by Coach Mat | 16 Jan, 2021
For many in our culture, probably the most challenging attitude to develop in mindfulness is ‘non-striving’. It is certainly counter-intuitive in nearly every context we face. In mindfulness meditation, non-striving could be viewed as a skill we develop...
by Coach Mat | 22 Nov, 2020
We continue this exploration of what Jon Kabat-Zinn calls the Attitudes of Mindfulness with a discussion on how patience plays an important role in our swimming practice. You may enjoy hearing Kabat Zinn briefly describe this attitude. Mindfulness for our swimming...
by Coach Mat | 19 Apr, 2020
For those who have extra time, if I could choose a third skill for you to build and strengthen I would choose awareness and attention. Awareness and attention increase in strength and skillfulness when they are applied to challenges and used frequently. Yet, people...
by Coach Mat | 13 Jan, 2020
Here is an excerpt from my forthcoming book (working title) Better Breathing In Freestyle. …no matter how skilled or not you are in breathing, before you can correct and control any of your breathing errors, you have to become aware of what breathing your body...
by Coach Mat | 29 Dec, 2019
Stopping Is Not Natural Can you imagine running 10 km (up to an hour for some folks) or even 5 km (up to a half hour) in a race or for fitness and doing it in a basketball court? And, rather than run loops around the perimeter of the court, imagine covering that...
by Coach Mat | 30 Nov, 2019
This continues from Should You Be An Augmented Swimmer? Part 1… New technology will certainly bring augmented capabilities to humans, but we risk losing the innate capabilities of our nervous system that could atrophy from disuse. I wonder if in certain skilled...