HYDERABAD: Shayamal Vallabhjee, a sports scientist and high performance coach who has helped athletes such as tennis star Sania Mirza, celebrities, and executives unlock their mental, physical, and emotional potential through an emphasis on performance and perspective, is now out with his new book titled Breath Believe Balance. Shayamal has worked with the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Amitabh Bachchan, several Fortune 500 Leaders, Olympic Medal Winners, and ATP Players. This author of four books tells us how champs like Sania do it differently and why stress could be messing with our immunity during the Covid-19 times.
What is Breathe Believe Balance about? Did you tweak it to also suit the current Covid-19 times?
Breathe Believe Balance (BBB) is a complete guide to self mastery. Unlock other books that present ideology from one school of throught, BBB blends spirituality, with evidence based sports science and psychology. It is a guide book with thought exercises that help you better understand yourself. It covers topics like, ‘How to fall in love in love with yourself, How do cultivate deep emotional relationships, how to understand your strengths, How to decode your subconscious programs, How to engineer your environment for success, mindful communication and the power of purpose and self transcendence. BBB took me 14 months to write and whilst it’s probably the best tool to use during Covid 19, it was not tweaked for this time we facing.
What are the two daily habits that you have formed recently that is helping you immensely to achieve growth?
Daily Breathwork Practice: I do an hour of breathing exercises daily. This has been a part of my life for more than 20 years and through this process, I find clarity of thought and deepened awareness of my feelings and emotion and thoughts. I read for an hour as I see myself as an eternal student, and I have an insatiable hunger for learning. I read and listen to podcasts on different subjects and topics and force myself to see the common thread between them.
From learning to be emotionally present in every conversation.. this is a line mentioned in the book description. How do we know if we are emotionally present in a conversation.
Every individual in a relationship wants to feel empathised with, understood, seen, valued, respected and treated fairly. When you are emotionally present in a relationship, you are able to understand this, communicate with compassion and empathy, and have control over your words and tone.
As a high-performance coach to elite athletes, what are two traits you have noticed in them that seems to separate the legends from the mere mortals?
The best athletes in the world perceive pressure as a privilege. In high pressure situations, they understand that this is a time to rise up and be noticed. They understand that the moment before them is what they have been training all their life for. The view this pressure situation as a privilege and channel all their energy to delivering in that moment. Champions also accept accountability and responsibility for every aspect in their life. They refuse to be a by-product of someone’s else’s decisions or incompetence. With accountability and responsibility come a high level of preparedness.
Your book, you say is a mix of science and spirituality. I also understand you have been a monk and have practiced the Indian spiritual rituals. Can you tell us about two Indian spiritual concepts from the ancient Vedas that are still relevant to the digital times, especially those that you have mentioned in the book?
Spirituality speaks on understanding yourself – advaita – philosophy. Buddhism and ancient vedic practices give us tools to help cultivate mindfulness – the ability to still the mind and draw your awareness on a particular thought, emotion or feeling. Both of these are super relevant in these times of uncertainty. Knowing yourself is the only way to overcome anxiety or fear. Vedic sciences speak on pranayama (breathwork) and chanting as spiritual practices that raise one’s vibrational energy. In these current times, we are so inundated with negative news, it is imperative that someone understand how raise their energy and block out negativity. These practices can help with this.
What kind of techniques did you share with tennis star Sania Mirza, who you have trained, which has perhaps helped her keep her stress down during crucial matches?
I work with Sania on an off now, especially since she retired. We worked closely together in December when she was planning here come back. My role with Sania was really the management of her body and physical training during the time we travelled together. A part and parcel of working with athletes is managing their emotions – pre and post games, including win and losses. A lot of what I use with her is included in the book – mindfulness techniques, methods to still the mind, physical training methodologies, breathwork, etc
As a high-performance coach, as someone who discusses mental health and positivity, what do you have to tell our readers who live in the constant fear of contracting Covid-19 virus? Every time they hear of someone in their neighbourhood diagnosed positive, they go through a variety of emotions, get stressed out take a week to settle down. What is your book’s advice to them?
Stress releases cortisol in the body and cortisol can impair your immunity. Stressing is therefore counter-productive considering your want to boost your immunity during this time. It’s easier said than done, which is why mindfulness practices through breathwork is the perfect tool for this time. The advice I give everyone – irrespective of whether they are athletes or not – is block out negative information, focus on your immunity practices, journal about your fears. Fear is linked other unknown - the more clarity you get around your options, the less scared you will be.
— Manju Latha Kalanidhi
kalanidhi@newindianexpress.com
@mkalanidhi