If I unlock my spirituality, will it improve my golf?

15 Nov

Now, I feel like I need to place a caveat in way of introduction. This article will not provide answers and is more of a question I’m asking myself at the moment…

Welcome to 54 to Scratch, my personal blog following my journey from beginner to something actually resembling a golfer.

Although this is a golf blog, my subject this week may feel a bit far flung from the topic, but bear with me.

As an individual, I have some pretty strong opinions about religion which I won’t go into in depth, but I will say that I have never believed in a single creator or, in fact that any gods exist. It’s important to note that I have always looked at things with what I have always considered to be fact based logic with Science as the backbone to that.

That isn’t to say that I look down on anyone that does believe. I think it’s important for people to feel connected to something and fully respect those that choose to follow any of the religions that are out there as a way of connecting with their communities and in some cases, to provide them with guidance.

For me though, it’s safe to say that I have never been a spiritual person. At least, that’s what I thought…

I recently took my wife to Glastonbury for a weekend overnight stay. It’s safe to say that we are opposites in many ways, especially when it comes to spirituality. My wife runs an Etsy store selling wire wrapped healing crystal jewellery called Crystals of the Moon. As some reading this may know, Glastonbury has numerous spiritual sites that draw people from all over the world to experience and sits in the middle of numerous leylines.

Relatively nearby, you also have StoneHenge and Avebury, which have the same sort of draw, both of which we have been to before, which makes my experience on this occasion so profound to me.

We stayed in a little lodge at the base of the Glastonbury Tor, a monument that sits on top of what was once thought to be an island. Glastonbury is generally considered as being the site of the Arthurian legends too, which makes the whole area feel slightly magical.

Just near to where we were staying were two sites of extreme importance, the White Spring and the Chalice Well. Both of these are essentially natural springs, with the White Spring water said to have healing properties and the Chalice Well having a spring where the water flows red due to iron in the rocks that it flows through.

However, the thing that struck me was how peaceful both of these locations were. There were no specific religious symbols or effigies to pray too. Instead, both areas just emanated this peaceful energy which seemed to pull me into this moment of reflection.

Like a lot of people, I enjoy people watching. I saw countless people meditating. I saw someone bathing in the white spring. I saw people walking barefoot beneath yew trees obviously practicing grounding, as well as barefoot through the Chalice Well spring (there is a foot bath there).

What was so profound to me was the way these people seemed. Happy. Content. Peaceful.

Which got me thinking - have I been missing something all these years?

About 10 years ago, I took part in a training session at work called “Whole Brain Thinking”. As part of this workshop, we had to complete a brain mapping exercise by answering a load of psychological and situational questions. Based on your answers, you got a Brain Map showing what areas of your brain you used both in stressful and non-stressful situations.

What was really interesting at the time was that I was pretty well rounded in Non-Stressful situations, with a very balanced approach to both an analytical and creative way of thinking. However, put me into a stressful situation and I would only use the left side of my brain (the analytical side).

As I mentioned in a previous blog, the past ten years or so have been pretty tough. I’m not going to list everything, but one of the reasons for starting this blog was to try and unlock the creative part of my brain again.

I’ve now come to realise that I have essentially been living in fight or flight mode over the past few years, which has meant that I have descended deeper and deeper into that analytical side, with my emotions and creativeness only being allowed to come out in fits and starts, which has often led to negative emotion being shown in both personal and professional circumstances.

So back to the question at hand. I am not looking for answers to why we are here or where we go when we die. I’m not interested in worshipping some omnipotent being. But I am interested in seeing if there is a way to unlock a part of myself that has rarely been allowed to exist.

As I said before, I have never considered myself as spiritual. And yet, I have always loved the connection to live music, but especially so at a live venue where everyone is singing along, head banging in time, dancing. I also love the energy at a live sporting event where tribalism comes into the way that we act, albeit for a short period of time.

I’ve always loved being outside, feeling most at home when in a wood or nowadays out on the course. I actually love playing on my own as it allows me to fully enjoy just being outside in my own head.

So I guess I am more spiritual than I ever realised and now I wonder - will tapping into this make me a better golfer?

Research seems to suggest it will. There are multiple sources of people in all walks of life saying that meditation helps with their energy levels and subsequent ability to focus.

I have such an active, worrisome mind, which means that I often struggle with focusing when under pressure. Maybe meditation would help to clear my mind?

So watch this space, I’ll be doing some research over the next few weeks/months and trying a few techniques out with the aim of trying to improve my focus, become happier and (hopefully) become a more relaxed golfer as a result.

To anyone reading this that wants to debate theology with me, or to talk about anything in this blog, feel free to connect! Thanks to everyone that reads this blog as always. Although I don’t expect many people ever get to the end of these articles, this at least is serving the purpose of giving me somewhere to put my thoughts and I really appreciate ANYONE that shows an interest enough to actually read these…