Hey Friend,

It’s been a minute since we’ve had storytime, and this one kind-a blew my mind.

It’s about Winny the Pooh and the Northwestern Women’s Lacrosse team winning a Natty.

I swear, it’ll all make sense. Just give me a sec. I got you!

Welcome back to the Joy Code, where we play with the overlap of yoga and personal development to help you show up BIG for your week and all the things that matter most!

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Here’s what you can expect in today’s blog…

➡️ How the NU Lacrosse team inspired me to rethink EVERYTHING I thought I knew about meditation for athletes

➡️ The 3 things you need to hear in order to compete at your best

➡️ The reason why traditional meditation always seems to come up short when it comes to winning.

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“The Day We Burn this MFer to the Ground…”

Lucy stood from her seat and gave a quick intro about her role as a Northwestern Lacrosse player. It was her turn to present her “This is Yoga” video for the class.

As part of Yoga Foundations (my undergrad course at Northwestern) I have each student do a short presentation on how they live their yoga outside of class.

Lucy nodded at me to hit play.

“What day is today, Pooh?” Lucy’s Head Coach says as the video pans across the locker room. It’s the NCAA Women’s Final and Northwestern is poised to win a national title. “The day we burn this motherfucker to the ground! … My favorite day of the year Pooh says.”

Lucy’s coach smiles.

The room burst into cheers. Players jump from their seats and the energy is palpable through the screen.

The scene then cuts to a meditation. “Take a deep breath in and feel your body settle into the moment,” an audio recording, with a melodic “yogi-voice” plays in the background of the locker room.

Next scene: Silence.

The players open their eyes with a focus that is unmatched. Spoiler alert, they win the Natty.

“I never understood why I always felt so settled before every game until this class,” Lucy said to the room. “I never realized that my coach was balancing our gunas – that we go through rajas (high energy) then tamas (grounding, calm energy) all the way to sattva (that blissful state).”

It was a mic drop moment for me. I preach this stuff, but sometimes I’m so far in it I can’t see the forrest through the trees.

THIS is what meditation could be

I left the class buzzing.

Because here was the answer that I had been looking for for so long.

The reason that traditional meditation always seems to come up short is because it doesn’t meet you where you are! Duh.

We never channel that rajasic, nervous energy you have as competitors into something useful. We let your anxieties sit there while we talk about warm light and soothing exhales 🤯

The solution

All we have to do is change the first part!

The Rajasic energy that you have prior to competition needs to be channeled correctly.

It’s the difference between being nervous and excited. Same energy, different focus. What Lucy’s coach did was turn the team’s anxious energy into fuel, by pumping up the ego.

This is the thing that most people don’t get about the athlete experience…

Athletes are nowhere near as confident as people think, because WE KNOW HOW FRAGILE THIS IS. We know that we can work YEEEEEEAAARS on our craft and in an instant it can all go up in smoke.

Your REVISED Meditation

PART ONE: BUILD YOU UP… (Rajas)

• This is where we give you that pat on the back and speak to your confidence; we remind you of who you are – your talents, your gifts, your superpower. This is about getting you ready to run through a brick fucking wall. Or like Pooh said, to “burn this motherfucker to the ground.”

PART TWO: CALM YOU DOWN … (Tamas)

• Now it’s time to come back to your training, to focus on your process, and get clear on what it’s going to take to execute.

PART THREE: LET GO AND TRUST … (Sattva)

• Silence. At this point, there’s nothing left to say and now it’s up to you to trust yourself. To find your middle – that point where you’re not too high and not too low.

The Problem

Traditional meditation is amazing, it just doesn’t prepare you to compete. It doesn’t take into account your starting point, and it leaves you without an action plan.

It’s the entire reason I created AP meditations, because athletes need something different.

You need to be ready to run through a brick wall AND have the clarity and patience to trust the process and handle the setbacks that are bound to happen within the course of a game or match.

The days of a generic ‘breathe in and breathe out,’ ain’t it. We can do better than that.

Which brings me back to you…

AP Meditations

Next week our first official meditation bundles are coming your way! Meditations that build you up, center you, and then prepare you to compete.

So keep an eye out and open next week’s email, because I have some special offers/discounts for my subscribers!

Listen, I’m so excited about this, I can barely sit still.

Why?

Because I know this is going to help so many of you struggling to end that mental self-sabotage loop that plays in your head and keeps you from playing at your best.

I KNOW this will be the answer for so many of you who just need that one little push to remember who you are.

The bundles will cover everything from pre-game nerves to teammate drama.

The Mission

The mission is simple: To give you the tools to play BIG when it matters the most. I’m here to help you find the JOY again … because playing sports in college doesn’t have to be this hard.

Hot Take:

And for the love of god, please stop listening to people who have never been there before. All yoga and meditation is not the same, my friend, especially for athletes like you trying to compete. You need someone who’s been there, done that.

As always,

Rooting for you BIG,

A-

The Weekly

• News: TL;DR: AP athlete-specific meditations drop next week. Keep an eye out and open your email for exclusive discounts and offers.
• Mindset Inspo: ​Click to read​
• Post of the week: ​Click to watch​
• Come practice with me: ​Click to save your spot​
• The Player Coach Reframe: ​Click to view​

See you next week!

Good athletes train the BODY
Great athletes train the MIND
Exceptional athletes train BOTH

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