Recounting  the race, Senna explained how he achieved t his without
conscious ef fort : Letting his instincts guide him, he felt as if the circuit had
become a tunnel, and no matter how fast he drove, there was always room
for more. Enter the Zone at W ill
The zon e is nothing more than p erforming in the absence of tho ught. When
the mind is still and thoughts are no longer a distraction, you are able to
give an activity your complete and undivided attention. Being a ble to focus
without distracti ng thoughts defines concentration, a vital attribute for the
proper e xecution of any action a nd the achievement of any goa l. An active
mind re sults in diminished con centration as every little thought interferes
with the  task at hand. For example, an individual who is readin g this book
with an active mind is merely looking at the page. His attention is
elsewhere on a never -ending train of repetitive and useles s thinking. Although his eyes might be following the sentences, his mind is not. When
he re aches the bottom of the page, it is unlikely that he will remember much
of the content. Nowadays, as we spend more time communicating via social media,
playing computer games, an d surfing the Internet, our powers of
concentration are diminishing. A ccording to international motiv ational guru
Kevin K elly , we  are now living  in an attention-deficit society . T he dial has
moved from conversation to presentation and from dialogue to monologue. W e no longer give each other our undivided attention, and neit her do we
take the time to observe our own breathing or allow our minds to still. T ed Selker of th e Massachusetts Institute of T echnology supp orts this
view , cl aiming t hat because the Internet of fers so much choice  we end up
spending our time flitting from one thing to another , shortening our
attention spans and forming a h abit of poor concentration. Selker suggests
that the nature of web browsing can leave us with an attention span of just 9
seconds—the same as that of a goldfish. Reading a piece in the  New  Y o rk T imes ,  I  was surprised to learn that the
children of the l ate Apple founder Steve Jobs hadn’ t been introduced to the
iPad. W hen journalist Nick Bilton asked Jobs if his children loved thegadget, he replied, “They haven’ t used it. W e limit how much technology
our kids use at home.” This stance has been echoed by a number of
technology chief executives, wh o set very strict criteria on the amount of
screen time their children experience—all too aware of the implications of
extended periods spent looking at a screen. As the modern world becomes
increasingly dep endent on screens and devices, gadget addiction has the
potential to isolate people from  the world around them, subd uing social
interaction and increasing mind activity . Not only is an overactive mind less conducive to focus and prod uctivity ,
it also leads to  increased stress, anxiety , and depression—all of which
contribute to mental health problems and a reduced quality of life. The importance of being able to control and still the mind cannot be
overestimated. An athlete with a quiet mind will enjoy good  powers of
concentration an d be able to enter the zone at will, but an athlete with an
active mind will have a head full of unnecessary thoughts and will find it
dif ficult to enter the zone. If the mind is overactive during d aily life, it
follows that the mind will be ov eractive during sports. Only when the mind
is relatively still during normal daily life can the athlete enter the zone
during competit ion. A still mind can be attained through having a high
BOL T score, using meditation,  and developing awareness of the mind—
nothing else. Y ou could, of co urse, go down to your local bar and drink six or seven
lar ge beers. No doubt this appro ach will quiet the mind. As appealing as it
sounds, achieving a state of m ind where thoughts are drowned out with
alcohol is not conducive to alertness and increased performance. Instead,
for thousands of years, human  beings have practiced dif ferent forms of
meditation to quiet and tame the mind. Meditation allows you to pay
attention to your thoughts, emotions, and feelings, while reducing repetitive
and useless thinking. R yan Giggs made his first appe arance for the Premiership football club
Manchester United during the 1990–91 season. As the most decorated
player in English football history , Giggs has won thirteen Premier League
medals, four F A cup winner ’ s m edals, three League cup winner ’ s medals,
and two  Champions League winner ’ s medals. At the age of forty , when
most of  his peers had long since retired, Giggs continu ed to play
professional Pre mier League football. So what is his secret? A ccording toGiggs, self-awar eness has been a major factor in his extended career: “The
focus on oneself is hugely important, even if it is only for a d aily hour of
stretches and meditation,” he says. The renowned golfer T iger W oods is also well known fo r using
meditation to improve his game. T iger ’ s father , Earl W oods, was
instrumental in developing his son’ s concentration. Earl W oods explained
he w ould repeatedly attempt to distract his son as he practiced h is swing by
dropping a golf bag or shouting obscenities. Earl W oods believed that T iger
could be the “first black intuitive golfer ever raised in the United States”
and tested his meditative concentration from a very young ag e. And his
prediction came  true: T iger W oods has been the world number one golfer
for m ore consecutive weeks tha n any other player in history . The ability to
play sports intuitively relies on complete immersion in the zone , where the
right act ion occu rs ef fortlessly and the golfer and the game become one. In
the film The Legend of Bagger V ance,  t he  celebrated coach describes  the
perfect swing as being in harmo ny with “all that is, all that was,  and all that
will be.”
T o get to this p lace and access intuitive intelligence, it is nece ssary to
practice quieting the mind. Intuitive intelligence is not learned but
experienced. Th ose who bring about monumental change and success in
this wor ld have access to it. For some it is an automatic process . For others,
including myself, it has to be developed. A clear example of intuitive
intelligence can be found in th e late Steve Jobs. In an interview with his
biographer W alter Isaacson, he described observing how peop le living in
India rel ied a lot more on their intuition than the analytical reas oning of the
W est. Jobs believed that intuitiv e intelligence was more powerful than the
intellectual intel ligence revered in the W estern world. Jobs was a dreamer ,
putting logic aside and accessing the power of universal intelligence
through a still mind. It is because of this intuition and creativity that
products such as the iPhone, iPad, and Mac came into being. In th e pa st, med itation has evoked a negative image as a hippie exercise
practiced by those with nothing better to do. Slowly but surely t his image is
changing, as scientists have begun to recognize the many benefits of
quieting the mind, such as redu cing anxiety and improving attention and
concentration during stressful challenges.A 2014  study investigated w hether mindfulness meditation–based
techniques influenced the resilie nce of United States Marines. Eight Marine
infantry platoon s comprising 281 soldiers were randomly divided into two
groups. One group received t wenty hours of classroom instruction in
mindfulness and  practiced the t echniques for at least a half hour daily for
eight weeks. The second group  did not receive any mindfulne ss training. Both groups then participated in training under battlefield conditions. In a
report published in the American Journ al of Psychiatry ,  the researchers
concluded that the marines who practiced mindfulness experienced
improved quality of sleep, reduced stress, and a quicker recov ery of heart
rate and breathing following intensive combat training. In other studies with U.S. Marines trained in mindfulness-based
techniques, brai n scans revealed similarities to those of Special Forces
soldiers and Olympic athletes, and the area of the brain responsible for
controlling fear was shown to have actually shrunk. During warfare,
business, sports,  or even normal  family life, a calm, attentive, and collected
mind always results in better decision making. Staying fully focused during
a stressf ul situation is essential if you want to take the correc t course of
action. Until re cently , it was commonly believed that the brain stopped
developing when  we reached ad ulthood. It has only been within  the last few
years that scientists have disc overed that the brain can be changed by
practicing mind fulness meditati on. This is tremendous news, n ot only for
those in  sports but also for anyone suf fering from anxiety or depression. The ability to bring about chang es in the brain could enable people to take
back con trol of their mental health rather than accepting a lifelong reliance
on mind-altering medication. Neuroscientists from the most prestigious universities around the world,
including Harvard and MIT , have conducted much research to investigate
the changes that take place in t he brains of people who medita te. There is
strong evidence that present-moment awareness literally changes the brain,
making many regions more powerful and ef ficient. A team of scientists
from the University of British  Columbia and Chemnitz University of
T echnology pooled data from twenty studies investigating this
phenomenon. R emarkably , all studies showed that mindfulness meditation
resulted in an increased density of gray matter , leading to more ef fectiveprocessing of information. MRI scans revealed that at least eight dif ferent
regions of the brain increased in ef ficiency , including the orbitofrontal and
hippocampal, w hich play a role in our ability to hold attention, cultivate
positive emotions, and retain emotional stability . People who meditate are
happier with themselves, are better able to resist distractions, and learn from
past experience—all traits that are essential in today’ s modern life. The anc ient Greek aphorism “know thyself” is written in the forecourt
of the T emple o f Apollo at Delphi. While its exact meaning is often the
subject o f debate  among scholars, in the context of harnessing the power of
meditation, the words ring with  truth. When you are mindful, you become
more aw are of your inner monologue, allowing you to stop the cycle of
compulsive thought processes an d step out of the prison of self- doubt. Only
when yo u realiz e that you are a prisoner of the mind is it possible to escape. And while the w alls and bars ma y not be concrete and steel, being a captive
of your thoughts can have a sig nificant ef fect on your ability t o focus and
perform. I like to divide thoughts into two categories: practical thoughts,  which
are useful and serve a purpose, and distracting thoughts,  which serve no
purpose at all. T o decide on a course of action and achieve anyt hing in life,
practical thoughts are essential. Conversely , distracting, useles s, repetitive
thoughts only serve to scatter your focus and prevent you from entering the
zone. Practical thoughts will help an athlete to plan for an upcoming event,
put t ogether a training schedule, and or ganize any logistics such  as booking
travel o r accommodation. Prio r to a game an athlete might channel his
thoughts into rehearsing the pe rfect shot or visualizing winning the race
with confidence . Mental imagery like this can serve as useful preparation
and is a positive way to use your thoughts. Distracting thoughts, however , will be habitually negative and irrational,
often so automatic that the individual is unaware of them. This type of
thinking creates tension, draining you of ener gy and distracting your game. As the Irish writer Oscar W ilde once said, “Thinking is the most unhealthy
thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease.”
