IJGA Newsletter: The Oaks September 2019 | Page 19

cycle continues. He starts to notice he is getting
injured more easily, but continues to play through
in search or perfecting his swing.
As a Mental Performance Coach, I have seen
both of these scenarios occur. The mind is such
a powerful tool that can be used for the better or
the worse. Here are three simple ways to start the
journey of thriving your mind:
1. Start to acknowledge your strengths
and the things you are doing well!
2. Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep per night
to effectively recharge your body and
mind!
3. Become more self-aware with your
body language, posture, and self-talk!
As we start this semester, let’s work to
adapt a healthy mindset to keep your body
healthy as well!
It starts with today.
By, Nick McMillen,
M.S., Mental Performance Coach
I am in total agreement with the message espoused
by Nick McMillen. Indeed, the mind has a powerful
effect on the body. Regular meditation practice
is a perfect example of a mindfulness activity
that can help increase the body’s metabolism,
ease stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure and
improve heart rate and breathing. These physical
effects of meditation are strongly supported by
scientific research and widely accepted. But let’s
remember, it’s a two-way street.
If we approach the mind-body connection now
from the physical point of view, hopefully you will
recognize that a healthy body also contributes
to a healthy mind and ultimately a happier you.
Research over the past century in fact supports
this claim: that daily physical activity can reduce
the risk of many chronic illness such as heart
disease and diabetes. It is also known to assist
with better sleeping habits, lower stress levels and
improve energy levels. And these are not the only
benefits!
Essentially, it means that being physically active
and creating or maintaining good lifestyle
habits (i.e., nutrition, sleeping etc.) are essential
elements to leading a happier life. A company
called “Happiness International” even discusses
the subject on their website. Calling happiness,
“a state of mind” the argument is that to feel
happy your body needs to feel “happy” too. That
requires a “body in balance: rested, fit, adequately
fed, free of excessive stress and able to feel “fully”.
In other words, being “healthy” and physically
capable of managing what life may throw at you
is a major component of being happy. Think of
those times when you were either sick or injured
and remember if you felt a sense of well-being
and contentment!
Of course, maintaining good health takes some
effort and planning, and does not happen by
accident. Keeping this in mind, at IJGA, we aim
to create a holistic program for golf improvement
for our student-athletes, believing that by
integrating the physical and mental programs into
the coaching model, we can provide the most
successful outcomes. With the goal of having
our students become stronger, more flexible, and
more powerful athletes, we feel we can assist them
in making some of the technical improvements
they are seeking to achieve, develop the stamina
required to practice daily, while simultaneously
reducing the risk of overuse injuries. Hence, we
are creating more resilient athletes who will be
well-prepared for the rigors of a college program.
And we haven’t even mentioned all the associated
health benefits! We hope that some of these
regular practices will stay them for a lifetime.
A happier, healthier life awaits!
By, Karen Harrison,
Director of Health and Athletic Development
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