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How an Olympic climber manages her anxiety to get in the Zone - FiveThirtyEight


Michael Jordan


Sport climbers have a lot to worry about during competition: the difficulty of the climb, the risk of falling, the distractions from spectators and the speed of their opponent. But Olympic climber Alannah Yip has found a way to work through her anxiety using a mindfulness technique called “color breathing.” This practice helps her get into flow, a psychological state where everything feels easy and you lose your sense of self-consciousness.

Many of us have experienced flow — or being “in the zone” — but reliably getting into a flow state is difficult. In this episode of our documentary series, The Mental Games, discover the elements of flow and hear from a sports psychologist and performance coach who used mindfulness meditation to help Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant get in the zone.

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