Thinking is a habit. W e have been taught how to think by the in fluences
of societ y , education, and our fr iends and family . From a young  age we are
conditioned to believe that think ing is a good thing—how many  times haveyou been told to “think about it” or “think it over”? Developing the mind
into a sharp analytical tool is o bviously very useful for achieving in the
world of  academ ics and other li velihoods, and while it is impor tant that we
learn how to th ink, it is equa lly important that we learn how to stop
thinking. Just as a fire provides  comfort and warmth from the cold, it can
also be a destructive force when out of control. The mind is  a similarly
double-edged sword. At this point you might be thin king, What is he talking about? I’m in
contr ol of my own mind! But are you really? How easily can you turn of f
your thoughts? I would like you  to try a simple exercise: Stop t hinking and
observe how long it takes before the first thoughts enter . Is it 5 or 10
seconds, perhaps? The deg ree to which you are in control of your mind depends on how
long you are ab le to remain free  from thought. The longer you can remain
ef fortlessly free from thought, the better your powers of concentration and
focus. Most people are only able to clear their mind for a few seconds at
most. It is likely that your mind has more control over you th an you may
have im agined. The good news is that there is much to gain from taking
control o f your thought processe s. Learning to quiet your mind is easy to do
with a little focus and practice. Think of it as a challenge, just lik e any other
new form of training, but one that will inevitably improve your health and
sports performance. The first step to escape the trappings of a busy mind and take control of
your thought processes is to become aware of the thoughts inside your head. Seldom do we observe our minds. Seldom are we aware of our thought
activity and the ef fect it has on mood, tension, and performance . Bring your
thoughts to the f orefront of your mind. When you first observe the activity
in your head, you might find that your thoughts become amplified. This is
simply because they are under y our scrutiny rather than running unhindered
in th e background. Y ou may als o discover that the same repetitive thoughts
have been running through you r mind for quite some time, possibly for
years. T his is also normal, so d on’ t be critical of yourself. Ob serving the
mind is a most p ositive activity , allowing you to realize just how active it is. This aw areness is the first step in allowing you to break free from the
trappings of the mind and improve your concentration and focus.When y ou take time out to obse rve your thoughts, you will rea lize just
how ofte n you are stuck inside your head. There is no need to  analyze or
judge what is going through your mind—doing so will only pile on more
thoughts. The mind is never calmed by further questioning, and thinking too
much is the very habit that we want to address. In order to step out of this
constant circle of thought—to get out of your head and into life—you must
learn to tame your mind. By s imply making the commitm ent to pay attention to your thoughts
periodically thro ughout the day , you can take control of the most important
tool you  possess —the power of your mind. The clarity of your mind plays a
significant role in determining  your quality of life: A still mind brings
benefit to your sleep patterns,  mood, and health, while a mind full of
incessant though ts and distractions will blunt your ability to reach your full
potential. It is especially important to observe your thoughts w hen an
undercurrent of negative thou ght takes over . Don’ t let yourself be
overwhelmed by self-doubt and  worry . The mind is unable to dif ferentiate
between an imagined and a real event; to the body , both are the same. If you
are experiencing  pregame nerves or overthinking the decision o f a coach or
worrying about being dropped f rom the team or anxious that you won’ t be
able to complete that charity fun run, your body will react as if the event
has alrea dy taken place. As soon as you become aware of an anxious train
of thought, take notice of its ef fect on your body . Does your head or
stomach feel tense? Is your b reathing getting faster? Are negative and
repetitive thoughts causing y ou to feel nauseated? How you think
determines how you feel, and how you feel feeds back into how you think. A feeding frenzy of negative thought and emotion will inevitab ly result in
poor performance and health. Each tim e you find your head fu ll of internal chattering, ask yo urself if
all th is t hinking and analysis is a ctually helpful. Is it getting you  anywhere? Is it helping to s olve the problem? If you continue thinking in th is way , will
it do  any thing to address the situation, or is it just a never -ending merry-go-
round of  habitual anxiety? Asking these questions provides an insight into
the nature of repetitive thought and the way it af fects your life. The
realization that these negative thoughts serve no purpose to you can of fer
the impetus you need to escape from the clutches of your mind.Be patie nt with your observation. At first, your thoughts may continue
unabated as you start to notice t he tension created within your body—your
heart beats faster , butterflies flut ter in your stomach, and your mind refuses
to cease  its activity . In time, an d with practice, you will learn to still your
mind an d take back control. O bserve your thoughts as many times as
possible throughout your day , especially when faced with a challenge. There w ill be times when you can quiet your mind ef fortlessly; at other
times th e buildup of emotions may make it more dif ficult. Either way ,
observe how negative thinking af fects your body and ask your self if these
types of thoughts are useful to you. Simply asking yourself th is question
will bring awareness to your life and allow you to know yourself better . In time, if you commit to observing your thoughts and the ef fect they
have on your b ody , you will find you spend less ener gy on fruitless
thinking. Y our mind will be clearer , your body more relaxed, and life will
become easier . Y ou will notice more of what takes place around you and
miss less. Repetitive, regur gitating thought is extremely draining, causin g stress,
tiredness, and headaches. The less headspace you give to negative thinking,
the more room you have in your life for positivity and improvement. Consider the following example:
Michael is driving his car to an important training session, well aware
that he is likely  to be late. As he projects his mind into the  future, he
imagines and rehearses the rea ction from his coach and team mates. He
cannot stop these thoughts circ ling around his head, worrying about the
outcome, getting  frustrated with traf fic, and generally winding himself up. His body  feels tense, a headache begins to take hold, and he probably starts
to drive faster than he should. Alan is also driving on his way to a training session. It is likely  that he
too will be late. Knowing that he is doing the best he can to get there on
time and that no amount of worrying is going to get him there any faster ,
Alan brings his attention to his b reath, observing the flow of air as it enters
and leaves his body . Every now  and again the thought of being late enters
Alan’ s mind. As he notices the  thoughts, he asks himself whether these
thoughts are helpful. Knowing only too well that anxiety will only serve to
make hi m tense and distract him, he takes his attention back to  his breath,
keeping himself calm and relaxed.Now im agine bo th Michael and Alan are cut of f by another car ,  forcing
each of them to apply the brake s. How do you think each one reacts to the
situation? Most likely , Michael is engulfed in rage and soun ds the horn
angrily . Alan, on the other han d, chooses not to react and does not get
sucked into the situation. In this example, the two drivers were presented with the same
challenge, but while one immediately reacted to the challenge, the other
responded by choosing to let i t go. There is no doubt that a  stressed or
anxious person reacts more str ongly to a dif ficult event than a relatively
calm person. Keeping a quiet mind enables you to consider a situation more
objectively and choose how to respond rather than being consumed by the
moment. Alan had the choice to respond or not. Michael’ s instincts took
over before he could make a conscious decision. In a ddition to observing your t houghts, it is just as vital to be  able to
quiet yo ur mind . T ogether , these skills will magnify your ability  to enter the
zone du ring spo rts. When you f irst practice taming your mind it is normal
to fi nd distracting thoughts ente ring your head every few seconds. In fact,
you sho uld expect them to appear . Do not be dishear tened—this
bombardment o f thoughts has built up through years of condi tioning and
will take time to strip away . Layer upon layer of thoughts have been added
by every  influen ce in your life : education, religion, society , relationships,
and wor k. The mind has simpl y developed a bad habit; it knows how to
think but is unable to stop thinking. When yo u first begin practicing meditation, try not to become frustrated
when the mind wanders, becaus e it inevitably will. Many peop le abandon
meditation too quickly when they find it isn’ t an instant fix. Y ou may feel
discouraged if your thoughts do n’ t switch of f as quickly as you had hoped,
but try to view t he practice as ju st that: practice, not as a fixed outcome or
goal. Y our intention while meditating  should be to make a dedicated ef fort to
become aware of your own mind, to observe your thoughts, and to practice
simply being still and present. T houghts will enter . Thoughts will go. That
is th e nature o f the human mind. Each time you notice your mind
wandering, all you need to do is gently bring your attention b ack to your
breath or bring your awareness to your inner body .All throughout my time at school, college, and my early years of work,
my m ind was ex tremely active. I believed that thinking was a po sitive thing
but had no wa y of dif ferentiating practical thoughts from  repetitive,
unnecessary , or negative ways of thinking. Most of the time I li ved stuck in
my h ead, on aut omatic pilot, without realizing just how constantly thoughts
were streaming through my min d. Having such an active mind  diminished
my concentration—to achieve good grades it was ne cessary for me t o spend
many hours studying, and I found it dif ficult to retain information as there
simply w asn’ t any room left in  my head. For one university exam I spent
