LO1 Identify own strengths and develop areas for growth

For today’s CAS activity day I have decided to consider ‘learning objective 1’ and try to incorporate things that I may be less familiar with in my workout routine. I understand the physical health responsibility for playing football – as this is what I have been developing and working towards throughout my CAS experience – yet I now wonder about how my emotional/mental health and wellness can positively contribute to my performance on the field.

With this being said, I have decided to take part in a yoga lesson in order to see if exposing myself to a new side of activity can benefit myself. Yoga is known to be very spiritual but upon further research it is apparent that yoga can be utilised for many aspects of life.  Not only can yoga make me more mentally aware – with its abilities to relieve stress, calm the body, and sharpen concentration etc, it can also be of use in many physical components of football. Yoga is beneficial for building muscle strength, increasing flexibility, and improving posture.

Within football, I am confident that yoga will prove to be quite relevant and useful for my skill development. I think in terms of mindfulness, yoga will help me stay calm and composed on the field in times where pressure may be high. Along with this, it may also help me remain concentrated and allow myself to not rush into doubt on the pitch. Physically, I think yoga will help me develop better range of motion and increase my flexibility and strength on the pitch – which is extremely useful due to my defensive position.

Throughout the course of this session, I was taught a variety of new poses specifically tailored to help with a different element of my body and mind. Honestly, I found starting off a bit difficult as my balance wasn’t strong nor was my stability. However, as the session progressed I think I developed a bit more confidence in each of the poses – I feel that if I continued each of these daily I will be able to nicely strengthen my stability and balance, along with improve my breathing and concentration.

 

As  for my mentality, yoga has helped me feel more prepared and positive towards the day ahead. I think that just taking a moment to breathe and sit in silence, concentrating not on my thoughts but on my breaths, was really relaxing to my mind and helped me disconnect with any stress I may feel. I think this will be a useful tool in football as it will help me get my head in the game. For example, if I am on the pitch and I become distracted thinking about other stresses or things I may have to do, I can put into practice this yoga exercise and realise that I need to concentrate on the present and relive my anxiety by connecting with the task at hand. After this session, I now know that I need improvement in my breathing/concentration and stability so I will continue lessons and see how I progress.

Research links for yoga:

The Benefits of Yoga

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/fitness/10-health-benefits-of-yoga/articleshow/64678825.cms

I feel that throughout this process of attempting yoga, I also incorporated CAS LO2. As I mentioned previously, my concentration and mindfulness on the field could be improved, and I believe that with a steady maintenance of yoga practice, I will be able to achieve a new skill that will ultimately help me in the long run – not only on the pitch but for things such as; taking tests, joining a new club/social activity, and perhaps in the uni/job application process. Also mentioned previously, I think that I have specifically challenged my balance and flexibility in participating in this yoga lesson. Through tiger pose and tree pose, I think I have been able to see that perhaps my balance is not as strong as it should be, and I now know if I persevere LO4 with these exercises I could be able to achieve more on the pitch. Balance is a useful tool in football as it allows you to manoeuvre around the field with more ease – it also prepares you to make  swift and sharp movements, which are useful as you move past defenders or make tackles.

Overall, I think this experience was really enjoyable and putting myself in an unfamiliar position i.e. taking into account mental wellbeing and a less-intensive workout routine – proved to be impactful on my body and mind. I think that in doing the balancing poses, I realised how much of a lack of stability I really have and it put into perspective things that I previously didn’t consider to be as helpful in football as say endurance. I feel that if I continue stretching, adjusting, and improving these yoga poses I will find many benefits in my daily exercise routine and overall fitness level on the pitch.