This is a game time pump up protocol designed to get you focused mentally and physically energized to prepare you for any sort of upcoming game,
A school presentation,
Or major event.
Before we begin,
I want you to bring to mind a mantra.
A mantra is any type of saying that reinforces a behavior.
It needs to be something that makes you feel confident and invincible.
We're going to use this in the second person,
Like you're talking to yourself,
Using the pronoun you.
So for example,
You could say you are invincible.
You are going to crush this.
You are strong.
You are the best player on the court.
Whatever it is,
Bring something to mind that makes you feel strong and capable.
Now that you have your mantra,
We're going to put that away and come back to it.
This breathing protocol will be in a seated upright position.
Make sure you're comfortable with good posture.
You can either have your feet on the floor if you're sitting in a chair,
Or you can cross your legs,
But just make sure that spine is nice and straight.
We're going to close our eyes and bring our focus onto the breath.
We're just going to start by slowing our breathing down a little bit,
Elongating those inhales and exhales all through the nose,
Just connecting with the breath.
As you're connecting with this breath,
I want you to start hissing out the mouth,
Just letting a little air out.
So you're going to bring in an inhale through your nose and slowly out the mouth with a gentle hiss.
Keep going at your own pace,
Gently inhaling and exhaling out the mouth with a little hiss.
Now I want you to exhale all the way out and inhale all the way in,
Nice and slow this time,
Feeling the ribs expanding,
Inhaling deeply and feeling the lungs fill all the way up.
Hold for a second at the top and then you're going to exhale out the mouth with a whoosh and feel the lungs emptying and collapsing.
Let's do that three more times.
Let's inhale fully to expand,
Fully expanding like you're going to pop,
A brief hold at the top and exhale all the way out.
Inhale again,
Expanding fully,
Imagining those lungs filling up as much as they can and exhale whoosh.
One more,
Inhaling slowly,
Control it,
Fill it all the way to the top and exhale whoosh.
Good,
Now we're going to pick up the pace.
We're going to go in and out through the nose and out through the mouth,
About one second in,
One second out.
It's going to sound like this.
Whoosh,
Whoosh,
Go for it.
Keep going in the nose and out through the mouth,
Letting the ribs collapse.
Make this breathing pattern intentional,
Keep it under control.
I want you to start to feel the energy cranking up in the body,
Feeling the heat in the body.
Make sure there's a little bit of force on that exhale.
Whoosh,
Whoosh,
Whoosh.
Keep going,
Just a few more seconds.
Now take a big inhale hold and hold at the top and exhale hold.
Great job.
Now we're going to take an inhale in nice and slow and the nose and exhale out the mouth slow.
We're going to pick up the beat again.
It's in for one second,
Out for one second.
In the nose,
Out the mouth.
Keep it going,
Keep it up now.
Feel those ribs,
Feel the belly and feel the dumping out on the exhale.
Let's pick up the speed just a little bit more.
We're going to go a little bit more quickly.
About 10 breaths starting now.
Good,
And take an inhale and exhale and hold.
As we hold on this exhale,
Bring that mantra back to mind.
Start repeating that mantra to yourself over and over again.
Just keep slowly repeating that mantra.
Say it slow and keep repeating it.
Might feel a little awkward but that's okay.
Just keep repeating it,
Telling yourself something positive.
Good,
And inhale and hold.
Continue with that mantra.
Go back to light breathing through the nose.
We're going to pick up the speed just a little bit.
One more time.
This time we're going to go one inhale through the mouth and two sharp exhales.
It's going to sound like this.
I want these to be aggressive exhales.
You'll be feeling the belly driving into the spine and driving the air out.
We're going to do this for 10 breaths starting now.
Put some force behind it and inhale and hold.
Bring that mantra back to mind.
Feel that energy that you've ramped up.
Return to your mantra as we finish this protocol,
Reinforcing your belief.
When you're ready,
You can open your eyes,
Keep nasal breathing,
Start to reconnect with the room.
Take this mantra into your practice or into your game because you're now ready to go out and dominate the competition.
