There is a wealth of research into the benefits of mindfulness. In the attached video Mark Williams disentangles the science of how mindfulness has such positive effects on those who practice it.
To me the most interesting part of this presentation is about the linkage between our thoughts, bodily sensations, feelings and resulting actions. Take the everyday example of getting up in the morning. When you first awake you are in that sluggish place psychologists call post sleep torpor (between waking and sleeping when you wish you were still asleep). If in these first few moments of opening your eyes you begin to think about the challenges that await you in your day you will can think negatively about them and feel more tired than you actually are. This can result in you getting up “on the wrong side of your bed”.
Practicing mindfulness as soon as you awake , by focusing on the breath or where in the body you feel tired, helps prevent this cycle. You will can remain in bed without judging or overestimating the challenges in your day. You will not feel as tired and will eventually get up to face the challenges ahead without unnecessary judgement.
In application to sport I have found that this principle also has great effect. If you are exercising intensively, instead of focusing on how hard the particular exercise is or when the exercise will be over, focus on the particular pain/ feeling and where it is in your body. You will find you can endure for a lot longer.
Mindfulness allows us to de-automatize the links between our thoughts, bodily sensations and feelings so that we can choose our resulting behaviors.
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