1. The Zone
1.1. Zen Buddhism
1.1.1. Michael Jordan
1.1.2. Kobe Bryant
1.1.3. Phil Jackson
1.1.4. Eightfold Path
1.1.4.1. A method to experience reality
1.2. 'Life is available only in the present moment' - Thich Nhat Hanh
1.3. The moment when the self disappears and you become one with the task at hand.
1.4. being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time Flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved and you're using your skills to the utmost.
1.5. 'Completely focused, then slightly not caring?'
2. Mindfulness: The eye of the hurricane
2.1. Why?
2.1.1. Mindfulness creates the zone
2.1.1.1. Focus is on the journey, not the destination
2.1.1.2. Everyone and everything seems connected in some energetic, unified way
2.1.1.3. Transcends physical and mental consiousness
2.2. What?
2.2.1. 'Mindfulness means paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgementally, as if your life depended on it.' - John Kabat-Zinn
2.3. How?
2.3.1. Silence the 'Monkey Mind'
2.3.1.1. Monkey mind jumping from topic to topic. Agitated, confused, restless.
2.3.2. Meditation Practice
2.3.3. Let go of Self 1: Analytical, ego-driven, anxious self
2.3.4. BE Self 2: Intuitive unconsious mind that transcends obstacles and allows us to feel at one with everything around us
2.3.4.1. Self 2 lives in the present
2.4. The Space between stimulus and response
2.4.1. Be Still
2.5. Practice
2.5.1. Take five minutes before an activity to be still and be conscious of the space between stimulus and response.
3. Concentration: Focused Awareness
3.1. Why?
3.1.1. Focus must be completely on the present moment.
3.1.1.1. Not the future
3.1.1.2. Not the past
3.1.1.3. Not on some distractions
3.2. What?
3.2.1. Physiological
3.2.1.1. Parasympathetic
3.2.1.1.1. Lowers Blood pressure
3.2.1.1.2. Slows down heart rate
3.2.1.1.3. Acetylcholine -> Relaxation
3.2.1.2. Sympathetic Nervous System
3.2.1.2.1. Fight or flight
3.2.1.2.2. fear anxiety, stress
3.2.1.2.3. Immune system breaks down
3.2.2. A heightened state of awareness that is impenetrable to distractions. Complete immersion in the present.
3.3. How?
3.3.1. Awareness of Breath
3.3.1.1. Be Still, Relax, focus on breathing
3.3.1.2. Enter the Bliss State
3.3.1.2.1. You feel as if you don't exist
3.3.1.3. Think about a situation and be aware of how it feels
3.3.2. Clearness of Mind
3.3.2.1. Ignoring the Self 1, Negative thoughts.
3.3.3. 'If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath." - Amit Ray
3.3.4. Outcome Expectation
3.3.4.1. Kinesthetic visualization pg.118
3.3.4.1.1. Know where you want to go
3.3.4.1.2. See what you have to do in your mind
3.3.4.1.3. Don't focus on it as you're doing it
3.3.5. Implicit Learning
3.3.5.1. The real learning takes place experientially
3.3.5.2. Deliberate practice pg 126
3.3.5.2.1. Consiously and intentionally
3.3.5.2.2. muscle memory
3.3.5.3. Intention pg 121
3.3.5.3.1. The Intention to Succeed
3.4. Music
3.4.1. Music Creates the bliss state pg 114
4. Insight: Know Thyself
4.1. 'How you see yourself creates your reality'
4.2. Four Noble Truths
4.2.1. Suffering is a part of life
4.2.2. There's a cause for suffering
4.2.3. There is an end to suffering
4.2.4. Eightfold path
4.2.4.1. Path that leads from suffering
4.3. Feed the right wolf pg. 153
4.3.1. "The human brain turns to threats, unfinished business, failures, etc. when there is nothing left for it
4.3.1.1. No room for any of that in flow
4.3.2. Hinderances
4.3.2.1. Sensual Desire
4.3.2.1.1. Craving, Addiction
4.3.2.2. Ill Will or Anger
4.3.2.3. Sloth or torpor
4.3.2.3.1. Dulling of the mind
4.3.2.3.2. Spacing out
4.3.2.4. Restlessness or worry
4.3.2.4.1. Anxiety
4.3.2.5. Skepticism and doubt
4.3.2.5.1. Fear
4.3.3. Evil wolf vs good wolf
4.4. The Yips
4.4.1. High performers can't do simple task
4.4.1.1. Feeding the wrong wolf
4.4.1.2. Not doing things intrinsically
4.5. Know your Discomfort pg 165-167
4.5.1. Know your comfort zone and how much you can push it.
4.5.2. Keep your comfort zone on the horizon
4.6. Embracing Failure pg. 173
5. Right Effort: Forget Thyself
5.1. Do or Do Not, there is no try pg 200
5.2. Motivation comes from inside
5.3. Four Aspects
5.3.1. Guarding against unwholesome qualities arising that have heretofore not arisen
5.3.2. Observing and abandoning unwholesome qualities that have already arisen, rather than reacting to them
5.3.3. Developing new wholesome qualities
5.3.4. Sustaining wholesome qualities that exist
5.4. Do it for yourself, do it for the love of it
5.5. Forget yourself while you're doing it.
5.6. 'Release' When frustrated pg 212
5.6.1. 'Suddenly in that moment of no-thought and letting go, the answer comes to us, seemingly out of the blue'
5.7. It's in this paradoxical state of mind when we're in conscious flow and connected to something more expansive than ourselves that we can let go, just "let it happen", and put our faith and trust in those invisible laws.
6. Trust: The Space Between the Thoughts
6.1. The balance between faith and wisdom
6.2. Taking the leap of faith
6.3. 'The conquest of the fear of death is the recovery of life's joy"
6.4. The path of flow is one of spiritual consiousness pg 232
6.5. 'an expansion of consciousness' 'on the path of spiritual growth'
6.5.1. As if guided by an intelligent force
6.6. 'Instead, you are flooded with consciousness and are fully and wholly concentrated on the here and now. This is the experience every athlete has when he or she is fully in the Zone. Sometimes we call this "being on fire." All distractions are burned away. This is pure performance at its best. This, ultimately, is the path of the mindful athlete.
7. Ass on Fire: The Five Spiritual Superpowers
7.1. 'Pain Brought me to mindfulness'
7.1.1. The inevitable struggle before the tranformation
7.2. 'The way out is the way in'
7.2.1. Thinking inward about the self is the only way to escape the pain that we once brought upon ourselves