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Why sports is essential in mental training
Written by Roelien Piron, July 2019
Did you know sports isn't just for health benefits on body and mind? It also improves strategical thinking. At Mind5® sports is a crucial part of the Mind5® M.E.T.H.O.D.©, That is why people like psychologists, psychotherapist and educationalist are so eager to learn from Mind5®. But why exactly do we use sports in our training?
There's lots of research that supports the mental effects of sports. The health benefits of sports might seem obvious, but they shouldn’t be underestimated. Evidence shows that regular sport can lead to lower rates of mortality and positively influences several of our body’s systems – including the cardiovascular system, our metabolic pathways, the immune system, and so on. These sorts of benefits are just one reason why we believe sport is so important to our method.

As well as improving health, sports can make you smarter as it has a significant cognitive influence. For example, it can improve memory and motivation, among other things. Research done by Stanford University has shown that walking improves the creative output of participants by 60 percent compared to participants who did not walk. This is because exercise uses certain parts of the brain which are also needed for us to be able to think in strategic ways.

In a similar study by John Ratey, the effects of sports on a group of difficult students were measured. It showed that when the troubled group of boys did sports in the mornings, their absences from school decreased. John Ratey concluded that: “The evidence seems clear that moving, exercising, playing for about 20-30 minutes on a daily basis, is the best way to make us smarter.
 
Any type of exercise will do – Yoga, tai chi, fast walking, jogging, biking, swimming, and strength training all will improve our attention, memory, thinking, and deepen our understanding and competence in whatever world in which we are involved.”

“The intensity and duration will depend on your level of fitness, but the best strategy is to get a daily dose of moderate exercise that is varied if possible. It is best to do it outside, with a friend or group, and having it be fun so you will return to it and make a commitment to it.”

But there's more...

At Mind5® sports is a crucial part of the Mind5® M.E.T.H.O.D.©. There are three main reasons why we use sports or physical activity.
1. First, it helps us to get out of our minds. When we play sports, we are in the present moment and the present moment is the only place where you can really learn something.

2. Sports also has some great health benefits, both mentally and physically AND it also makes things lighter. It’s easier to use sports as a metaphor when you talk about fear, goals, assertiveness, and communication than when you are talking to a psychologist, therapist, manager or colleague. But maybe the most important reasons out of the three is to use sports to simulate situations. No alt text provided for this image.

3. Sport is a great way to simulate stress and to train bodily and interoceptive awareness. When you experience stress you can feel it in your body.

With Mind5® Training we pay attention to the unconscious mind to help people understand how they respond under pressure, which patterns they have and which beliefs are preventing them from achieving their goals.
Mind5 learning cycle - copyrighted
About Mind5® M.E.T.H.O.D.©.

We help people to thrive under pressure by providing mental and physical training courses which help to improve self-awareness 
and self-management. Participants experience how they respond under pressure and find out how stress influences their mental 
and physical well-being.

The Mind5® M.E.T.H.O.D.© is developed by our Founder Roelien Luijt from The Netherlands.

M = Manage Stress, Pressure and Crisis Situations

E = Energy Management

T = Team Work

H = Hold Focus

O = Optimal Performance

D = Development & Reflection

The Mind5® M.E.T.H.O.D.© is a practice-based program, based on theories from several scientific disciplines such as sports and social psychology, sociology, neuroscience, leadership studies, human movement sciences, and sports coaching.
Are you interested in using The Mind5® M.E.T.H.O.D.© as a coach, trainer, teacher or manager?


Do you want to dive a little deeper into the Mind5 M.E.T.H.O.D. and the Optimal Performance Leader Program?
Leave your email address and receive a white paper and a free 25 minute training session. 
Do you want to dive a little deeper into the Mind5 M.E.T.H.O.D. and the Optimal Performance Leader Program?
Leave your email address and receive a white paper and a free 25 minute training session. 

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