three mo nths studying in the B erkeley Library at T rinity College Dublin. An hour before t he examination  I headed there again with all my notes for a
last-minute recap and was joined by my friend T erry , who hadn’ t prepared
at al l. W hile the rest of us had been studying business, T erry had devoted all
of his time setting up a tax recla mation service. He borrowed my notes and
studied them for a mere 15 m inutes. As I observed his unw avering and
ef fortless concentration, I could not help but notice that T erry had
something I did not. My concentration at that time was so poor that I was
easily di stracted, and the little a ttention I had was forced. Whe n the exam
results c ame back, I was somewhat scandalized to discover tha t T erry had
secured the very same mark as me. What he achieved in 15 m inutes took
me three months. This is exa ctly the dif ference between a productive,
focused, and concentrated mind and one that is out of control. T o g et through university I c ontinued my long hours of s tudying,
experiencing str ess, fatigue, and severe respiratory problems in the process,
completely unaw are that my mind was working against me. T w enty years
later , it comes a s no surprise th at T erry’ s company employs one thousand
people, winning countless awards in business and customer service. A s kittering mind, jumping from thought to thought, is a leech to
productivity , cre ative endeavor , and quality of life. Having a fo cused mind
is probably the greatest asset in every walk of life, whatever your
occupation or lifestyle. After university  I secured a job in middle management with a U.S.-
based ca r rental company . W e were indoctrinated into the philosophy of the
company , molded to perform, and encouraged to give the best years of our
lives for  profit. W e were told exactly how to answer the phones, how to
deliver spiels to potential customers, and how to upsell collision damagewaivers. There were tar gets to be met, employees to be managed, and sales
calls to be made . Each Monday morning I dreaded the thought of going in
to work. I was a living wreck at age twenty-four . My mind never stopped,
my stress levels soared, and the more I thought about leaving the job, the
more my mind kept me trapped in it. Just as I was reaching the bre aking point I heard about a course in
personal development and jumped at the chance to enroll. During the course
the instr uctor sp oke about the importance of a still mind, and guided us
through a simple meditation. A fter the very first session I noticed my
perception was suddenly much clearer and lighter . The tension had left my
head, m y mind was quieter , and for the first time I caught a glimpse of
stillness. As I walked home, it was as if my thoughts had been put to one
side, allo wing m e to focus my complete attention on the sights, sounds, and
smells around me. I had walked down Grafton Street in Dublin many times
before, but never had I actually been  t her e. O n previo us visits, my at tention
had been completely stuck in my head. I would walk from one end of the
street to the other without remembering any aspect of the journey . It is
dif ficult to relate to life, or be part of life, when all your attention is stuck in
your mind. The next morning I found my m ind swamped once again with internal
chatter , but the u nfor gettable experience from the day before remained with
me. This epiphany occurred in the late 1990s, and in the months that
followed I made a dedicated ef fort to bring stillness of the mind into my
life. I had many ups and downs  on my initial journey to quieting my mind
—there were days when my mind was out of control and I felt like I was
getting n owhere—but I now regard that time spent in quiet solitude as my
most productive ever . W e are conditi oned to believe that in order to be productive and
successful we must be consta ntly doing something. This belief, which
forms the basis of modern society , is quite insane. W e are not human
doings;  we are human beings . D uring  my workshops, studen ts are often
astonished to hear that if I were given the choice between my degree—
which I worked so hard for—and learning to reduce my thought activity , I
would choose the latter without hesitation. I d o my best to m ake my life a meditation, and I would estimate that my
thought activity has reduced by around 50 percent since I first beganpracticing stilling my mind. Now , my thoughts are more practical: I set my
goals, d ecide on  a course of action, and set out to achieve them. Because
there is more space between my thoughts, there is room for cr eative ideas
and solutions to enter . I bring my mind into stillness many times throughout
the day by focusing on my breath or taking my attention int o my inner
body . O f course, negative thoughts do sometimes appear; I still get upset
and angry from time to time, and I have no problem confronting and
challenging ano ther person if re quired, but this is part and parcel of being
alive. In nature, animals will s ometimes fight, but after the co nfrontation
they will go thei r separate ways, living life instead of dwelling on the event
for hours on end. Nature moves simultaneously with time. More often than
not, we humans spend much of our lives either stuck in the past or
anxiously trying to get to the future. How can we possibly expect to utilize
the full power of our brains if all our attention is consumed by habitual
thought? Since I learned to still my mind , one of the main dif ferences to my life
is th at when faced with a challenge I feel less daunted and am able to
recover from a setback much more quickly . By waking up to what takes
place in my mind, I have a greater choice over whether I continue with the
stream of thought or step out of it. In my early twenties, I never realized
that I had this choice. Until I und erstood that I was the prisoner of my mind,
I wa s unable to dif ferentiate bet ween my all-consuming thought s and who I
really w as. By drastically reduci ng nonsense thoughts, my mind is now free
to concentrate on anything of my choosing. At age forty-one, my
concentration, ener gy , focus, and happiness have increased tenfold
compared to when I was sixteen —and all I have done is learn how to stop
thinking. My life was completely transformed by three simple techniques:
breathing lightly , mer ging with my inner body , and bringing m y attention
into the present moment. Each of these practices has been inst rumental in
improving my quality of life, reducing unnecessary thought activity , helping
to access intuitive intelligence, and enabling creativity in my work. These
powerful exercises are straightforward, quick to learn, and can be easily
incorporated into your way of life. Practice the following techniques
regularly to begin reclaiming your mind and clearing your head.Follow the Br eath to Enter the Zone
This spo rts meditation is based on the exercise Breathe Light  to Breathe
Right, w hich w as introduced on page 74. The objective is to follow the
pattern of your breath and brin g a feeling of relaxation throughout your
body in order to quiet the mind. Following the breath involve s observing
the cycle of each inhalation and exhalation, and is a simple and useful
method of internalizing your focus while shutting out any unnecessary
thoughts. When first beginning your meditation practice, try to choose a place
where y ou will not be distracted . Sitting in an upright position helps you to
focus, w hile closing your eyes helps to direct your attention inward. W ith
experience, observing the breath and bringing your attention into the inner
body can be practiced during any situation or activity . Following the breath is an activity innate to humans and has been
practiced since time immemorial. The breath is the bridge between the mind
and the  body . In order to enter the zone during any type of sports
competition, the body and mind must be mer ged together so that you can
become one with the game. The breath can be felt entering and leaving the body at four distinct
points. The first is the area just inside the nose, the second is the area at the
back of the throat, the third is  movement of the chest, and the fourth is
movement of the abdomen. Y o u may find it easier to focus on one point
more than others—experiment as you practice to see which  feels most
natural for you. T o b egin, place one hand on you r chest and one hand on your abdomen,
just abov e your navel. Follow y our breath as it enters the nostrils or passes
down the throat. Concentrate o n the area you are breathing into—are you
using your chest or your abdomen to inhale? Do you feel your chest rise
and fall with each breath, or do you feel your abdomen move g ently in and
out? Do  not change your breathing, simply observe it. At first, you might
find you r mind wandering—don’ t worry if it does but simply  bring your
attention gently back to the breath. As you observe your breathing, continue to relax your inner body . Using
mental encourag ement, silently tell the muscles of your chest an d abdomento re lax. As you feel your body soften, gently slow your breath. There is no
need to deliberately interfere with the breathing muscles by tens ing them or
restricting your breathing. Instead, simply allow your breathing to become
quiet and soft, using mental commands to relax your body . The objective here is to reduce your breathing to the point where you
create a mild to moderate hunge r for air . This need for air should be distinct
but not so strong  that your breathing accelerates, or your abdomen muscles
contract, or the rhythm of your breath becomes chaotic. If you do find that
your breathing becomes disturbed by the hunger for air , then take a break
from the exercise for about 15 seconds and resume when your breathing is
back to normal. T ry this breathing practice for 10 minutes or so. Breathing exercises of all kinds are helpful for taking attention from the
mind and into the present moment. However , the creation and maintenance
of a tolerable air shortage over the course of this exercise can be
instrumental in further slowing  down the activity of the mind. There is
nothing like the feeling of an air shortage for anchoring attention to the
breath. An additional benefit to breathing lightly is the activa tion of the
body’ s relaxation response, indicated by increased production of watery
saliva in the m outh. The technique and ef fects of reduced br eathing are
explored in more detail in chapter 4. When I first started to use this method of observing the breath during
meditation, I sometimes became frustrated to find my mind wandering. This
is natural. In fa ct, you should expect your mind to wander at first. W ith
