Life is busy. Often painfully so. Far too regularly we feel like everything is going on at once. And every now and then, we are justified in feeling that way. Less frequently, very little is going on in our lives. At such moments, we wish more was happening. It all fits into the ‘hustle culture’ of doing more and being better (not that I disagree with the idea of being better!). You may be feeling this way in Kolkata and someone else might be feeling exactly the same in Korea. But that’s life, right? Just keep your head down and go on.
Sport, too, is often like that. It's frantic. Breathless. Exciting. Spine-tingling at times. At other times, it is boring. Slow. Draggy. One-sided. In either case, the ones playing must keep their head down and go on. The sports comparison works because athletes reflect us and every now and then provide an insight into the human condition. Our response to what happens on a sports field often reflects who we are. If I am a driven person and a player is being lazy and not committing, I am likely to get angry (very similar to what happens in the workplace).
But let’s take a pause: science says that sport speaks a different truth to each observer. We all put our ‘self’ into the story and incorporate it into our narrative. That’s why someone loves Ronaldo and another person staunchly follows Messi. It is not just a preference, it is a reflection of us in them.
Why the pause?
The value of a pause is underestimated, with taking a break often being linked to ‘not doing enough’
The value of the pause is underestimated. Pauses are inexplicably linked to ‘giving up’ or ‘not doing enough’. This negative connotation obscures rather than defines what a pause truly is. A pause is a deliberate action to stop between an experience and our reaction to it. It allows us to understand what may be causing our reaction and gives us a tremendous power: the power to choose how we respond. I’ll give you an analogy. Think of taking a right turn in a car. You brake and then you turn right with the steering wheel. You rarely powerslide into the turn without braking (unless you are Dominic Toretto in Fast and Furious). Taking a pause is very similar.
There are three different pauses. First we have the Mental Pause, where we pause the process of over-analysing and mentally inquiring into something. This has happened to us all. Happened to me on Monday when I was wondering where my earphones were. The second type is Emotional Pause, where we take a break to specifically process the emotions running through us at that moment. Think of the last time when you were happy. Did you take a moment to pause and appreciate the purity of joy? The final type is a Physical Pause, where we take a pause from being on the move and give our body some recharge time. This is particularly crucial for people who travel a lot daily for work or have a physically intensive job.
Decompressing and taking a pause allows us to be better at what we do
Don’t like the word ‘pause’? How about ‘decompress’?
Here is a cool fact for you. Astronauts before a spacewalk and scuba divers before resurfacing always decompress to equalise the pressure that their bodies have been subjected to. We go through it with athletes as well before and after major competitions like a World Cup or similar high-stakes tournaments. Why? Because a person needs time to decompress.
Decompression is when we procedurally pause. Since emotions, time and space are intrinsically connected, when under pressure, time passes quicker. Decompression allows us to pause and create a perception of more mental space for ourselves. This makes us feel that we have more time. Decompressing and taking a pause allows us to be better at what we do. It literally has a performance benefit! When we take small, controlled breaks, our brains reset automatically. This has been shown to boost creativity and energy on task. It allows us to think about what we are doing, why we are doing it, and improve the efficiency of the whole process.
You want to know another fun fact? This is the scientific way of improving performance. But we already know this. After all, this is just a more fancy and complicated way of saying ‘work hard, play hard.’
Dr Sahen Guptais a Kolkata-born, India- and UK-based psychologist who divides his time between mental health support and high-performance coaching. As the founder of Discovery Sport & Performance Lab, he works not only with Olympians and other top-level sportspersons, but also with CEOs and other professionals striving for excellence. Dr Gupta’s mission is to simplify complexities of the mind into actionable and simple ‘doables’ that allow individuals to be mentally fit.
