Athletes are a different breed of human, but they are still human. They deal with the daily stress of school, life, and playing their sport. They have emotions, anxiety, struggle, mental blocks, and self doubt. They can also end up feeling like their identity as an athlete is the only thing that makes them great. Simon Biles stated, “the outpouring of love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.” I think most athletes feel this deep down, and this does not come without feeling pressure from others and from the athletes themselves.
Pressure can take a toll on athletes.
It’s good to have pressure. It pushes athletes to get better. It makes them wake up at 5:00am before school or work to get in a good workout or training session. It makes them go above and beyond to reach their goals. But when pressure gets to be too much, where do athletes turn? College athletes most likely turn to drinking or the party scene. High school athletes turn to being mad at the world and wanting to do things they typically wouldn’t, because they don’t know how to recover. No matter what age the athlete is, if they don’t know how to take breaks to recover or fill their cup back up, it could very well lead to negative physical and mental health consequences.
Young athletes only do what their coaches tell them, because they respect their coaches, want to play, and don’t want to be a burden. This means they often don’t express when they are dealing with pain, injury, or mental health struggle. Knowing when to speak up to a coach is the athlete’s decision. It’s not their parents’ decision, teammates’ decision, or coaches’ decision. Knowing when to speak up and knowing when to push through is a hard thing to juggle, but only the athlete knows their body. No one else does.
However, if athletes never take time to pause and learn how to listen to their own bodies, how will they even know when it’s time to speak up or not? They usually aren’t given the resources to build this type of keen body awareness.
How to encourage taking breaks and building awareness.
This is where yoga, breathwork, and meditation come in. They are recovery tools that give athletes a much needed break from the pressures of life and the gym/court/field. They also allow athletes to learn more about their bodies and minds.
Yoga designed specially for athletes is used to balance out the physical demands of elite training and play. Benefits include muscle recovery, increased flexibility and range of motion, improved balance, and most importantly for this topic: body awareness. Yoga teaches athletes how to listen to the feedback their bodies are giving them, allowing them to ascertain their true limitations and how to push past discomfort but never pain. The more your athletes are in tune with their bodies, the more they can prevent injury and advocate for themselves.
Meditation improves athletes’ self awareness by cultivating a better understanding of one’s own thoughts. It boots athletes’ mental health by reducing stress, building self-confidence, improving sleep, and increasing focus. It can also help athletes through injury and transitioning back into sport. The more athletes are in tune with their minds, the more they can be in control of their thoughts, build a resilient mindset, and perform better.
Breathwork improves athletes’ mental health by down regulating the nervous system, promoting a parasympathetic state (“rest and digest”), and decreasing stress and anxiety. It can help athletes reset the mind and create a calm focus. The more athletes are in tune with their breathing, the more they can be in control of their emotions and the more balanced they will feel.
Easy to implement on-demand recovery.
There are great coaches and then there are coaches who only want to win at the expense of the athletes’ bodies. Which type of coach are you? Are you providing a space that allows your athletes to have open communication? Are you actively listening? Are you providing recovery resources to help your athletes prevent injury and mental health struggle? Wouldn’t it be great to offer you athletes a platform that not only healed your athletes but also made them more resilient?
Yoga Athletex offers the perfect solution: YAX Online! You can easily incorporate recovery for volleyball athletes into your current team training using this on-demand platform. YAX Online features 200+ videos of recovery methods such as yoga, breathwork, mediation, SMR, and more.
How to Get Started
INQUIRE: Fill out THIS FORM to get a quote. You’ll receive a proposal with discounted team pricing and you’ll have the option for a complimentary Zoom call to go over any questions.
REGISTER: Sign up and submit payment.
ONBOARDING: Provide your athletes’ names and emails so they can be sent their logins to start using YAX Online! You’ll get an onboarding Zoom call with your team or club to help your athletes get started.
Make this season the best yet by incorporating season-specific recovery for volleyball athletes. Take the first step by getting a quote on team pricing.
Free Recovery Guide
This Recovery Guide provides a clear blueprint for incorporating recovery methods (such as yoga, meditation, and breathwork)
into into training depending on the athletic season (pre-season, in-season, post-season, and off-season).
For each season, it gives you a class type for:
- Off Days
- Practice Days
- SAC Days
- Game Days
- Tournament Days
Questions?
Yoga Athletex would be happy to answer any questions you have! Please email hello@yogaathletex.com and we will get back to you shortly.
