GOLF, YOGA AND REIKI

“A leading difficulty with the average player is that he totally misunderstands what is meant by concentration.  He may think that he is concentrating hard when he is just merely worrying.”  Robert Trent Jones (world famous course designer)

I can’t say that I would consider myself a golfer (although I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!).  I did, however, marry one over two decades ago and have picked up a few things over the years by osmosis.  While my husband is an avid golfer, I am as equally avid a yoga enthusiast.  I became a teacher when my youngest went to school full-time, and I quickly saw the benefit golfers would get from regular yoga practice.  I started to focus on figuring out how to get the typical golfer “on the mat” - a feat easier said than done for most golfers. I use a non judgmental approach, in language anyone can understand, and set to music your average golf Joe (or anyone for that matter) would enjoy listening to.

 I would notice upon my return from a yoga retreat and my husband would get home from a golf trip, that he and I both came away with very similar stories to tell - and comparable feelings were conjured up during our time away doing our respective “thing.”  (Minus the after hour dice rolling that never really picked up on the yoga trips.)

I knew there were books written on the spirituality of golf but not understanding the true essence of the game, I didn’t understand the comparisons.  I knew honesty, integrity, and character were a part of my husband’s personality and the way we raised our family and tried to make it part of our golden rule.  But I didn’t realize that it was these very traits that attracted him to the game in the first place. (I honestly thought it was the fact that when we had small children it was a good excuse to be gone for six hours on a Saturday morning. That’s how long it takes, right??  Just kidding.)  It is the only “game” where you first learn how to conduct yourself on the course and then you learn the rules of play.  Just as when I am on my mat, I have to let go of comparing myself to the yogi next to me and be non-judgmental of my own practice as well as others.  In golf, you’re not really playing to beat another person.  On the contrary, being supportive of your fellow players is commonplace on the golf course - you’re playing to lower your last score.

As in yoga, it’s not just the difficult posture that makes you a yogi, it is your mindset. Do good and be good is the essence of a yogic life. In your mind’s eye think of an image of a violin string. It is necessary in both golf and yoga to be, like the string, extremely strong in body and mind yet extremely flexible in both as well.

There is a certain amount of dignity and confidence one feels when standing at address and in Mountain Pose - strong, calm and relaxed. Gaze is sure but soft. It is a warrior posture that conveys focus, composure, and commitment to what you are about to do.

The trick here is keeping the commitment your mind has made to hit your shot - and then letting go of what you think or expect the results to be. Good or bad, the expectation of the outcome is what will “get in your head.”  If there was a way to play the game while practicing disattachment to the result everyone would not only have a lot less anxiety and fear about hitting their next shot but they just may enjoy their round a little more as well.  After all -you don’t play golf to relax, you relax so you can play golf.

This is where the Reiki comes in.  

I describe Reiki as a life balancing vibrational healing practice that engages our own body’s ability to self-heal physically, emotionally and spiritually.  My husband calls it “forced meditation.”  To receive Reiki you lie on a Reiki (or massage) table fully-clothed as the practitioner lays hands at different points on your head, torso, and feet.  You then turn over and repeat on the back while face down.  Sounds simple enough - and it is.  To describe the feeling you get from this simple-yet-miraculous Reiki treatment, I often ask the client to think of their favorite weather.  What does that weather feel like?  Where are you during this weather?  For me, it is 75 degrees and sunny with a slight breeze.  I am at the beach, looking out at the ocean and I am calm and relaxed and all is right with the world.  This is the feeling Reiki gives me.  The reason why my husband calls Reiki “forced meditation” is because Reiki usually allows the recipient to achieve a certain amount of relaxation rather quickly.  Unlike trying to quiet the mind during meditation Reiki seems to “work” a lot faster.  Although no two treatments are exactly alike, Reiki is always working and meeting the recipient where they are and giving them what they need. The effects of a treatment linger with you, sometimes for days. Perceptions can start to shift, a better night’s sleep can be had - but mostly an overall sense of “feeling better” occurs.  Reiki comes from a Japanese word that translates to “universal life force”.  It realigns the natural energy that runs through our bodies.  Because Reiki is so hard to explain, the best way to understand it is to experience it first hand.  It can be quite miraculous.

What Reiki can do for the golfer?   Simple: Enable them to not only have a better understanding of ‘letting go’ to the outcome of a shot, and also enable them to go to their pro with a ‘Beginners Mind’ - an empty cup so to speak.  This is not forgetting the knowledge you have accumulated in learning the game over the years, but being open and not bogged-down with thoughts of “Whenever I hit my tee shots I ALWAYS do this…” It gives you the spiritual stamina you need to put your last shot where it belongs, in the past and stay in your game in the present.  Free of worry, anxiety, stress and fear.

So take the time before your next round to do a few things: First, make a 3 to 5 song playlist and STRETCH.  You won’t mind doing it if it’s to music that you want to hear and that you have an emotional connection to.  Secondly, BREATHE…deeply and evenly, deep-belly breaths so your belly extends on the inhale and contracts on the exhale. Do this 10 times before your round begins.  (If you can remember, try to take one full breath in and one full breath out and then walk up to address your ball on every shot.) Third and foremost: If at all possible, try to find a reputable Reiki practitioner in your area.  You may find that it may not be for you - but I have certainly never heard of someone being sorry they tried it.  Your own body’s ability to self-heal could be that trick shot you can always pull out of your bag – and it was in there all along!