Details

When: Friday, September 27 · 8am - 3:30pm PDT
Where: Everline Resort and Spa, Olympic Valley CA
Organized By: The Courage Project
Description: This interactive, experiential workshop will provide exposure to the educational content and mindfulness exercises that comprise a leading, evidence-informed, mental training program: Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (Kaufman, Glass & Pineau, 2018). Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the theoretical and empirical basis of MSPE, factors relevant to its application across diverse populations and settings, and limitations of this research and future directions. Dr. Kaufman will present key strategies for integrating core mindfulness skills into practice, competition, and daily life. During a catered, working lunch, a moderated, multi-disciplinary panel will discuss factors related to sport performance from the sport science, coach, and athlete perspectives. Participants will gain hands-on, experiential instruction in MSPE concepts and practices via participation in an in-vivo, mindful yoga practice and a guided, mindful hike in the picturesque Olympic Valley.
Theme: A 30-minute mediation and yoga flow for mindful sport performance enhancement.

Mindful Yoga Flow

As part of the 2024 Lake Tahoe Performance Summit. The Mindful Sport Performance Enhancement (MSPE) exercises that inspired this flow are described in detail in this book, and audio recordings are available here.

Spotify Playlist

Script

Welcome

Dr Rayna Harris is a biology professor and a yoga instructor with the Courage Project and Tahoe Flow Arts Fitness. She will lead today’s yoga session.

Yoga is a powerful tool for connecting to the body through awareness. Mindful yoga can be defined as gentle stretching and strengthing with awareness of our breathing and the sensations that accompany shifting the body into various poses, postures, or asanas. Ideally, mindful yoga is practiced without striving or forcing but with acceptance of our current state.

The goal of this practice is to develop greater awareness of our bodies rather than to push physical limits. It is important to take responsibility for your own body and do only what you are capable of. Feel free to skip any movements or poses that seem inappropriate for your body limits today. Pay full attention to the sensations your body is feeling and where you are feeling them.

Centering

Let’s begin in a comfortable standing or seated position. You may close your eyes or leave them open slightly, and turn your attention inward. As you exhale feel your feet or your sit bones ground into the surface below you. Place one hand on your belly and one hand on your heart. Notice the sensation of your chest and belly expanding with each inhale and falling with each exhale. Deepen your breath by counting to five on your inhales and exhales.

Lift your arms high over your head for a big good morning stretch, then bring your palms together in front of your heart. Take a moment to set an intension for your practice today, such as non-judgmentally listening to your body or being fully present with your thoughts. Lift your arms to the sky and offer to intension to the sun. Return your arms to your sides.

Full Body Scan

We will spend the next few moments performing a full body scan meditation. The intention is to notice sensations, acknowledge them without judgment, and then let them go. Let’s begin by directing your attention to your toes. Notice the sensations of contact with perhaps the floor or your shoes. As you exhale, let the observation of those sensations go. Now shift your attention to the ball of your foot, the arch, and the heel. Whatever you notice, bring an attitude of acceptance. Now, shift your attention up the left to your ankles, calves, and knees. What are you noticing here? Do you notice any tension or discomfort? As you exhale, let go of these observations. On your next inhale, direct your attention to your thighs and quads. What sensations do you notice? Exhale release.

Bring your attention to…. then release the sensations with your exhale.

• hips and pelvic region
• lower back and abdomen
• chest and shoulders
• biceps, triceps, and elbow
• forearm and writs
• hands and figures
• neck
• facial muscles
• the top of your head

Now, allow your focused attention to relax and expand throughout your entire body. As you breathe, feel the hum of life that flows through us. Allow this moment to be exactly what it is. Take a deep breath. Invite subtle movement into your extremities. Open your eyes and return your attention to the world around you.

Warm-Up

Inhale, lift your shoulders toward your ears, then exhale drop them, and release any tension. Repeat two more times. Now, let’s do shoulder circles. As you inhale, lift your shoulder forward and up, and as you exhale send them backward and down. After two cycles, switch the direction, allowing your breath to guide the movement. Now, let’s do neck circles. Lower your chin so that your nose is at 6 o’clock. As you inhale, imagine your nose tracing a clock, moving from 6 o’clock to 9 o’clock then 12 o’clock. Pause. As you exhale, your nose moves from 12 to 3 and back to 6. Repete that motion twice, then reverse the direction to counter clockwise.

