvement this can have
for any athlete. Additionally for
improved health practices, the body degradation from repetitive physical
mechanics requires constant attention, especially if one wants to continue
playing for the lifespan. If you want
longevity out of your pool enjoyment, then a healthy moving body is a
prerequisite.
So, through an analysis of the
potential for mind-body connection, and other inherent benefits, one can see
that Yoga has the opportunity to develop the pool player from holistic physical
engagement. But what else can Yoga do for
the self, other than just an exercise in body mechanics?
Using Pranayama and
Meditation for Better Decision Making
As
previously stated, Western Yoga is movement-centric; however, Eastern
philosophies rely more on a well-rounded approach of breathing and mental
calming (pranayama and meditation). At
first analysis, this seems useful of course.
Take a breath, calm the mind, and take your shot. This should be rudimentary, but concentration
and focus are major factors which impact cueing. It is important for any pool player to be
aware of the ways which can help improve brain functioning for good decisions,
and Yoga can provide the foundations for sound problem solving on the table.
Why is
it in high concentration and focus scenarios that humans engage in breath
cessation? It is not uncommon for
athletes who require high levels of focus to pass out from hypoxia. However, we know enough about neurology now
that oxygen is required for better communication of all parts of the
brain. Pool, being a sport which
requires a high level of creative and pattern/spatial cognition, the
interaction of left and right brain is critical for high level
performance. Without focused breathing
incorporated into your game, you are depriving your brain from the oxygen needed
to perform to your fullest potential.
Much like the mind-body connection which the brain needs to be
conditioned to be made aware of, Yoga can help reinforce the breathing required
for good decisions through fluid neuron activity fueled by oxygen.
Yoga is
roughly defined in the Sutras of the Patanjali as the calming of the fluctuations of the mind. This sentiment alone sounds like something
which would immensely enrich life overall, not only pool. But how can one actually do this? Try calming your mind for a moment, and
immediately you hear your inner voice.
There is always a narration to your life inside your head. You should
be hearing voices; this is your consciousness which enacts your free will. While you try your hardest to quiet it, the
voice is still there, and sometimes even louder. What is important to be aware of is your
ability to care, or not care, about that voice.
Yoga meditation practices attempt not to shut those voices off, but
engage in more of a rational conversation with them. Appropriation of focus can be quite magnetic
in nature, and so meditative practices can help train your brain to magnetize
your focus to what you choose to.
Use
this as an example:
You are cueing on a
rudimentary shot, and your consciousness drifts away from the object ball. Your voices are giving you all sorts of
information layered over top of the pointed concentration of the task at hand:
pocketing the ball. The longer you are
down, the louder the overlaying voices become, and as you swirl into the abyss
of unconscious thoughts, you consciously pull the trigger on the shot, and
miss.
You know that you needed to focus, but you just were not
able to appropriate your unconscious thoughts in the direction you wanted for
conscious action. With training of mind
through meditative practices like any other aspect of sport training, it is
possible for the player to transcend the radio chatter of the unconscious
thoughts. The more you practice
meditation, you will be aware of the irrationality of thought appropriation in
your everyday life, and naturally prove to calm the fluctuations which cause
poor decision making.
With an
alternative perspective on the cognitive impacts Yoga practices can have on
focus and concentration, this further provides a rationale for enriching a pool
training regime with holistic triangulation.
What helps in the big picture of mental health and cognitive awareness
for life, inherently enriches the cueing of any pool player.
Finding Yourself to
Know Yourself
A
common Yoga adage is: Yoga is not about
touching your toes, but what you learn on the way down. Influencing the affective, or emotional,
aspects of your pool game can be developed through Yoga in this same way. As any pool player knows, curbing the
emotions which emanate from such a tumultuous game are crucial to performance. A body mechanic which requires such precision
cannot allow for emotions to detract from execution. By gaining control of the broiling inner self
through Yoga practice, and the self awareness that comes through personal
anguish, one can overcome the emotional factors which damage your ability to
perform.
Much of
my experience lies in educating students in situations of peril (wilderness
expedition and adventure pedagogy) to activate resilience development and self
actualization. Using danger and
consequence to faulty action as a neurological motivator for development of
decision processing, this powerful technique allows for optimal control of the
affective domain of the self. This
frames the rationale for my proposal of Yoga as a training technique to engage
emotional resilience for pool, which requires one to overcome some of the most
emotionally damaging moments (any miss can hit the ego pretty hard).
When
first looking at the Asana aspect of Yoga (the physical practice), one can
immediately perceive the physical anguish which can come from some of the
postures. Bending, twisting, stretching,
balancing; these aspects of any Yoga vinyasa can prove to be physically
difficult. Feelings of pain from deep
stretching, pain from pressure points, discomfort from exertion, and even ego
discomfort from an inability to stay in a posture are all inherent in the
practice of any Yogi. The tacit benefits
from willfully placing yourself in these postures of discomfort train your
brain to be able to deal with peak anxiety, much in the same way I have
explained how the physical and cognitive domains are trained and conditioned.
By
gaining a better understanding of the extremes of emotion, and through training
in Yoga to rewire the brain to overcome emotional distress, one can reach
higher self actualization on the table.
Again, with a holistic approach as the foundation for my rationale, an
overall life ability to control emotion through knowing the self, one can
improve their pool game from the inside out through affective awareness.
Conclusion
After
an analysis of the three domains, physical, cognitive, and affective, which I
feel Yoga helps in athletic training, one can see how on incorporation of Yoga
in cue sport training is imperative.
Gaining a better mind-body connection, improving efficient brain
activity, and a controlled awareness of emotions are all observed outcomes
which I have seen in both my students and myself in various athletic
endeavours. The myriad of improvements
which the practice of Yoga can afford would be in any pool players best
interest. I hope that through reading
this I have made you reflect on your own experiences of how each domain is
influenced, and that I have imposed you to question: Why have I not been doing this from the beginning?