practice, your mind will wander less and less, the gap between thoughts will
increase, and you will feel happier and more alert. By p racticing meditation regula rly , you will find that your attention no
longer s pends so  much time in your mind, separated from life, dwelling on
things y ou cann ot change and t hings that have not happened y et. Over the
past fifteen years I have completed several periods of “noble silence”—a
series of ten consecutive days when I wake up at five in the morning and
meditate until it is time to retire  to bed at eight o’clock at night. Car keys,
computer , phone, and wallet are put away . Noble silence involves a silence
of the tongue an d mind—no talking or thinking. At the end of the ten days,
my mind is razor -sharp, calm, alert, and focused. For those starting out in meditation, even a short period of 10 minutes
observing the breath can bring about great changes in your life. Spend twoweeks o bserving your breath as often as you can throughout the day . More
important than the length  of time you obs erve your breath during one sitting
is the number of times you bring attention to your breathing throughout the
day . See and feel the dif ference  that this practice makes to your focus and
concentration during sports and in your everyday life. Connect with the Inner Body to Enter the Zone
Focusing on oneself involves ta king attention out of the mind and mer ging
with the miracle that is the h uman body . There is an intel ligence that
operates within our bodies, far  greater than that within the mind. Every
moment, thousa nds of functions automatically take place within the body
without any direction from the mind. The intelligence of the mind is but a
mere fr action of the natural i ntelligence that resides within the body . Consider the many vital automa tic functions of the body , such as breathing,
the beating of the heart, and the process of digestion—conscious thoughts
are n ot r equired for these complex and tireless processes, but imagine if just
one of these activities was the re sponsibility of the human mind. Even if the
mind was only responsible for directing each breath—a relatively
straightforward procedure—it is unlikely that we would last fo r more than
an hour . The hu man body is a miracle and operates on such a  vast innate
intelligence that it is unlikely human beings will ever be able to produce
comparable technology . Despite man’ s best ef forts to develop a robot to
parallel the human body , protot ypes are awkward and capable of handling
only a small number of functions. The natural intelligence that resides in the
human body is incredible, and we all have access to its capabilities so long
as w e do not allow the mind to overshadow it. Simply by taking your
attention from incessant thinkin g and directing your senses into the inner
body , yo u will be able to draw from the stillness and intelligence residing
there. In the W estern  world we rar ely focus on the inner body unless
something is wrong. Seldom do we pay attention to the body when it is free
from pain. Seldom do we truly experience our body as alive and feel the
vibration of ener gy that resonat es there. The body is your connection with
this ene r gy . If you have never directed your attention to your inner bodybefore, start of f slowly . If you have learned to follow and r educe your
breath, you will find this relatively easy to do. Close yo ur eyes  and bring your  attention to one of your hands. Direct
your foc us to the hand and feel it from within. W ith your eyes closed, feel
the i nner sensations of your hand. Y ou may begin to notice the temperature
of the air against your skin, or you may feel subtle inner bodily sensations. Stay with these sensations for a little while and quietly observe them. When
you are focused on the inner bodily sensations of your hand, move your
attention to include your arm. Now feel the inner bodily sensation of your
hand and arm together . Do not analyze or think about it, just feel it. Next, bring attention to your chest and focus from within for a minute
or s o. Y ou may feel the texture of your clothes against your s kin, or you
may feel the heat emanating fro m your chest. After a minute or so, bring
attention to your stomach and check for any tension. If your stomach is
tense, imagine it gradually relaxing. Feel the area around your abdomen
gently so ftening as the tension dissolves away . The more active  your mind,
the greater the tendency that your stomach will be in a knot. Relax this area
using your imagination and allow any tension to disappear . Now feel the ener gy field of both hands, both arms, your chest, and your
abdomen at the same time. Keep your attention there. As long as your
attention is on your body , it is not on your mind. The incess ant thought
activity of your mind will gradually slow down as your focus remains on
your inner body . W ith a little practice, you will be able to focus your attention on your
inner body from head to toe. Dispersing your attention throughout the inner
body is especia lly helpful during physical exercise and competition, and
this exercise can help you to enter the zone at will. Live in the Now to Enter the Zone
By following the breath and bringing attention to the inner body , we are
able to bring our attention to the present moment. The pre sent mo ment is the only  time in which life truly unfolds. Y ou
cannot r e-live your life in the past, nor can you live your life in the future. When the future arrives, it is the now . Be here fully . Do not spend yourentire life, as most of humanit y , with all of your attention stuck in your
head. Ho w can you relate to the reality of life if you are too bu sy focusing
on memories, worries, and what-ifs? A simple practice to bring your attention to the present moment is to
mer ge with your surroundings . W e connect to our surroun dings in a
physical way , through the five senses of sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell
—not by intellectual perception s. Put aside the habit of analyzing, judging,
labeling, and comparing everything you see. Instead, bring a gen tle focus to
your surroundings without the usual running commentary . T ake your
attention out of your thoughts and look around. Really  lo ok, as if you  are
seeing things for the very first  time. As you look, begin to l isten to the
sounds rising and falling arou nd you. As you look and listen, feel the
weight of your body , whether you are standing, sitting, or lying. Feel the
warmth or coldness of the air on your face. Feel the clothes on  your back. Bring in your other senses of smell and taste. Now you are  free from
thought. Now you are free from internal noise and distractions. Y ou are like
a child, seeing everything for the first time. It is that simple. Live Y our Daily Life in the Zone
Quieting the mind should not j ust be limited to the time spent in formal
meditation. Instead, your whole  life should be a meditation. Each day , as
you go about your daily af fairs, bring your attention to your breathing and
your inner body . As you watch T V , do not surrender all of your attention to
the p rogram, but immerse yourself in your inner body . As you w alk, jog, or
run, foll ow the natural rhythm of your breath and disperse your attention
throughout your body . Scan your body for any tension that may be residing
there, and bring a gentle feeling of release to tense areas to  encourage
relaxation. T ensi on of muscle groups during sports is counterproductive and
consumes ener gy—learn to rec ognize areas of tension in your body and
practice melting them away with the power of your mind. T o observe complete relaxation of all muscles groups, watch a video of
a cheetah gracefully running at full throttle. The leg muscles look to be
completely relaxed and floppy as the animal moves ef fortlessly between
strides. The cheetah is able to d evote all of its ener gy to its speed throughcomplete relaxation as it runs. Practice running with your entire body
instead of just your head. Imagine running without a head. Be headless for
the duration of y our run. Run wi th every cell in the remainder of your body . Mer ge with the movement and become one with it. Bringing a feeling of
relaxation throu ghout your body while you exercise allows you  to go with
the f low and en ter the zone. Th e greater the proportion of your daily life
that is spent unhindered by thought, the easier you will find entering the
zone during competition. A Concentrated and Undivided Mind
Imagine a pool player who wins  ten games in a row . During ea ch game, he
is in the flow , pocketing balls easily while positioning the cue ball perfectly
for the next shot. His game is ef fortless and spontaneous. Based on his suc cess, the player decides to place a wager of five dollars
that he will win the next game. No longer is he doing the acti vity for the
experience or enjoyment of it. N ow he has an ulterior motive, and his mind
is d ivided between the wager and playing the game. Only part of his
attention remains on the activity . He has lost focus, and he loses. Ronan O’Gara is a former rugb y union player who played for  Ireland
and Munster . Considered by m any to be one of the best fly-halfs of his
generation, he won four T riple Crowns with Ireland and two Heineken Cups
with Mu nster . H e also scored m ore tries for Ireland than any other fly-half
in history and is the third most capped player in rugby union history . W ith suc h impressive repeated successes, one would expect O’Gara to
have been full of self-confidence, approaching each game in his stride. However , in a compelling interview with Irish national television, he
described how he wished he c ould have “laughed and enjoyed it more,”
especially in the lead-up to gam es where he would be “puking, questioning
everything, not sleeping, feeling low , and going for walks” to try to quell
his nega tive inner commentary . O’Gara is not alone in this experience of
pregame anxiety , and no doubt his feelings are shared by many professional
athletes who, in their sense of pride and dedication to their team and
country , place immense pressure upon themselves.This is the side of professional sports that is seldom talked abo ut. It is
brushed under the carpet and hidden from view while the world gets to see
only the outward displays of power , strength, speed, and skill. After playing
for over  a decade at the profes sional level, Ronan O’Gara began to settle
down only when he knew that h is retirement from professiona l sports was
imminent: “It was only in the la st eighteen months that I said I’m going to
start enjoying myself for whatever limited time is left.”
