Indian Olympic contingent has 'meditation partners' to help it stay focused

App Dhyana, given to every member of the contingent, will measure 'mindful minutes', or the time they are actually focusing while in meditation

In the 1924 Olympics in Paris, Scotsman Eric Liddell was forced to withdraw from the 100-metre race final. The reason? Its heats were on a Sunday and he was a devout Christian. Instead, he competed in the 400 m final. Though it was not his strongest suit, he finished in 47.6 seconds, setting a world record and running the epithet of the Flying Scotsman. Many believe what set the Olympic gold medallist apart from the others (his record remained unmatched for the next 12 years) was his heart, faith and focus.

Sporting lore is full of stories of athletes whose mental focus helped optimise their performance in some of the world’s biggest sporting events. The opposite is true, too: when Naomi Osaka, the highest-paid female athlete in the world, withdrew from the French Open in May this year, she put the spotlight on the huge stress that many professional sportspeople experience today.

In recognition of the role of mental health in sports, meditation tracking startup Dhyana and Hyderabad-based Heartfulness Institute have been appointed the official meditation partners for the Indian Olympic contingent. Dhyana, the smart ring and app that they have especially designed for the athletes, will teach and monitor their meditation and mental relaxation practice.

This wearable has been given to every member of the Indian contingent and will measure “mindful minutes”, or the amount of time wearers are actually focusing while in a meditation session. It does this by continuously tracking Heart Rate Variability (HRV), or the gap in between two consecutive heartbeats, which is further broken down into the three fundamentals of every meditation session – the quality of breathing, focus and relaxation.

Backed by champion badminton coach Pullela Gopichand, this will be the first time that Indian athletes will use a high-tech wearable to track their mental wellness and focus. Gopichand, who is the chief coach of the Indian Badminton Team, says such tools are especially needed in today’s milieu. “It’s not easy being where the players are right now,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday. “As if the pressures associated with the highest level of sports were not enough, fluctuating restrictions around the pandemic imposed in the Olympic Village are bound to further affect morale to a certain extent,” he added.

This is where the Dhyana ring might come handy. The linked app has tailored relaxation sessions and data-driven meditation, which could help Indian athletes to improve their overall mental health not just when they compete in the high octane events in Tokyo, but also to get through the added stress of competing during the pandemic.

Here’s how it works.

Bhairav Shankar, managing director of Dhyana, says the app simply strengthens traditional meditation by linking it to biomedical technology. The Heartfulness Institute developed custom meditations for the Indian contingent, available in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. These are structured to help the players completely relax and focus better.

In the meantime, the wearable gives continuous real-time biofeedback to users, making them aware when their stress levels rise and equipping them with tools to improve them.

Tanvi Khanna, Indian squash player who has been practicing meditation on the Heartfulness app, says the experience has taught her that to be on top of one’s game, one needs not just physical but also mental fitness. “Before I started Heartfulness meditation, I would not be able to recognise the muscles tightening when nervous or losing a few points in the game,” she said at the press conference. “Now I am much more aware.”

The New Zealand and India sailing boats during training at Enoshima Yacht Harbor in Japan. Photo: Ivan Alvarado/REUTERS

The Indian focus on the mental health of athletes comes in the wake of growing international awareness about the subject.

In 2018, the International Olympic Committee released a landmark Consensus Paper published in “British Journal of Sports Medicine” on mental health symptoms and disorders in elite athletes. It also recommended prevention and management techniques for doctors, psychiatrists and other professionals who work with elite athletes.

During the Tokyo Olympics, in partnership with Intel, Athlete365 is offering all athletes a free subscription to Headspace, a meditation and sleep app proven to reduce stress and improve happiness.

While there is no way to say how Headspace or Dhyana will actually impact athletic performances in the coming few days, what they have certainly done is generate greater awareness about the mental health of elite sportspeople. So it is perhaps safe to say that as they face the most stressful contest of their sporting lives, thanks to these tools, some of these athletes will be in a stronger headspace.