Raise your arms to a cactus shape, elbows bent, palms forward. As you inhale, lift your gaze and arch your back for a modified cow pose. As you exhale, tuck your chin, round your back, and bring your elbows toward each other in front of your face for a modified cow pose. Alternate between the poses, allowing the breath to guide the movement, and noticing any sensations that arise. Return to center. On your next inhale, twist to the left, pause, exhale return to center. On your next inhale, twist to the right, pause, exhale return to center. Notice the sensations that arise from lengthening your side body and wringing out your insides. Lower your arms to your side.

Standing Practice

Let’s turn and face a partner. You should be able to see me out the corner of your eye. We will invite some dialog so that you can share your observations and become aware of those of others.

Lift the arm closest to me, so that you and your part are mirror images with one arm lifted. Stay here, or, if you are standing, step back with the leg on the same side of the body as the lifted arm into Warrior I pose. Now, lift both arms. What sensations do you notice in this pose? What muscles feel strengthened what muscles feel lengthened? Say these out loud to your partner. Inhale lengthen, exhale hinge at the waist and lean your chest forward to a 45-degree angle. Send your arms down and back so they are in the same plane as your back, palms face down. This is Warrior 1 with airplane arms. What sensations do you notice in this pose? What muscles feel strengthened what muscles feel lengthened? Say these out loud to your partner. Inhale lift your chest and your arms. Exhale step your back foot up to meet the front and bring your palms to touch at the heart center. Repeat on the other side.

On your inhale, lift both arms high in the sky, and on your exhale send them out wide so that your fingers are pointing to 3 and 9 o’clock. Stay here, or step toward me with the closet foot, opening your hips so the front foot is pointed toward me and the back foot is pointed toward your partner. Bend your front knee and come into Warrior II. What sensations do you notice in this pose? What muscles feel strengthened what muscles feel lengthened? Say these out loud to your partner. Now, hinge in the side body, bringing your armpit toward your knee. Your arms will move to 4 and 10 o’clock or maybe 6 and 12. This is side angle pose. What sensations do you notice in this pose? What muscles feel strengthened what muscles feel lengthened? Say these out loud to your partner. Inhale return to center. Exhale release. Inhale step your front foot to meet the back and bring your hands to heart center. Repeat on the other side.

Optional 1 leg Tadasana. Extend one or both arms. Play with flexing the wrists and ankles.

Inhale lift your arms and your gaze up to the sky, exhale hinge at the waist and forward fold over your legs, bending your knees as much as feels good, letting your hands drop toward the ground. What sensations do you notice in this pose? What muscles feel strengthened what muscles feel lengthened? What can you let go of in this pose? Maybe you grab your elbows and sway side to side. Maybe you shake your head yes and no. Inhale slowly roll up one vertebra at a time to a comfortable upright position.

Closing

Gently close your eyes or soften your gaze. Perform a full body scan meditation on your own, beginning with your attention on the toes and ending with your attention on the crown of the head. Notice any sensations that arise and how they may have changed with this short yoga practice.

Wherever you are, bring your attention to your heart center, and bring your palms to touch at heart center. The light in me acknowledges and honors the light in you. Thank you for practicing yoga today. Namaste.

Post-class Feedback

The yoga was excellent! It was outside on this astroturf green space in the Everline Resort courtyard. There was a huge manmade waterfall that sounded awesome, so I opted to not use a playlist. It was little brisk (maybe 55 degrees), and the sun wasn’t out, so I skipped some of the slower neck warmups and got into the larger movements to warm up our bodies. There were 30-40 people in attendance, and it was so awesome to hear them talking to each other and sharing their experiences in each pose.

I got some great feedback from attendees. My friend said the class few by and was really fun and integrated very well with the rest of the conference. A college form Tahoe Flow really connected with the part about how we do often tell people what to feel, and it was nice to hear different peoples experiences. Brie, the organizer, was super happy with how it turned out. 10 out of 10!