Why is so much anxiety and tension created prior to a game? Prematch
days for many a thletes might involve hundreds of “what if” thoughts: What
if I don ’ t feel right on the day? What if I get injur ed? What if I make a
mistake? What if I mark the wr o ng guy? What if I’m not selected? What if I
perform badly and get dr opped  fr om the team? As imagination runs riot,
anticipation of all the possible things that could happen during the game
builds so high that nervous tension and anxiety take over to the point of
distraction. In reality , there are so many variables involved that it is
impossible for the mind to pred ict what is going to happen. Not only that,
but the mind is capable of creat ing an imaginary drama with o utcomes far
worse th an wha t might actually unfold. It is essential to understand that in
any situation there are many factors outside of your control, and despite
your be st ef fort s you are but a part of the lar ger whole. Ruminating on
anything outsid e of our contro l is simply a distraction and a waste of
ener gy . Having passion for what you do and the desire to perform to the
best of your ability are all that matters. Everything else is in t he hands of
the univ erse, so there really is n o point in worrying about it. Before a game
or e vent, observe negative or  recurrent thought patterns and make a
conscious decision to step away from thinking about things th at you have
no control over . I may not be an athlete, but I can closely relate to the process of
thinking so much that your tho ughts consume you. As a sixte en-year -old
boy from  a Catholic background, educated in an all-boys sc hool, I was
particularly shy when it came to talking to girls. From time to time, a very
attractive blond girl would take the same bus as me to school. I longed for a
conversation with this girl, dreaming about what I would say , nervous that
she would rebuke my advances. On one particular day she sat r ight next to
me, and while m y heart thumped out of my chest, no words could come out
of m y mouth. I was completely  tongue-tied in a sea of doubt and sat thewhole te n-mile j ourney in silence. I had built up the moment into  something
so big, so monumental, that it s cared the life out of me. In hindsight, all I
really w anted to  do was strike up a conversation, to say hello and ask her
how sch ool was going, to ask whom she hung out with, and maybe talk
about our favorite music. It was all very innocent, but overthinking created
a task of giganti c proportions, almost as if I were planning to ask the girl to
marry me. W ith experience and confidence we learn how to deal better with
situations like this, but by persisting in overthinking every act ion, we add
unnecessary hurdles to the path to success. There is no doubt that had I
thought less about striking up a conversation with the girl, it would have
happened naturally and easily when the situation arose. Although a certain amount of stress helps to keep us focused, to o much
thinking, anxiety , and apprehension about what can go wrong can cause a
loss of concentration on the ga me. The night before a big event you may
find you rself lying in bed ruminating on every possible scenar io, while in
reality a deep sl eep is really what you need to secure a good performance
the following day . There is a tim e for planning, and it is more likely to be
ef fective when you are able to focus on it productively . Pregame  warm-ups,
drills, re hearsals, and discussions of tactics can help to reduc e stress and
iron out uncertainties, but lyin g awake worrying about what might go
wrong will only cause more self-doubt and potentially ruin your
concentration on the day . It is  important to consistently monitor the ef fectiveness of your
thinking. When you begin to n otice the same thoughts creeping into your
head for the u mpteenth time, ask yourself whether these thoughts are
actually serving a purpose. Are they helpful for devising a strategy or
addressing the situation? Or are they keeping you on a merry-go-round of
insanity? Quest ioning the usefulness of your thinking allows you to
determine which thoughts are useful and which are negative and repetitive. Even tho ugh you  may not be able to prevent these thoughts from occurring,
you can  learn to reduce them by quieting your mind and br inging your
attention to the breath in between bouts of overthinking. Later , if you feel
the n eed to think a little more ab out whatever is bothering you, spend a few
minutes indulging your thoughts  before mer ging back with the quietness of
the breath. Alternating between thinking and quietness creates spacebetween thoughts to allow fresh ideas to surface. The thoughts that emer ge
after the silence of meditation can be very powerful, creative, and intuitive,
and may  natural ly provide you w ith the solution to your worrie s. The same
process of course applies to daily life. Practicing meditation and achieving a quiet mind are extremely valuable
techniques for athletes, or anyone who suf fers from anxiety , ena bling you to
reduce y our inner commentary and focus on what’ s important. T o reduce
prematch apprehension and ner ves, you will need to approach the game
from a dif ferent mind-set. P articipate in your sport solely for the
experience, beca use you enjoy i t. When your only wish is to ex perience the
game or the individual shot, swing, or race, there is no ulteri or motive. This
doesn’ t m ean tha t you will simp ly be going through the motions —no, not at
all. Whe n you are playing or ru nning or shooting or cycling solely for the
experience, your  mind will be undivided and a state of intense a lertness will
ensue. In this state, you will be at the top of your game. At first,  make a commitment to really experience your sport during
training sessions, where there is nothing to lose. Fully experienc e your sport
by d ispersing your attention th roughout your entire body and getting in
touch w ith your senses. In time , you will feel comfortable “experiencing”
your spo rt regardless of the leve l of competition, allowing muscle memory
to ensure a smooth and ef fortless performance. Make it  a priority to occupy y our body with your full attent ion and
experience the aliveness of you r entire body . During a race, follow your
instincts and your natural rhyth m, letting muscle memory decide on the
course of action: how far to stay back, when to overtake, wh at move to
make ne xt. Before taking a pen alty kick or another game-changing action,
focus on your breathing and use the breath as an anchor to your inner body . Whenever you find your mind  ruminating about an upcoming event,
immediately bring your attention to your breath or inner body . If you are
trying too hard to win, psyching  yourself out about the outcom e, worrying
about your competitors and p ast failures, or spending too much time
analyzing every  potential move, your mind will be divided and you will
lose focus. Impr ove Brain OxygenationIt is  perfectly normal for athle tes to be nervous before comp etition. But
while a little nervousness k eeps us alert, too much m ay induce
hyperventilation, which reduces oxygenation of the brain. Y ou might not be
sitting for an exam, but without a doubt, mental alertness, concentration,
and normal cognitive functioning are prerequisites for good performance. In ad dition to fo llowing the breath and occupying your inner body with
your attention, the following Bre athing Recovery Exercise is very helpful in
calming the mind during the d ays and nights leading up to c ompetition. When s tressed, hold your breath! It is also helpful for recovering from
physical exercis e and increasing your BOL T score. Having a high BOL T
score will help negate the ef fects of nervousness. Perform a series of small breath holds following these instructions:
•  T ake a small, silent breath in and out through your nose. •  Hold your breath for 2 to 5 seconds. •   Af ter each bre ath hold, breathe normally for around 10 second s.
Do not interfere with your breathing.•   Continue to  do a small breath hold followed by normal
breathing for around 10 seconds. •  Practice this exercise for at least 15 minutes. Having a BOL T score of less than 20 seconds during rest i ndicates
chronic overbreathing. T o attain optimum performance in terms of
breathing ef ficiency , cardiovascular health, and delivery of oxygen to
tissues and or gans, a BOL T score of at least 40 seconds is necessary . Researchers have observed that hyperventilation significantly af fects mental
performance as well as physical capabilities. A study investigating
unexplainable aircraft accidents tested the abilities of jet fighter pilots to use
coordination apparatus after a short period of breathing too much. The
results s howed that mental performance deteriorated by 15 to 30 percent
when the concentration of carb on dioxide in the blood was significantly
reduced. Another study found that when hyperventilation reduces arterial
concentration of carbon dioxide, physiological changes occur in the brain,
causing dizziness and concentra tion problems. Researchers disc overed that
reduced levels of carbon dioxide detrimentally af fected performance that
required attention, causing progressively slower reaction times and an
increase in errors. The symptoms of hyperventila tion and anxiety are similar and have
been found to be linked in some cases. A study from the department of
psychology and  statistics at the  University at Albany in New Y ork found
that stud ents wi th high anxiety had lower levels of carbon dioxide and a
faster re spiration frequency than  students with low anxiety . The results of
this stu dy are not surprising when you consider the ef fects of
hyperventilation: dizziness, headaches, chest pains, and light-he adedness. Is
it the anxiety that is causing hyperventilation, or is it hyperventilation that is
causing the anxiety? As we a lready know , hyperventilation reduces the
concentration of  carbon dioxide in the blood. This leads to a narrowing of
blood vessels and reduced delivery of oxygen to the brain. An oxygen-
deprived brain is more excitabl e and agitated, and as it floods with self-
generated thoughts, anxiety kicks in. One contributes to the othe r , creating a
vicious and self-perpetuating cycle.I viv idly remember attending one of my final exams at T rinity College
in Dublin. In an ef fort to relax, I took a brief walk before the exam, during
which I took sev eral big breaths through my mouth. I was alre ady a heavy
breather and the additional big  breaths brought on light-headedness and
dizziness. Little did I know that my anxiety and deliberate attempts to take
deep “ca lming” breaths were actually depriving my brain of o xygen—not
an ideal recipe when total alertness and concentration are required. Often
this is an unconscious activity that athletes do without even realizing it. However , the vast majority of athletes also feel that taking big breaths is
beneficial. The belief is there, but they are not always aware of practicing it. Overbreathing is  never the answ er to improving performance, and adequate
oxygenation of the brain is required if you are to fulfill your true potential. Quality Sleep for Performance
T o help maintain a calm and con centrated mind, you must experience good-
quality s leep at all times, particularly during the period leadin g up to an
exam, performance, or competition. Having a BOL T score of less than 20
seconds and breathing through the mouth during sleep may res ult in many
of the following symptoms:
•  Snoring
•   S leep apnea (holding your b reath many times throughout the
night)
•  Disrupted sleep
•  Insomnia
•  A racing mind
•  Nightmares
•  Sweating•  Needing to use the bathroom at around 5 or 6 A.M.
