High-performance athletics, or elite performance, is sport played (or practiced) at its highest level or when athletes push themselves to their absolute highest physical level. Some examples might be ultra-marathon runners or even college athletes. Regardless of the sport, high-performance athletes’ physical, mental, emotional, and even spiritual dimensions are pushed and tested to their maximum level.
Many people think of a grounding practice for yoga or mental health. But there are some profound benefits to incorporating grounding practices when preparing and recovering from high-performance sports. Introduce grounding when preparing for a high-performance event to keep your mind laser focused. This practice also supports your physical body to stay connected to a continuous source of extra energy from the earth. When recovering from a high-performance event, grounding can bring energy into the body, much like traditional energy healing, which decreases pain and quickens your healing and recovery time (for example, from stretched muscles or stressed tissues) to reducing cramping and stabilizing the overall body.
Here are four grounding tips for high-performance preparation and recovery:
TIP #1: Affirm your motivational perspective.
Some grounding practices can include affirmations. Even when your body is stressed to the max, one way to keep going is to use affirmations grounded in your motivations. For example, perhaps you are “doing this for your father” or “connecting to your personal power” or “working hard to set an example for your children.”
TIP #2: Breathe with visualization and intention.
Many grounding practices start with the breath. Anyone who pushes their body knows that regulation of breath patterns and releasing carbon dioxide from the body supports metabolic balance. Overlay visualization with the breath so that your body is moving intentionally. For example, you might visualize the muscles staying oxygenated by grounding the breath with a color or a temperature and watching that color move through the body’s muscles—each deep breath you bring blue into the body. Or, if the muscles or lungs are burning, you can breathe cooling air into the body.
TIP #3: Before and after your sporting event, take some moments to connect with the earth.
The earth has a well of energy waiting to support you. Before your sporting event, take some intentional walks barefoot on the ground and connect with the power of the earth. Bring that energy up through the feet, let it travel up the length of the body, and allow that energy to fill every cell of the body by intention. This connection opens the meridian channels, energy pathways in the body; balances your energy; and helps to move any stuck or stagnated energy from the body. In recovery, this practice can soothe muscles and support the healing of tissues.
TIP #4: Hire an energy medicine specialist or energy healer
There is no substitute for professional help. Energy healing isn’t woo-woo anymore; it has been scientifically proven to support pain management, physical healing, wound healing, and post-operative recovery.
