As a Wolverine alumnus (and former Michigan Marching Band trombonist), I loved watching quarterback JJ McCarthy lead an undefeated team this season to the national championship game.
But just as thrilling was watching McCarthy do something on the field that doesn’t involve the ball: meditation.
The fact that the media has repeatedly photographed and filmed McCarthy sitting in front of the goalposts with his legs crossed and eyes closed before each game is a disgrace in one of the most macho sports. This shows how rare it is to see a young man meditating in public.
And think about it. McCarthy can meditate before leaving his apartment or inside the team’s locker room. But he doesn’t feel embarrassed about his practice. He does it regularly in front of crowds of cameras, knowing the world is watching his every move. This is a deliberate choice. And he does it when and where he needs to ground himself the most: on the field on game day.
A cynic might argue that this is a posture, or that directing attention to oneself defeats the “inward focus” purpose of meditation practice. But speaking as a fellow meditator, I’ve been rooting for and applauding McCarthy’s choice not to hide this act of mental self-care. This is true not only for up-and-coming athletes who may benefit from a regular meditation practice, but also more broadly for men, who in my experience are more likely to dismiss meditation as “woo-woo” hokum. It removes the stigma against meditation.
roots of meditation teeth Impressively old. Its origins, by some estimates, date back to 5,000 BC, and it took root in various cultures along the Silk Road, and was adopted as a spiritual practice by several religions. Eventually in the 20th century, meditation became more secular and American scientists began researching its potential health benefits, including stress reduction, increased attention span, and lower blood pressure. .
McCarthy’s journey into meditation began during his senior year of high school, when he was living under severe pandemic restrictions and experienced symptoms of depression for the first time. Searching for help online led him to meditation. So McCarthy developed and adopted a method of regular practice.
The first time I tried meditation was when I was grieving the loss of a job I loved. I attended an introductory meditation workshop because I felt adrift and lost track of who I was without a job. This practice didn’t suddenly make me feel energized or happy, but it gradually began to stabilize me during a tumultuous time. This experience taught me how to breathe through panic and overwhelming situations and start again.
Because that is one of the core principles of any meditation practice. The mind is a busy and chaotic place, so it is inevitable that we will repeatedly lose focus. (Pro Tip: Don’t tell meditators they can’t do it because they can’t stop their thoughts. Neither can we, folks. That’s not really the goal.) But “practice” The word depends on the context.exactly exactly because Meditation is about developing humility and a willingness to try again and again.
That’s one of the reasons McCarthy doesn’t go off the rails, he says, even when a play goes sideways, when his team is trailing by a few points, or when a scandal pulls the head coach from the sidelines. I think. McCarthy’s meditation practice is so strong that he constantly adapts, focusing on what he can control and letting go of what he can’t.
He keeps trying again.
As for me, when the world shut down indefinitely due to the pandemic, and when I found my father dead alone in his apartment, I leaned hard into the meditation infrastructure I had built.
I kept breathing inside it. I started again.
McCarthy spoke about his pregame meditation session in an interview: This is a practice that is not very popular in the West, so I was trying to spread the word and hopefully inspire others. ”
Mission accomplished, JJ — whether you come home from Houston with a national championship ring or not.
It’s actually a ring will do Please be nice…
Jen McKee is a Farmington-based author with two daughters, two cats, and a husband. Submit a letter to the editor at freep.com/letters.
