Simply Sport Foundation in association with Samiksha Sports conducted a free online mental wellness and conditioning workshop for athletes. The aim of this workshop was to introduce the topic of mental wellness and spread the awareness of the importance of mental health for athletes in their life particularly during the covid times where the athletes struggled to train and participate. Mental health is often ignored in India and it is very important that individuals are made aware of what it constitutes and inculcate a regular habit to maintain a sound and healthy mind.
Workshop structure
Duration: 3 weeks
Educator: Dr. Janki Deole from Samiksha
Mode of workshop: Online sessions over Zoom
Number of participants: 3 batches of 30 participants each. Each batch underwent 3 sessions.
Session 1: In the first week session, the participants were introduced to the topic of mental wellness. Athletes were given a walkthrough on -
How to control your mind and emotions
How to turn negative into positive
The participants were also asked to maintain a daily note on their emotions, positive and negative thoughts as part of their homework before the next session.
Session 2: The focus of 2nd week session was on -
Self appraisal
Self motivation
In this session, the athletes underwent a quick mind relaxing workout through meditation and yoga.
Session 3: In the final session, the athletes were introduced to the topic of -
Never give up approach
Bounce back
All the learnings from the earlier sessions were revised before concluding the session.
Pic. Participants undergoing a mindfulness meditation by Dr. Janki from Samiksha
Participant information
Gender participation break-up
Sport wise participation
Age category of participation
Testimonials
Team Samiksha
“The recognition for the need of mental wellness among athletes, the willingness to do something and take the step coupled with an engaging and keen audience is what made this a very exciting project for Samiksha Sports.
We are confident that this step by Simply Sport will go a long way in supporting the athletes mentally and building resilience amongst them. We have had a great experience delivering the program and look forward to engaging with them in the future!”
From Athletes
Divya Satija, National level swimmer -
“My journey from a national swimmer to international medalist was one step way. I was lacking in mental fitness. I knew that I had to improve on the mental aspects of my game and therefore I registered for the Simply Sport for the mental conditioning and wellness workshop.
It was an amazing workshop. They explained through small motivating stories how mindfulness can help to attain focus. Staying positive can help to achieve your targets. How we can convert our struggles and experiences into something positive. I absolutely loved the interactive format of the workshop”
Shome Das, An aspiring Athlete -
"Mental stress is omnipresent for athletes and people in other walks of life who push personal limits, work with hard deadlines and adverse situations. The workshop organized by Simply Sport and Samiksha Sports proposes techniques which could help individuals stay mentally healthy and productive when faced with mental stress and adversity in various walks of life. The workshop taught on the need for analysis of positive/negative thoughts, mindfulness, positive thinking, improve one’s thinking patterns and benefits of mental wellness.
Overall the workshop was a very nice and productive initiative to help individuals stay positive, focused and productive in stressful careers(such as that of sports). I look forward to future events which deal with mental health, stress handling etc."
Conclusion
The three-week long workshop on mental wellness was like a welcome return to sports for most of the athletes. Many athletes faced stress and uncertainty due to restrictions on practice and with no competitions being held. Athletes were able to gauge the knowledge on mental health and devise a strategy for themselves to get back to sport once restrictions are fully lifted. Dr. Janki, an experienced Psychologist, stressed on how as an individual it’s important to believe in one’s ability and bounce back once sport restarts.
We hope that the workshop had a positive impact on the minds of the athletes and provided them with a much needed confidence to get back on track.
About Simply Sport
Simply Sport is a sports policy research and development organization based out of
India. Simply Sport’s vision is to promote sports as an effective tool for the
development of the nation. It focuses on policy research, grassroot development and
use of technology in sports. To subscribe to Simply Sport Newsletters, Research and Articles, please write to subscribe@simplysport.in. You can follow Simply Sport on
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