‘Athletes’ Mental Resilience And Strength Are Linked To Their Well-Being As Humans’, Says Abhinav Bindra

New Delhi: Abhinav Bindra, India’s first individual Olympics gold medallist in shooting, strongly believes the mental resilience and strength of an athlete is intricately connected to their overall well-being as individuals outside of the sport they compete in.

“The foundation of mental resilience and strength really is formed from how healthy an athlete is mentally as a human being, what kind of balance they have, as that has a very, very direct influence on their mental performance as an athlete. So I think sometimes it’s so important to also step back a little bit and first address the athlete as a human being because that forms the foundation of how you’re going to perform mentally on the field of play,” said Bindra in a virtual press conference by Mpower to launch AMP: A Sports Psychology Division, dedicated to elevating an athlete’s performance.

“Sometimes we miss that as we’re all so focused and so driven in this tunnel vision on how to get better on the field of play. But how we live outside of the field of play has a direct influence on how we’ll react in critical moments on the field of play. So it is both aspects, I believe, are very closely linked.

“The foundation, of course, has to be that human well-being is at the heart and centre of performance. If we keep that in mind, I’m sure our athletes will succeed more and can sustain success for a much longer period of time,” he said.

He further highlighted how treating athletes as humans will be crucial as many people train to represent India at international events in the coming decade, as well as in preparing them for a life beyond their sporting careers. “So that, I believe, is very important as we get on this journey of really taking India to the next level and our athletes getting better in sport. I really believe the next decade or so will be a decade of development of sport in India as well.”

“That means that many more young Indians will compete in sports and will dedicate a good amount of their years into sport. What does that mean? That also means that we are going to have a far bigger number of Indians failing in sports because that’s the very nature of sports. In sport, you will fail much more than you succeed.”

“So how do we deal with this situation which is going to come up? We’re going to be able to deal with a situation where we also ensure that athletes have a dual career pathway during their playing careers and are able to establish a degree of balance in their lives as human beings during their playing days because these are elements which will be absolutely critical in their life after sport.”

Bindra recalled an example of how taking a meditation course helped him rediscover his love for the processes after winning the 2008 Olympics gold medal. “When I did win that gold medal at the Olympics, my energy was completely drained in the sense that I was physically, emotionally and mentally drained. It also required a period of time to just let go and to recharge my batteries, and that wasn’t easy.”

“I remember one of my breakthrough moments actually came when I decided to go on a Vipassana meditation course. At that point, it was interesting because, at that point in time, I wanted to actually leave the sport and move on to the next calling. That was my primary drive to go to Vipassana – to find my new calling because I had no idea what my next passion was going to be.”

“So I go to Vipassana where I had to meditate for eight, nine hours a day in complete silence for 10 days. All I did in that Vipassana meditation course was to think back to my sport and think back to how I love the process of what I was doing, and that was great learning for me.”

“It was very, very, very, it had a clear link to my mental health because that day, the Vipassana experience realized that what I truly loved was my journey, and putting in the effort every single day.”

Bindra signed off by saying after that meditation course, he made happiness the gold medal he wanted to achieve in his playing career. “For far too long, perhaps, I too was guilty in putting myself worth to where my name, equating myself worth to where my name would appear on the ranking list of a sports competition, and that was very, very silly.”

“I believed in an equation that a gold medal is going to equal happiness. But frankly, from that day onwards, I reversed that equation where happiness had to become my gold medal, and that was a very big breakthrough moment. It’s not about winning at all costs. I think it’s about winning well and prioritizing your well-being, which I think is critical.”