the secrets sauce of the Seahawks; Meditation & Yoga!!! On this Sunday morning, it starts with meditation with Gervais, whom Carroll began to integrate into the program in 2011, at first working on the fringes as a consultant, then becoming a sideline regular last year. For the newcomers to his sessions, Gervais keeps them short, about six minutes. For those with some experience, he prepares longer, more individualized meditations. No one is required to be here, yet about 20 players show up at various times every week to breathe in, breathe out and open their minds. The entire roster also participates in yoga class, which players enjoyed so much last year as an optional activity that the staff decided to make it a mandated part of player workouts this year. The big idea is that happy players make for better players. Everyone in the facility, from coaches and players to personal assistants and valets, is expected to follow Carrolls mantras regarding positivity of thought, words and actions. Do your job better than it has ever been done before, he tells them. Yelling and swearing are frowned upon, and every media interview with a player or coach ends with a thank-you to the reporter. And in a trial program entering its second year, a group of 15 to 20 players is undergoing Neurotopia brain-performance testing and has worked with Gervais to create status profiles -- updated every week on an iPad app -- of whats going on in their lives, how much sleep theyre getting, their goals and how theyre dealing with stressors. Even as we re-examine the mental health of players in this kinder, gentler era of the sport, this is a bizarro football world. It certainly helps that Carroll has found a kindred spirit and advocate in second-year star QB Russell Wilson, who schedules individual weekly sessions with Gervais. We do imagery work and talk about having that innovative mindset of being special, Wilson says. We talk about being in the moment and increasing chaos throughout practice, so when I go into the game, everything is relaxed. Then he repeats what Carroll says all the time, what everyone around here says: I talk to guys on other teams, and other teams arent like this. We do stuff different here. espn.go/nfl/story/_/id/9581925/seattle-seahawks-use-unusual-techniques-practice-espn-magazine
Posted on: Mon, 20 Jan 2014 04:44:59 +0000
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