Visualize the lift....Breathe in….Breathe out...Grip the bar…Lift.
It’s a routine that powerlifter Huy Nhan has performed hundreds of times while preparing to deadlift 575 pounds. He incorporated the visualization and deep breathing techniques into his routine three years ago to improve his concentration, with surprising results.
“I’ve gotten a lot stronger from it,” said Nhan, 24, a kinesiology strength and conditioning major. “I feel a lot healthier from it and my grades are actually a lot better as well.”
The 5’10″, 250 pound Nhan, who is training for his first power competition, uses diaphragmatic breathing and imagery meditation prior to each lift. He also meditates throughout the day to stay focused and calm.
He is in good company. Long-considered the providence of mantra-chanting monks and mystics, meditation is now being practiced by more Americans than ever before as a path to physical and mental well-being.
According to a survey by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, nearly 13 percent of adults practice deep breathing exercises, more than nine percent meditate and six percent practice yoga. The findings were reported in a 2009 article by the American Medical Association.
Kinesiology major Justin Vidal, 21, began meditating more than a year ago as an alternative to taking pain medications. Herniated discs in his lower spine had left Vidal with sciatica and chronic back and leg pain. Doctors prescribed multiple pain medications but the pain was still so severe that some days he was barely able to crawl to the bathroom.
“At first I was just so angry,” Vidal recalled. “Why me? Why do I have this pain? Why do I have to take all these pills? Why am I stuck in this position?”
That’s when Vidal began searching for an alternative way of life. At the suggestion of a friend, Vidal began to meditate. Initially, all he could do was try to relax in the most comfortable position possible.
Eventually, he started listening to music meditation CDs that used varied bell tones for each chakra – or energy field – in the body. This practice directs the blood flow to specific parts of the body, which then receive more oxygen and other nutrients.
Over time, Vidal learned how to bypass his pain through meditation.Soon he began to notice subtle changes: his digestion improved, he was sleeping better, his mind was calmer. And there was an added benefit: his test-taking skills improved.
“Meditation can definitely bring your stress level down to the point that when you get in (the classroom), you can be relaxed,” Vidal said.
Both Vidal and powerlifter Nhan are students in Cal State Fullerton kinesiology professor Patrick Freeman’s Hatha yoga classes. A yoga-devotee since age 12, Freeman stresses a multi-disciplined approach to yoga and meditation. His classes are part lecture, part activity, and teach proper diet, breathing and positive thinking in addition to yoga postures.
“A lot of people in the west think of yoga as what you do at 24 Hour Fitness or at the rec center,” Freeman said. But to an advanced yogi, that’s “basically kindergarten.”
“It’s still very good; it’s good for the health of our body and, for some people, that’s all they want out of yoga and that’s fine,” Freeman said. “The cool thing about yoga is that you can take from it whatever you want…It’s not a religion; it’s a system of scientific principles designed to still the restless mind.”
Freeman said humans think more than 60,000 thoughts a day – that’s about a thought every 2.4 seconds. Yoga and meditation teach techniques like relaxation and concentration to slow down those thoughts.
"And they’re very simple (techniques),” Freeman said. “But the power lies in the practice. As we practice more and more it gets easier.”
Meditation is not a magic cure-all, he said. But practiced properly and regularly, it can bring relief from myriad of health problems, including digestive problems, sleep disorders and attention-deficit disorder.
And, for stressed-out college students, meditation may be just what the doctor ordered.
“The way the world is moving, we’re inundated with information overload and people are under a lot of stress,” Freeman said. “Meditation can bring them that calmness they’re looking for; that peace of mind.”
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