Some myth about rest, creativity, and athletes

 

What if someone told you to spend an entire day or week resting instead of working? You might visualize your inbox filling up and your weight set just staring back at you. You might dread boredom and let’s be honest here, you should never rest the whole day if you’re an athletes person. As an athlete, physical rest is as much a part of training as is lifting weights. Without rest, one person could never recover after workouts or build muscle. Every joint in the body would have to suffer. Normalize mental rest in athletics should never be ignored. 

In this article, we’ll talk about the importance of rest and explore the value of mental rest and creativity as a tool for self-care. Here are myths about athletes and rest because even if you aren’t competing, you still think like an athlete, which means you probably need some reframing around mental rest.  

MYTH-1 Rest Is Passive

As athletes, many people think of resting as sitting on the sofa, sleeping the whole day or watching their favourite series/movies. We think of rest as passive and it can be. Some people concentrate on pampering themselves. But rest can look different for high-performers. Rest should be channelling your energy into something creative and investing in other outlets. So if you’re resting you should know that diversifying and exploring other things is absolutely important to mental and physical well-being. 

MYTH-2 Athletes Aren’t Creative

Athletes don’t always think of themselves as creatives. As a coach or high-performer, you make creative decisions every day. Creativity is a necessary skill in sports. Your job is to find creative solutions to the problem in front of you, adopt new perspectives, and think on your feet. Your sport requires different imaginations with the flexibility to adapt to an ever-changing landscape and your creativity and tactical intelligence allow you to outplay your opponent. 

MYTH-3 Creativity Happens In a Vacuum

This is simply not true - not only does it give pleasure to play with dough, oftentimes because brains start working differently, and some people start connecting things that wouldn’t have otherwise. We’ve learned in past that firsthand creativity breeds creativity. The more you exercise creativity in any area of your life, the stronger your creativity muscle becomes. And being creative in any way creates creativity in other unrelated parts of your life.

MYTH-4 Your Energy Is Limited

Sometimes, we’d have practised without really having practice. We’d go from a group looking like we’re going into a math test, to a team excited to play sports again. 

For eg- We’d leave the gym with our workout is done, our mind rested, and our energy up. It just looks like one small shift to remind us that energy isn’t finite. 

Do more what gives you energy. Do less of what takes it away. Find ways to bring excitement and change into your daily life. 

Importance Of Athletic Performance Training And Active Mental Rest

Engage inactively mental rest with the assurance and confidence that it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself. It’s healthy, productive, and so very necessary.   

If you struggle to rest remind yourself-

Having things you do for fun is a natural pressure-release value. 

Your body needs physical, mental, and emotional rest away from your sport to heal, regenerate, and stave off burnout. 

Creative passions are gratifying, fun, and fulfilling. Being creative helps you tap into different parts of your brain. 

 Creativity in other areas of your life will actually strengthen your creative thinking in every area of your life, including your sport. 

Conclusion- If you’re an athlete and looking for mental training for athletes, you’re at the right place. Connect with us as we’re engaged in self-care, active mental rest, and creativity.