Have you ever been in the zone? What I mean by that is have you ever raced and felt calm, felt at ease? Felt like there is nothing in the world to bother you, just racing?
Or are you on the other end of the spectrum? Racing gets your blood pumping. An increase in heart rate. You look everywhere at once, with total control over everything that happens around you.
How do you feel during intense racing?
On the other hand, with too much stress on your shoulders already through your job or other commitments, relaxing and cooling down are needed. And meditation is one way to achieve calmness. To be clear about that as well, the Oxford Dictionary defines meditation as:
Taking out the silence part and religious reasons, which feels like they are not up to the 21st century yet, it leaves us with:
What I'm getting at is a healthy combination of calmness and stress is needed in a balanced life. Otherwise, you are looking to get either burn out or bore out.
Being calm and in a meditative state means you focus on one thing. Let's say during racing that is all your input. Everything else would be a distraction. Meaning opponents, mistakes and that pesky little timer that jumps between red and green.
If you truly manage to be in that sort of meditative state, you are in danger of not caring about other things you should care about. The reason being: You cannot care. You do not have the mental capacity while being meditative.
This might be good in situations like hotlapping or being first on the grid and just worrying about your driving, but in pack racing or as soon as a distraction comes around, you are screwed. Most likely, your rhythm breaks up, letting you out of the meditative state, leaving you to feel interrupted and anxious. And that can be a great hindrance to your pace and feelings during the rest of the race.
That is advantageous in terms of visibility, but problematic when it comes to decision-making. Any decision you make will be rushed because there are so many things you already need to care about.
So you might make that opportunistic dive up the inside, completely missing your braking point and take out yourself.
You might also try and push that little more in a corner you already almost went off before.
But what about you? Do you lean towards any of the 2 sides? Or do you wish you could be a bit more calm or aware in certain situations? Let us know in the comments below.
Or are you on the other end of the spectrum? Racing gets your blood pumping. An increase in heart rate. You look everywhere at once, with total control over everything that happens around you.
How do you feel during intense racing?
The Impact on your Mindset
Now, first off, let's be clear here: being stressed is not always a bad thing. There is good stress and bad stress. Everybody needs a bit of stress to focus on what's important.On the other hand, with too much stress on your shoulders already through your job or other commitments, relaxing and cooling down are needed. And meditation is one way to achieve calmness. To be clear about that as well, the Oxford Dictionary defines meditation as:
Taking out the silence part and religious reasons, which feels like they are not up to the 21st century yet, it leaves us with:
What I'm getting at is a healthy combination of calmness and stress is needed in a balanced life. Otherwise, you are looking to get either burn out or bore out.
The Impact of Meditating on Your Racing
Logically thinking about it, being calm and collected during any situation is generally a good thing. In racing, however? Too much of it might be a hindrance. Let's look at what I mean:Being calm and in a meditative state means you focus on one thing. Let's say during racing that is all your input. Everything else would be a distraction. Meaning opponents, mistakes and that pesky little timer that jumps between red and green.
If you truly manage to be in that sort of meditative state, you are in danger of not caring about other things you should care about. The reason being: You cannot care. You do not have the mental capacity while being meditative.
This might be good in situations like hotlapping or being first on the grid and just worrying about your driving, but in pack racing or as soon as a distraction comes around, you are screwed. Most likely, your rhythm breaks up, letting you out of the meditative state, leaving you to feel interrupted and anxious. And that can be a great hindrance to your pace and feelings during the rest of the race.
The Impact of Stress on Your Racing
On the other end of the spectrum, being stressed might allow you to notice and control everything around you. You would be very aware of your driving, your opponents, your speed, your line, your mistakes and even that pesky little timer and whether it's green or red and by how much.That is advantageous in terms of visibility, but problematic when it comes to decision-making. Any decision you make will be rushed because there are so many things you already need to care about.
So you might make that opportunistic dive up the inside, completely missing your braking point and take out yourself.
You might also try and push that little more in a corner you already almost went off before.
The Point
In the end, there needs to be a combination of calmness and stress in racing. Finding the correct mixture will definitely help you in improving your ability on the circuit.But what about you? Do you lean towards any of the 2 sides? Or do you wish you could be a bit more calm or aware in certain situations? Let us know in the comments below.