•  A dry mouth upon waking
•   Brain fog upon waking
•  Fatigue first thing in the morning
•  Fatigue during the day
•  Poor concentration
•  Upper or lower respiratory complaints
Mouth breathing during sleep creates a considerable loss of carbon
dioxide while also bypassing the benefits of nitric oxide, culm inating in a
reduction of morning BOL T score. The solution to better breath ing at night
is to Breathe Light to Breathe Right  during the day and especially before
sleep. T o reduce and eventually  eliminate breathing through the mouth at
night, follow these guidelines:
•   A void eating within the 2 hou rs before sleep, as the process of
digestion increases breathing. •   Keep your bedroom cool and airy (but not cold). A hot and
stuf fy room will only serve to increase breathing. •   Sleep on your front or left sid e; sleeping on your back is by far
the worst position, as there is no restriction to your breathing. •   Ensur e that your mouth is clo sed while you try to get to slee p
(you ca n wear 1-inch Micropore tape across the lips as
described in chapter 3 to help ensure this). •   A most impo rtant practice to discourage heavy breathing at
night is to Breathe Light to Brea the Right for 15 to 20 minutes
before going to sleep. This ex ercise is especially good forcalming the mind and helping you to experience deep sleep
during the nights leading up to competition.P A R T  I I I
T h e  S e c r e t  o f  H e a l t hCHAPTER 9
R a p i d  W e i g h t  L o s s  W i t h o u t  D i e t i n g
F or many  weeken d warriors, the motivation to exercise is to shed a few
extra pounds for better health, a boost of self-confidence, and th at feel-good
factor . T here is no doubt that e xercise is a good route to improved health
and weight loss, but it addresses only half of the story . W eight loss occurs
only when the a mount of calories we burn is greater than the amount we
consume. In addition to keeping  an eye on the pedometer , we also need to
stand ba ck from  the table. This is where many people fail, end ing up on a
yo-yo di et of weight loss followed by weight gain in a never -e nding cycle
of frustration. For over a decade I have witnessed hundreds of people achieve a safe
method of appetite suppression leading to steady , ef fective weight loss
using breath reduction techniqu es. W eight loss for these individuals varied
from 2 to 6 pounds within just two weeks. In addition, people often found
themselves to be eating more he athfully with less desire for processed food
and more demand for water . What’ s more, this weight loss and change to
better eating habits occurred easily and without ef fort. In many cases weight
loss was actually a secondary b enefit, as most participants were applying
the breathing exercises to reme dy asthma, anxiety , or snoring. The only
instruction they were given with  regard to their diet was to eat when hungry
and stop when satisfied. When Eamon entered his fifties, he tipped the scales at more than 260
pounds. Ireland was going throu gh a rough time economically , a nd Eamon’ s
business was not doing very well. The increased stress of trying to steer his
business back on track led him  to eat and drink more than ever before. Nearly every night he headed down to his local pub to meet with friendsand drow n his sorrows. W ithin two years, Eamon was diagnose d with high
blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. For yea rs, Eam on had lived a comfortable life in good healt h. As a
younger man he played sports  and exercised regularly . Now he found
himself caught in a vicious circle of feeling low and despondent, unable to
focus an d unable to get his business or health back on track. Fo llowing the
untimely passing of a close friend, Eamon decided that he had enough and
said to himself, “I’ve got to change my life.” This was his wake-up call. When Eamon contacted me to help reduce his stress levels, he was
desperate to improve his situation: “My business has me totally stressed
out, I’m not slee ping at night an d can’ t even think straight.” My main focus
was to help him get back to good  health by retraining his breathi ng. W ith an
increase in ener gy and concentration, the rest would follow . Eamon’ s starting BOL T score was just 8 seconds, and he displayed traits
of someone dealing with stress and anxiety: taking lar ge breat hs from the
upper ch est and sighing regularl y . Eamon’ s first steps were to learn how to
breathe through his nose day and night, to take time out to  relax and
meditate, and to practice the Breathe Light to Breathe Right exercise. Stress
was the main iss ue to be resolve d, and learning how to still the mind was an
essential part of addressing his other symptoms. For peop le with  diabetes and hi gh blood pressure, it is importa nt to go
slowly a nd gentl y when practicing reduced breathing exercises, so as not to
put a dditional pressure on the bo dy . Reducing breathing commo nly leads to
a red uction of blood sugar levels, and while this is a good thing, decreasing
levels too quickly is not. As Eamon’ s BOL T score increased, both his
diabetes and high blood pressure medications were reduced accordingly by
his doct or . If you have high blood pres sure or diabetes , it’ s important to
consult your medical profession al before embarking on a reduced breathing
program. Eamon’ s regimen was as follows:
•   Perfo rm 10 minutes of Breathe Light to Breathe Right (pag e
74), 4 times per day , with 1 ses sion just before bed and 1 just
after waking.•   Stop a nd obse rve the breath for 1 to 2 minutes at various tim es
throughout the day to further reduce overthinking. •   T ape the mou th closed before retiring to sleep to ensure nasal
breathing at night. •   Pr actice the Breathing Recovery Exercise (page 91) whenev er
he felt anxious or stressed. •  W alk with the mouth closed for 30 minutes daily . •  Pay attention to appetite and eat only when hungry . •   Redu ce alcoh ol consumption to no more than 2 servings of
alcohol each night for the firs t week. From week 2, reduce
drinking to every other night. From the start, Eamon questioned whether these techniques were
actually going to work. They fle w in the face of everything he h ad been told
to date—well-meaning stress counselors had encouraged him to take deep
breaths—and reducing his brea thing seemed like the opposite of what he
needed. During our first consultation, Eamon practiced the Breathing Recovery
Exercise of holding his breath for 5 seconds, followed by normal breathing
for 1 0 se conds. He continued this for about 5 minutes before ta king a rest. Following the Breathing Recov ery Exercise I asked Eamon t o place his
hands on his ch est and abdomen, and to apply gentle pressure with his
hands to slow down his breathing and create a light air sh ortage. He
practiced Breat he Light to Breathe Right for 3 minutes. Despite
experiencing a mild ur ge for air , within minutes he started to feel tension
lifting fr om his head. I’m pretty  sure this was the turning point for Eamon. Breathing light had improved h is blood flow and body oxyge nation after
just a couple o f minutes—assuring him that this was indee d the way
forward. From th en on I saw Eamon ea ch week for a month. His BOL T score
made steady progress, and by  the fourth week it had increased to 27seconds. His sleep was far be tter , leaving him feeling more alert upon
waking, and he experienced a tremendous improvement to his well-being. Eamon’ s high blood pressure and blood sugar levels also reduce d, while his
doctor observed his progress and altered his medication as required. Another positive  side ef fect from the reduced breathing for Eam on was
a l essene d need for food. His ap petite was much lower than normal, and he
gave up  drinkin g completely on weekday evenings. W ith decreased stress
levels, there was far less temptation for both alcohol and food. Eamon’ s
friends a nd neig hbors have commented on how well he looks now that his
weight h as been  reduced by mo re than thirty-five pounds. I ha ve met with
him a few times since, and alth ough his BOL T score progress has slowed
slightly , he not only looks like a dif ferent person but feels  it as well. Eamon’ s story stands out in my  mind as he achieved a lot desp ite having a
lot of distractions and dif ficulties going on. He was extremely dedicated and
followed throug h with each task he was given. It is often the case that those
who are the mos t unwell are the most determined to follow the program in
order to  get their health back. S uf fering can be a very ef fectiv e motivator ,
but it’ s even better to make jus t a few small ef fective changes  before you
reach the breaking point. My obje ctive for this chapter is  to show you the relationship between
breathing and food consumption , not to tell you what and what not to eat. Of cour se there  are foods that are best eaten in moderation or eliminated
entirely from the diet, and these are well documented in most books on
health an d diet. A much more useful approach is to look at the reasons why
you mig ht be stuck on a permanent yo-yo diet, or continue to  struggle to
lose weight, and the answer may be closer than you think. W e can live without food for weeks, without water for days, but without
air for just a few minutes.
