Every golfer I know wants to improve his or her game. In this second of two articles, guest author, Nancy Boyle, offers some great advice to get you started on the way to lower scores and a great golf season.

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Meditation is one of the most powerful practices for calming the mind,  energizing the body,  and bringing us back to the present.

Here is a simple exercises that you can practice this winter to be prepared for starting the golf season prepared to work through the kinks that our golf game tends to develop during the cold winter months off the course.

Meditation Exercise: Practice bringing your mind into the present.

Practicing to be fully in the present can help us pull our attention back to the task at hand – the next golf shot.
“When we feel anxiety, our thoughts are rarely in the present,” says Jenny C. Yip, Psy.D., a cognitive behavioral therapist in Los Angeles. “We are either ruminating about past mistakes or worrying about future consequences.” Zooming in on what you can see, hear, taste, smell, or feel shifts your mind to the present. The more you practice this, the better equipped you’ll be when anxiety strikes, and the quicker you’ll calm down.

Below is an exercise that will help you learn to bring your mind back to the present. Practice it

1. With eyes closed, imagine yourself and your surroundings as if you were floating above your body.
2. How does the floor, mat, or chair feel? How’s the temp in the room?
3. What are the sounds? Maybe an appliance is humming, or trees outside are rustling.
4. Stay focused on all of these sensations completely. If your mind wanders to other thoughts, acknowledge them, let them go and come back to focus the senses.
5. Do this for as long as you can. Start with one or two minutes and work up to five minutes or longer.

Hard, right? That’s the point—to fill your thoughts with the present. When your mind wanders (and it will), bring it back to your senses.

Practice both of these exercise for 5-10 minutes as often as possible this winter and you will be amazed at how much more easily you will be able to blow off the mental cobwebs and get back into your rhythm come spring.

Read Nancy’s first exercise to help you get ready for the season.

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Nancy Boyle is a yoga instructor on the South Shore of Massachusetts. She will be teaching a weekly “Yoga to Improve Your Golf Game” class at the Plymouth Open Doors Power Yoga Studio, West Plymouth Square, 91 Carver Road, Plymouth begining March 29 from 4:15 – 5:30 pm.  The class will focus on flexibility, core stability and postural awareness- all key elements to a good golf game.  As well as a concentration on mindful breathing to increase oxygen flow to muscles, relieving tension, and allowing rhythm and tempo in your swing. Nancy is available for semi-private and group yoga instruction. Nancy can be reached at nrboyle@verizon.net