Today was the first day in the pool after being out for more than a week. As I headed to the health club the monkey started up. "Remember to reach, roll, and pull". "Don't forget to push the buoy". "Don't forget to keep your elbow high and pull from your back". A dozen other technical thoughts scrabbled through my head. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it can cause you to loose your way if you're not careful. In engineering we call it analysis paralysis. You're so caught up in the technical details and permutations of all the different aspects of a given problem that you can't make a decision, you can't go forward. All the possibilities spin your head into a dizzy little mess. Once this spiral starts up it is a very short trip to panic.
Recognizing this I tuned out the background chatter. By now I've swam thousands of laps in the pool. These laps are impressed in my muscle memory. My body knows what to do. My body knows when my swim stroke is working and when it's going to hell. If I listen to my body I can normally find out what's going wrong. The feeling of drag if my body is not positioned properly in the water. The sound of splashing and bubbles from turbulence if I'm not smooth enough. If I am aware then these simple cues will result in simple adjustments that correct the problems. If I listen to the monkey chattering away in the background I'll miss all of these little cues and get lost in the details. I'll end up frustrated because I'm being driven from the backseat.
Trust your training. Recognize the monkey mind for what it is - the back seat driver that can sometimes help, but often steers you wrong. Driving is best done from the front seat.
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1 comment:
Some people call it monkey mind and some people call it Little Miss Subconscious. But your right sometimes it's helpful and sometimes it's not.
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