_OceanofPDF.com_The_Oxygen_Advantage_-_Patrick_McKeown.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Recounting  the race, Senna explained how he achieved t his without
conscious ef fort : Letting his instincts guide him, he felt as if the circuit had
become a tunnel, and no matter how fast he drove, there was always room
for more. Enter the Zone at W ill
The zon e is nothing more than p erforming in the absence of tho ught. When
the mind is still and thoughts are no longer a distraction, you are able to
give an activity your complete and undivided attention. Being a ble to focus
without distracti ng thoughts defines concentration, a vital attribute for the
proper e xecution of any action a nd the achievement of any goa l. An active
mind re sults in diminished con centration as every little thought interferes
with the  task at hand. For example, an individual who is readin g this book
with an active mind is merely looking at the page. His attention is
elsewhere on a never -ending train of repetitive and useles s thinking. Although his eyes might be following the sentences, his mind is not. When
he re aches the bottom of the page, it is unlikely that he will remember much
of the content. Nowadays, as we spend more time communicating via social media,
playing computer games, an d surfing the Internet, our powers of
concentration are diminishing. A ccording to international motiv ational guru
Kevin K elly, we  are now living  in an attention-deficit society. T he dial has
moved from conversation to presentation and from dialogue to monologue. W e no longer give each other our undivided attention, and neit her do we
take the time to observe our own breathing or allow our minds to still. T ed Selker of th e Massachusetts Institute of T echnology supp orts this
view, cl aiming t hat because the Internet of fers so much choice  we end up
spending our time flitting from one thing to another, shortening our
attention spans and forming a h abit of poor concentration. Selker suggests
that the nature of web browsing can leave us with an attention span of just 9
seconds—the same as that of a goldfish. Reading a piece in the  New  Y o rk T imes,  I  was surprised to learn that the
children of the l ate Apple founder Steve Jobs hadn’ t been introduced to the
iPad. W hen journalist Nick Bilton asked Jobs if his children loved thegadget, he replied, “They haven’ t used it. W e limit how much technology
our kids use at home. ” This stance has been echoed by a number of
technology chief executives, wh o set very strict criteria on the amount of
screen time their children experience—all too aware of the implications of
extended periods spent looking at a screen. As the modern world becomes
increasingly dep endent on screens and devices, gadget addiction has the
potential to isolate people from  the world around them, subd uing social
interaction and increasing mind activity. Not only is an overactive mind less conducive to focus and prod uctivity,
it also leads to  increased stress, anxiety, and depression—all of which
contribute to mental health problems and a reduced quality of life. The importance of being able to control and still the mind cannot be
overestimated. An athlete with a quiet mind will enjoy good  powers of
concentration an d be able to enter the zone at will, but an athlete with an
active mind will have a head full of unnecessary thoughts and will find it
dif ficult to enter the zone. If the mind is overactive during d aily life, it
follows that the mind will be ov eractive during sports. Only when the mind
is relatively still during normal daily life can the athlete enter the zone
during competit ion. A still mind can be attained through having a high
BOL T score, using meditation,  and developing awareness of the mind—
nothing else. Y ou could, of co urse, go down to your local bar and drink six or seven
lar ge beers. No doubt this appro ach will quiet the mind. As appealing as it
sounds, achieving a state of m ind where thoughts are drowned out with
alcohol is not conducive to alertness and increased performance. Instead,
for thousands of years, human  beings have practiced dif ferent forms of
meditation to quiet and tame the mind. Meditation allows you to pay
attention to your thoughts, emotions, and feelings, while reducing repetitive
and useless thinking. R yan Giggs made his first appe arance for the Premiership football club
Manchester United during the 1990–91 season. As the most decorated
player in English football history, Giggs has won thirteen Premier League
medals, four F A cup winner ’ s m edals, three League cup winner ’ s medals,
and two  Champions League winner ’ s medals. At the age of forty, when
most of  his peers had long since retired, Giggs continu ed to play
professional Pre mier League football. So what is his secret. A ccording toGiggs, self-awar eness has been a major factor in his extended career: “The
focus on oneself is hugely important, even if it is only for a d aily hour of
stretches and meditation,” he says. The renowned golfer T iger W oods is also well known fo r using
meditation to improve his game. T iger ’ s father, Earl W oods, was
instrumental in developing his son’ s concentration. Earl W oods explained
he w ould repeatedly attempt to distract his son as he practiced h is swing by
dropping a golf bag or shouting obscenities. Earl W oods believed that T iger
could be the “first black intuitive golfer ever raised in the United States”
and tested his meditative concentration from a very young ag e. And his
prediction came  true: T iger W oods has been the world number one golfer
for m ore consecutive weeks tha n any other player in history. The ability to
play sports intuitively relies on complete immersion in the zone, where the
right act ion occu rs ef fortlessly and the golfer and the game become one. In
the film The Legend of Bagger V ance,  t he  celebrated coach describes  the
perfect swing as being in harmo ny with “all that is, all that was,  and all that
will be. ”
T o get to this p lace and access intuitive intelligence, it is nece ssary to
practice quieting the mind. Intuitive intelligence is not learned but
experienced. Th ose who bring about monumental change and success in
this wor ld have access to it. For some it is an automatic process. For others,
including myself, it has to be developed. A clear example of intuitive
intelligence can be found in th e late Steve Jobs. In an interview with his
biographer W alter Isaacson, he described observing how peop le living in
India rel ied a lot more on their intuition than the analytical reas oning of the
W est. Jobs believed that intuitiv e intelligence was more powerful than the
intellectual intel ligence revered in the W estern world. Jobs was a dreamer,
putting logic aside and accessing the power of universal intelligence
through a still mind. It is because of this intuition and creativity that
products such as the iPhone, iPad, and Mac came into being. In th e pa st, med itation has evoked a negative image as a hippie exercise
practiced by those with nothing better to do. Slowly but surely t his image is
changing, as scientists have begun to recognize the many benefits of
quieting the mind, such as redu cing anxiety and improving attention and
concentration during stressful challenges. A 2014  study investigated w hether mindfulness meditation–based
techniques influenced the resilie nce of United States Marines. Eight Marine
infantry platoon s comprising 281 soldiers were randomly divided into two
groups. One group received t wenty hours of classroom instruction in
mindfulness and  practiced the t echniques for at least a half hour daily for
eight weeks. The second group  did not receive any mindfulne ss training. Both groups then participated in training under battlefield conditions. In a
report published in the American Journ al of Psychiatry,  the researchers
concluded that the marines who practiced mindfulness experienced
improved quality of sleep, reduced stress, and a quicker recov ery of heart
rate and breathing following intensive combat training. In other studies with U. S. Marines trained in mindfulness-based
techniques, brai n scans revealed similarities to those of Special Forces
soldiers and Olympic athletes, and the area of the brain responsible for
controlling fear was shown to have actually shrunk. During warfare,
business, sports,  or even normal  family life, a calm, attentive, and collected
mind always results in better decision making. Staying fully focused during
a stressf ul situation is essential if you want to take the correc t course of
action. Until re cently, it was commonly believed that the brain stopped
developing when  we reached ad ulthood. It has only been within  the last few
years that scientists have disc overed that the brain can be changed by
practicing mind fulness meditati on. This is tremendous news, n ot only for
those in  sports but also for anyone suf fering from anxiety or depression. The ability to bring about chang es in the brain could enable people to take
back con trol of their mental health rather than accepting a lifelong reliance
on mind-altering medication. Neuroscientists from the most prestigious universities around the world,
including Harvard and MIT, have conducted much research to investigate
the changes that take place in t he brains of people who medita te. There is
strong evidence that present-moment awareness literally changes the brain,
making many regions more powerful and ef ficient. A team of scientists
from the University of British  Columbia and Chemnitz University of
T echnology pooled data from twenty studies investigating this
phenomenon. R emarkably, all studies showed that mindfulness meditation
resulted in an increased density of gray matter, leading to more ef fectiveprocessing of information. MRI scans revealed that at least eight dif ferent
regions of the brain increased in ef ficiency, including the orbitofrontal and
hippocampal, w hich play a role in our ability to hold attention, cultivate
positive emotions, and retain emotional stability. People who meditate are
happier with themselves, are better able to resist distractions, and learn from
past experience—all traits that are essential in today’ s modern life. The anc ient Greek aphorism “know thyself” is written in the forecourt
of the T emple o f Apollo at Delphi. While its exact meaning is often the
subject o f debate  among scholars, in the context of harnessing the power of
meditation, the words ring with  truth. When you are mindful, you become
more aw are of your inner monologue, allowing you to stop the cycle of
compulsive thought processes an d step out of the prison of self- doubt. Only
when yo u realiz e that you are a prisoner of the mind is it possible to escape. And while the w alls and bars ma y not be concrete and steel, being a captive
of your thoughts can have a sig nificant ef fect on your ability t o focus and
perform. I like to divide thoughts into two categories: practical thoughts,  which
are useful and serve a purpose, and distracting thoughts,  which serve no
purpose at all. T o decide on a course of action and achieve anyt hing in life,
practical thoughts are essential. Conversely, distracting, useles s, repetitive
thoughts only serve to scatter your focus and prevent you from entering the
zone. Practical thoughts will help an athlete to plan for an upcoming event,
put t ogether a training schedule, and or ganize any logistics such  as booking
travel o r accommodation. Prio r to a game an athlete might channel his
thoughts into rehearsing the pe rfect shot or visualizing winning the race
with confidence. Mental imagery like this can serve as useful preparation
and is a positive way to use your thoughts. Distracting thoughts, however, will be habitually negative and irrational,
often so automatic that the individual is unaware of them. This type of
thinking creates tension, draining you of ener gy and distracting your game. As the Irish writer Oscar W ilde once said, “Thinking is the most unhealthy
thing in the world, and people die of it just as they die of any other disease. ”
Thinking is a habit. W e have been taught how to think by the in fluences
of societ y, education, and our fr iends and family. From a young  age we are
conditioned to believe that think ing is a good thing—how many  times haveyou been told to “think about it” or “think it over”. Developing the mind
into a sharp analytical tool is o bviously very useful for achieving in the
world of  academ ics and other li velihoods, and while it is impor tant that we
learn how to th ink, it is equa lly important that we learn how to stop
thinking. Just as a fire provides  comfort and warmth from the cold, it can
also be a destructive force when out of control. The mind is  a similarly
double-edged sword. At this point you might be thin king, What is he talking about. I’m in
