What is grounding? How does it relate to athletics?

My definition of grounding is connecting your mind and body with the environment around you. Being aware of how your body connects with your surroundings and outside world is an amazing feeling, and helps us find peace and contentment in the present moment. The primary goal of grounding is to bring ourselves to a state of tranquility, meaning we are content with ourselves in that very moment, not worried about the past or future, and can find peace and harmony in our surroundings.

With how fast paced modern life is, we often fall victim to external distractions that take away our focus and energy from what truly matters. Grounding is a way to realign your mind and body to a more natural state. I’ve developed strategies to incorporate this ideology into athletics and physical training, as the mental component of sport is just as important as the physical one.

Grounding helps us reconnect with nature, absorb in positive energy through it, while getting rid of negative thought processes. It is what I have been working on in myself for the last couple years, and am ready to share my experiences and strategies with other people to hopefully inspire them to make beneficial changes into their lives.

Improving athletic performance can be done in many different ways, but few athletes focus as much attention as I think is needed to the mental aspects that are required to succeed, especially at the highest level of competition. Having been involved in sports and competition my whole life, I am aware of the mental burden that competing can have on athletes, and why many athletes can succumb to that performance anxiety and pressure.

Being in a positive and content mental state is crucial for athletic performance, both during competition but also training. For the last several years I have dealt with many challenges mentally, and noticed significant decreases in my training habits and progress. This is where I became more aware how big of an impact our mental state has on our training and well being, and I believe it to be the primary driving force behind being a successful athlete.

The grounding methods I have been incorporating into my life have helped me progress athletically, and have had the biggest impact in the races I compete in. I have been immersing myself into the bike racing scene in the last year, and have absolutely fallen in love with it. There has not been a sport I have done that draws me so much into the present moment, requiring every ounce of mental and physical focus to succeed in. Grounding myself before races and meditating has been crucial for me to be able to race at a high level, and that is what I would like to share with people and inspire them to do.