Muay Thai and Mindfulness Meditation
Two of my current passions are mindfulness meditation and Muay Thai. I’ve only been attending lesson in this martial arts for three months but I’ve meditated for years. I am pleased to find that these to practices fit well together, in fact mindfulness can be extremely advantageous for Muay Thai training. In my last post on my training progress (see here) I mentioned how the instructor liked to really push me. It can get so that I feel like I’m about to hit the canvas with exhaustion. When I’m mindful it is much easier to push on.
Mindfulness meditation is ideal for dealing with physical pain. I’ve found that Muay Thai training can involve quite a bit of physical discomfort. An important idea in Buddhist teaching is that we tend to increase our own suffering because we don’t know our minds. This has been described by using the analogy of being hit by two arrows; we have the actual arrow that strikes us but an added arrow that comes from our own minds.
If we are not mindful it can mean we suffer a lot more than we need to. It is like our brain is magnifying the pain by creating fear and revulsion and by also tensing the body. If we are able to be more mindful then we only need to suffer the actual pain; not all that extra mental nonsense. In most instances the discomfort that previously felt unbearable becomes a lot more manageable. Proof of this can be seen by the number of medical institutions around the world that are encouraging the use of mindfulness to treat chronic pain.
When I’m training I just try to focus on the moment. This means that my thinking is not wandering off into ideas about how hard it all is. The fact that I meditate regularly usually means that I have a good level of concentration to remain mindful for long periods of time. As I get more tired during the training session though, I need to keep on brining my mind back to the moment. It is not always easy, but it is great to see the effectiveness of mindfulness in a real situation. It also means that I’m more aware of what is going on; a great advantage when the trainer starts attacking.
Don’t Forget to Visit the Middle Aged Muay Thai Website (just click on the highlighted text and you will be taken right there)
Paul I’m sure mindfulness meditation has huge benefits for your training and in many over walks of life. The mind is a powerful tool.
In sport I also think the old pump and rush of adrenalin is a huge help to. It can refocus your mind when in normal circumstances you’d literally be out for the count. Adrenalin and mindfulness meditation are probably a great combination in combat sports.
Might we see the top photo on a few Muay Thai posters advertising the second coming of the Great White Hope.
Thanks Martyn, you are right about the adrenalin rush alright. I think this is what makes physical activity so attractive.
I doubt this photo will be going on any advertising. When the flash went I closed my eyes. I used black and white because it looked slightly less noticeable.