contr ol of my own mind. But are you really. How easily can you turn of f
your thoughts. I would like you  to try a simple exercise: Stop t hinking and
observe how long it takes before the first thoughts enter. Is it 5 or 10
seconds, perhaps. The deg ree to which you are in control of your mind depends on how
long you are ab le to remain free  from thought. The longer you can remain
ef fortlessly free from thought, the better your powers of concentration and
focus. Most people are only able to clear their mind for a few seconds at
most. It is likely that your mind has more control over you th an you may
have im agined. The good news is that there is much to gain from taking
control o f your thought processe s. Learning to quiet your mind is easy to do
with a little focus and practice. Think of it as a challenge, just lik e any other
new form of training, but one that will inevitably improve your health and
sports performance. The first step to escape the trappings of a busy mind and take control of
your thought processes is to become aware of the thoughts inside your head. Seldom do we observe our minds. Seldom are we aware of our thought
activity and the ef fect it has on mood, tension, and performance. Bring your
thoughts to the f orefront of your mind. When you first observe the activity
in your head, you might find that your thoughts become amplified. This is
simply because they are under y our scrutiny rather than running unhindered
in th e background. Y ou may als o discover that the same repetitive thoughts
have been running through you r mind for quite some time, possibly for
years. T his is also normal, so d on’ t be critical of yourself. Ob serving the
mind is a most p ositive activity, allowing you to realize just how active it is. This aw areness is the first step in allowing you to break free from the
trappings of the mind and improve your concentration and focus. When y ou take time out to obse rve your thoughts, you will rea lize just
how ofte n you are stuck inside your head. There is no need to  analyze or
judge what is going through your mind—doing so will only pile on more
thoughts. The mind is never calmed by further questioning, and thinking too
much is the very habit that we want to address. In order to step out of this
constant circle of thought—to get out of your head and into life—you must
learn to tame your mind. By s imply making the commitm ent to pay attention to your thoughts
periodically thro ughout the day, you can take control of the most important
tool you  possess —the power of your mind. The clarity of your mind plays a
significant role in determining  your quality of life: A still mind brings
benefit to your sleep patterns,  mood, and health, while a mind full of
incessant though ts and distractions will blunt your ability to reach your full
potential. It is especially important to observe your thoughts w hen an
undercurrent of negative thou ght takes over. Don’ t let yourself be
overwhelmed by self-doubt and  worry. The mind is unable to dif ferentiate
between an imagined and a real event; to the body, both are the same. If you
are experiencing  pregame nerves or overthinking the decision o f a coach or
worrying about being dropped f rom the team or anxious that you won’ t be
able to complete that charity fun run, your body will react as if the event
has alrea dy taken place. As soon as you become aware of an anxious train
of thought, take notice of its ef fect on your body. Does your head or
stomach feel tense. Is your b reathing getting faster. Are negative and
repetitive thoughts causing y ou to feel nauseated. How you think
determines how you feel, and how you feel feeds back into how you think. A feeding frenzy of negative thought and emotion will inevitab ly result in
poor performance and health. Each tim e you find your head fu ll of internal chattering, ask yo urself if
all th is t hinking and analysis is a ctually helpful. Is it getting you  anywhere. Is it helping to s olve the problem. If you continue thinking in th is way, will
it do  any thing to address the situation, or is it just a never -ending merry-go-
round of  habitual anxiety. Asking these questions provides an insight into
the nature of repetitive thought and the way it af fects your life. The
realization that these negative thoughts serve no purpose to you can of fer
the impetus you need to escape from the clutches of your mind. Be patie nt with your observation. At first, your thoughts may continue
unabated as you start to notice t he tension created within your body—your
heart beats faster, butterflies flut ter in your stomach, and your mind refuses
to cease  its activity. In time, an d with practice, you will learn to still your
mind an d take back control. O bserve your thoughts as many times as
possible throughout your day, especially when faced with a challenge. There w ill be times when you can quiet your mind ef fortlessly; at other
times th e buildup of emotions may make it more dif ficult. Either way,
observe how negative thinking af fects your body and ask your self if these
types of thoughts are useful to you. Simply asking yourself th is question
will bring awareness to your life and allow you to know yourself better. In time, if you commit to observing your thoughts and the ef fect they
have on your b ody, you will find you spend less ener gy on fruitless
thinking. Y our mind will be clearer, your body more relaxed, and life will
become easier. Y ou will notice more of what takes place around you and
miss less. Repetitive, regur gitating thought is extremely draining, causin g stress,
tiredness, and headaches. The less headspace you give to negative thinking,
the more room you have in your life for positivity and improvement. Consider the following example:
Michael is driving his car to an important training session, well aware
that he is likely  to be late. As he projects his mind into the  future, he
imagines and rehearses the rea ction from his coach and team mates. He
cannot stop these thoughts circ ling around his head, worrying about the
outcome, getting  frustrated with traf fic, and generally winding himself up. His body  feels tense, a headache begins to take hold, and he probably starts
to drive faster than he should. Alan is also driving on his way to a training session. It is likely  that he
too will be late. Knowing that he is doing the best he can to get there on
time and that no amount of worrying is going to get him there any faster,
Alan brings his attention to his b reath, observing the flow of air as it enters
and leaves his body. Every now  and again the thought of being late enters
Alan’ s mind. As he notices the  thoughts, he asks himself whether these
thoughts are helpful. Knowing only too well that anxiety will only serve to
make hi m tense and distract him, he takes his attention back to  his breath,
keeping himself calm and relaxed. Now im agine bo th Michael and Alan are cut of f by another car,  forcing
each of them to apply the brake s. How do you think each one reacts to the
situation. Most likely, Michael is engulfed in rage and soun ds the horn
angrily. Alan, on the other han d, chooses not to react and does not get
sucked into the situation. In this example, the two drivers were presented with the same
challenge, but while one immediately reacted to the challenge, the other
responded by choosing to let i t go. There is no doubt that a  stressed or
anxious person reacts more str ongly to a dif ficult event than a relatively
calm person. Keeping a quiet mind enables you to consider a situation more
objectively and choose how to respond rather than being consumed by the
moment. Alan had the choice to respond or not. Michael’ s instincts took
over before he could make a conscious decision. In a ddition to observing your t houghts, it is just as vital to be  able to
quiet yo ur mind. T ogether, these skills will magnify your ability  to enter the
zone du ring spo rts. When you f irst practice taming your mind it is normal
to fi nd distracting thoughts ente ring your head every few seconds. In fact,
you sho uld expect them to appear. Do not be dishear tened—this
bombardment o f thoughts has built up through years of condi tioning and
will take time to strip away. Layer upon layer of thoughts have been added
by every  influen ce in your life : education, religion, society, relationships,
and wor k. The mind has simpl y developed a bad habit; it knows how to
think but is unable to stop thinking. When yo u first begin practicing meditation, try not to become frustrated
when the mind wanders, becaus e it inevitably will. Many peop le abandon
meditation too quickly when they find it isn’ t an instant fix. Y ou may feel
discouraged if your thoughts do n’ t switch of f as quickly as you had hoped,
but try to view t he practice as ju st that: practice, not as a fixed outcome or
goal. Y our intention while meditating  should be to make a dedicated ef fort to
become aware of your own mind, to observe your thoughts, and to practice
simply being still and present. T houghts will enter. Thoughts will go. That
is th e nature o f the human mind. Each time you notice your mind
wandering, all you need to do is gently bring your attention b ack to your
breath or bring your awareness to your inner body. All throughout my time at school, college, and my early years of work,
my m ind was ex tremely active. I believed that thinking was a po sitive thing
but had no wa y of dif ferentiating practical thoughts from  repetitive,
unnecessary, or negative ways of thinking. Most of the time I li ved stuck in
my h ead, on aut omatic pilot, without realizing just how constantly thoughts
were streaming through my min d. Having such an active mind  diminished
my concentration—to achieve good grades it was ne cessary for me t o spend
many hours studying, and I found it dif ficult to retain information as there
simply w asn’ t any room left in  my head. For one university exam I spent
three mo nths studying in the B erkeley Library at T rinity College Dublin. An hour before t he examination  I headed there again with all my notes for a
last-minute recap and was joined by my friend T erry, who hadn’ t prepared
at al l. W hile the rest of us had been studying business, T erry had devoted all
of his time setting up a tax recla mation service. He borrowed my notes and
studied them for a mere 15 m inutes. As I observed his unw avering and
ef fortless concentration, I could not help but notice that T erry had
something I did not. My concentration at that time was so poor that I was
easily di stracted, and the little a ttention I had was forced. Whe n the exam
results c ame back, I was somewhat scandalized to discover tha t T erry had
secured the very same mark as me. What he achieved in 15 m inutes took
me three months. This is exa ctly the dif ference between a productive,
focused, and concentrated mind and one that is out of control. T o g et through university I c ontinued my long hours of s tudying,
experiencing str ess, fatigue, and severe respiratory problems in the process,
completely unaw are that my mind was working against me. T w enty years
later, it comes a s no surprise th at T erry’ s company employs one thousand
people, winning countless awards in business and customer service. A s kittering mind, jumping from thought to thought, is a leech to
productivity, cre ative endeavor, and quality of life. Having a fo cused mind
is probably the greatest asset in every walk of life, whatever your
occupation or lifestyle. After university  I secured a job in middle management with a U.
Entering the zone means performing in the absence of thought. To achieve this, one must practice quieting the mind by focusing on the breath or inner body.
What does it mean to enter the zone, and how can one achieve it?
The importance of meditation and quieting the mind is crucial for athletes and individuals in general. It allows for complete focus and concentration, leading to better performance, reduced stress, and increased productivity.
What is the importance of meditation and quieting the mind in sports and daily life?
The text does not explicitly state the relationship between breathing and oxygenation of the brain, but it does mention that overbreathing can lead to a reduction in oxygenation, which can negatively impact mental performance.
What is the relationship between breathing and oxygenation of the brain?
The author has personally experienced the benefits of meditation, including increased focus, concentration, and creativity, which has improved his overall well-being and allowed him to reduce his stress levels.
What is the author's experience with meditation and its benefits?
The author suggests that one should not let their mind wander and instead focus on their breathing and inner body to quiet the mind and reduce anxiety.
What is the author's advice for dealing with anxiety and negative thoughts during a competition?