Can meditation help improve one’s gaming experience? Quick answer: Yes.
In fact, meditation is recommended for athletes across different sports and sporting lifestyles. While a lot of people have the impression that meditation is primarily a spiritual practice, there is nothing otherworldly about its beneficial effects on the mind and body. You don’t have to subscribe to any particular belief for it to work — there’s enough scientific research to support how meditation and other forms of mindfulness training can contribute to overall wellbeing, and are particularly advantageous to people who lead very active and stressful lifestyles.
Why meditate?
A study published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research examined meditation as a popular form of stress management and concluded that overall, meditation practice leads to decreased physiological markers of stress in a range of populations.
Stress reduction is one of the most cited reasons for recommending meditation to athletes, especially those for engaged in sports where mind-body coordination is highly critical, like e-sports. Through the practice of meditation, gamers of all levels can systematically train their minds and bodies to relax — yet remain alert and focused — during stressful situations.
Likewise, when faced with critical, split-second decisions, people who are anxious and exhausted are likely to lose the mental capacity to respond; they react. Caught in the middle of a grueling game, the ability to stay present and have a calm awareness allows you to diagnose problems, avert obstacles, and make quick but decisive choices that lead to strategic actions.
Meditation has also been found to boost self-confidence because it is conducive to body awareness and an increased sense of self-esteem. Instead of presuming the worst will occur or second-guessing yourself, meditation can help you examine a situation with greater clarity and face your challenges with more optimism. It also trains the mind to visualize or envision the attainment of desired goals and objectives, which in turn increases your likelihood of being successful.