Anxiety in Sports

It is often the case that we suffer from anxiety. Anxiety can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term). Anxiety can also be related to pre-match nerves or develops over time due to low self-confidence.

Stage Fright – Once we cross the line we are on STAGE.

If we are anxious of competition a number of things can occur.

There are two effects of anxiety:
1)   Psychological (in the head) (Cognitive)
2)   Physiological (in the stomach) (Somatic)

Performers who dwell on their anxiety will suffer from poor performance.

Performers will suffer from a range of:
1)   Restricted focus
2)   Poor concentration
3)   Limited control
4)   Lack of spatial awareness
5)   Negative thinking/thoughts
6)   Butterflies in the stomach
7)   Increased heart rate
8)   Tight muscles
9)   Sweaty palms
10)  Feelings of apprehension/sickness

In order to help our mind overcome our negative symptoms there are a range of strategies that need to be practiced on a regular basis.

Strategies:
10 steps to effective deep breathing – this method is crucial in reducing butterflies in the stomach. To benefit you must find a quiet place (at home) and lie down.
STEP 1) close your eyes and regulate your breathing by starting to feel the centre of your stomach.
STEP 2) put both hands on your stomach and feel it go up and down for twenty seconds.
STEP 3) control your breathing through your nose and out your mouth. This must be a smooth transition that flows as a rhythm.
STEP 4) think back to your best performance and recall all the positive feelings that you had. During this recall think of all the positive emotions and the impact they had on your body. You should now be relaxed.
STEP 5) concentrate on your stomach and feel it go up and down slowly.
STEP 6) try and imagine you are inside your stomach and see how it feels. If it is tight try and make it relax, imagine you are stroking it.
STEP 7) next, bring some colours into your thinking and make them float inside your stomach. Do this for ten seconds.
STEP 8) now tighten the muscles in and around your stomach and relax them after ten seconds.
STEP 9) reintroduce the colours into your stomach for ten seconds and see how you feel.
STEP 10) for the final three to five minutes imagine you are at the seaside, the sun is out, the sea is calm and you are relaxing in the sand. Keep this in your mind and smile.

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN YOU ARE ALONE??

Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help,the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.
However,these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.
A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart isfelt to be beating normally again.
Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm.

In this way, heart attack victims can get to ahospital. Tell as many other people as possible about this. It could save their lives!