Hockey men turn to yoga

Set to return to the Olympic stage after eight years, the Indian hockey team is working hard on being a mentally strong unit by practising yoga and meditation before the London Games.

“Olympics is the topmost event and we are playing there after eight years. So, naturally there is pressure to perform. We are practising yoga daily for 40 minutes to enhance mental strength,” Indian captain Bharat Chetri told ‘PTI’ from Spain.

“We also have an interactive sessions with coach Michael Nobbs and trainer David John daily in which they share their good experiences. John has also started an innovative mental visualisation session on a daily basis which is a sort of meditation,” he said.

“Weve been taking part in mental visualisation sessions before every match for the last one month. It’s a sort of meditation. We all lie down and forget about the external world. David (John) then makes us imagine the real match situation according to the opponent,” he said.