Oct 6, 2026 · 36 min · 15 segments
Have you ever watched a professional basketball player take a free throw? Have you noticed that it seems like they’re….*meditating?* In the first episode of Basketball, Etc., host Claire de Lune talks…
George MumfordGuest
Hakim TafariGuest
Stefan DuvivierGuestI was genuinely bowled over at how quickly everything slipped away, at how my body and mind were able to completely surrender to this state of relaxation.
Maybe meditation was within reach, even for me, whose brain seemingly never shuts off and who had to fight off so much skepticism.
If he was given a team, for example, with an athlete on it who tells him, "Oh, I really can't do meditation.
And so when you're sitting there and your intention is to be in your body, be breathing, like now just think about y- your, you're sitting.
You can have a direct experience of it, 'cause what does it feel like when you're sitting? Well, there's certain parts of my body that are making contact with the surfaces and whatnot, with my hands on my eyes and whatnot.
You can do that even if it's just a little bit, but when you try to do that, your mind is gonna wander off, and you say, "I can't do it." No, you're doing it, it's just that it's uncomfortable to see that your mind is out of control.
But you're doing what I asked you to do, but at some point if you stay with it, then you'll notice that, oh, if you know that your mind is distracted, then, then that's the practice.
So that takes a certain level of, uh, courage, confidence, and just do it until you can do it, and then you'll notice it.
And so our job is to train ourselves to be able to say yes to whatever comes up, to see it, and allow it, create space for it.
It sounds so simple, but it really is so much about surrender, about saying yes to what comes up, and saying yes to not being fully in control.
So yes, meditation and mindfulness are actually already happening in sports all the time, but it's so much more than that.
I was genuinely bowled over at how quickly everything slipped away, at how my body and mind were able to completely surrender to this state of relaxation.
Maybe meditation was within reach, even for me, whose brain seemingly never shuts off and who had to fight off so much skepticism.
If he was given a team, for example, with an athlete on it who tells him, "Oh, I really can't do meditation.
And so when you're sitting there and your intention is to be in your body, be breathing, like now just think about y- your, you're sitting.
You can have a direct experience of it, 'cause what does it feel like when you're sitting? Well, there's certain parts of my body that are making contact with the surfaces and whatnot, with my hands on my eyes and whatnot.
You can do that even if it's just a little bit, but when you try to do that, your mind is gonna wander off, and you say, "I can't do it." No, you're doing it, it's just that it's uncomfortable to see that your mind is out of control.
But you're doing what I asked you to do, but at some point if you stay with it, then you'll notice that, oh, if you know that your mind is distracted, then, then that's the practice.
So that takes a certain level of, uh, courage, confidence, and just do it until you can do it, and then you'll notice it.
And so our job is to train ourselves to be able to say yes to whatever comes up, to see it, and allow it, create space for it.
It sounds so simple, but it really is so much about surrender, about saying yes to what comes up, and saying yes to not being fully in control.
So yes, meditation and mindfulness are actually already happening in sports all the time, but it's so much more than that.
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