Sitting on a rock, surrounded by the soothing sounds of a stream and birdsong, Erling Haaland cuts a serene figure. Sitting cross-legged, with his hands outstretched and eyes closed, the striker strikes the same meditative pose that Manchester City fans have seen him strike when celebrating one of his many goals for the club.
This tranquil scene, captured in a video posted on Instagram on the day of the Euro 2024 final, is in stark contrast to the chaos that erupted in Berlin between England and Spain. While others clashed on the pitch, Haaland sought solace in the quiet, recharging his mind, body and soul ahead of another 10 months of physical and psychological strain.
In a sport dominated by strength and mettle, Haaland's secret weapon is something far less obvious: he turns to meditation, and he's not the only one who draws strength from this ancient practice. Cristiano Ronaldo, Mohamed Salah and Raheem Sterling have also sought answers in the quiet power of the mind.
The next generation of footballers are also using it to improve their game. In an interview with Gary Neville, Newcastle United and England winger Anthony Gordon said meditation has become a crucial part of his routine, helping him to handle pressure and visualise success. The practice is increasingly recognised as a game-changer, allowing athletes to shut out the noise and focus on the moments that define their careers.
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary, meditation is “the act of paying attention to a single thing, either as a religious activity or as a way of calming down and relaxing.” Sounds pretty useful for sports, right? When the pressure is on, the practice of meditation can help an athlete stay present in the moment and execute the next action, regardless of previous successes or mistakes.
The use of meditation is nothing new outside the cynical, stressful world of football. Renowned sports psychologist George Mumford has been training athletes to find comfort in discomfort since 1993. His work with renowned basketball coach Phil Jackson helped the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers navigate the intense “stress of success” to win 11 NBA championships. Mumford’s techniques have proven instrumental in improving mental resilience and focus, underscoring the impact of mindfulness.
“At the highest level, you have to be able to embrace anxiety and uncertainty so you can tune into what's happening in the moment and tune out the noise,” Mumford, who has also worked with football clubs including Chelsea and Fulham, tells ESPN. “Doing contemplative practices, such as meditation, will help manage pressure and stress effectively and create space between stimulus and response, allowing for better decision-making. You have the power to choose your response, rather than just reacting.”
How does it work? The practice of slow, deep breathing stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which promotes relaxation. This is known as the “rest and digest” response and counteracts the “fight or flight” response mediated by the sympathetic nervous system. Controlled breathing also reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
Understanding the theory is easier than mastering the practice. Sitting alone with your thoughts can initially cause feelings of discomfort and fear as you confront negative feelings you have repressed. However, over time, this gives way to freedom and calm as you master the breathing techniques and learn to accept and release these destructive thoughts.
“It's not just about sitting quietly and staring at your navel,” Mumford says. “The first thing you need to do is become aware of how your body feels when you breathe and use that as training to direct your attention and sustain it. By doing that, you'll notice yourself entering the rest-and-digest state so you can think about scenarios in the game that trigger a fight, flight, or freeze response and determine how you want to respond.”
When up-and-coming athletes see their idols adopting mindfulness, they are inspired to try it themselves. This domino effect, along with evolving perceptions of mental toughness (with more attention being paid to emotional intelligence, resilience and psychological well-being, moving away from traditional stoicism), has been supported by scientific studies that further validate the benefits of meditation.
“Thirty years ago, I was considered the secret weapon because people couldn't talk about the spiritual realm and what it means to be connected to something greater than yourself,” Mumford says. “Now people are more open to it because the research has caught up.”
A study on mindfulness meditation involving US college football players found positive effects on their performance (increased focus and attention) and well-being (through better sleep and greater balance in their daily lives). Over nine weeks, players participated in six one-hour mindfulness sessions, which resulted in improvements in focus, calmness, and overall awareness. Researchers in Mexico conducted a six-week Sports Performance Enhancement Program (SPEP) with professional players during a competitive season. Results showed significant improvements in recovery and a reduction in overall stress, with improved mental clarity and emotional regulation.
Despite this, it has never been harder to prevent a poor performance from leaving a psychological scar. Social media channels toxic reactions straight into the hands of every footballer scrolling through their phone. Angel City FC defender Sarah Gorden turned to meditation to deal with anxiety on the pitch.
“I was at a point in my life where all I cared about was external validation,” she tells ESPN of her rookie year in the NWSL after being drafted by the Chicago Red Stars in 2016. “I had so many thoughts on my mind that I started meditating to find some peace.”
Gorden, who has been diagnosed with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), initially attributed his poor form to a lack of faith and focus, and explored meditation as a way to improve his performance. But he soon realized it had a profound impact on his personal life, which, in turn, helped clear his mind so he could play with greater confidence.
“I was a single mother and I was completely overwhelmed emotionally, physically and financially,” she says. “I was living in chaos and didn't know what to do with all my feelings and fears. I had a lot of anxiety and I was living it all out in the country. I put a lot of pressure on myself to succeed with my son.”
“At first, I just wanted meditation to help me play well, but it has affected me as a human being.”
At first, she found it difficult to meditate for even 10 or 15 minutes, as she battled the constant bombardment of erratic, negative thoughts. Now she meditates for 20 or 30 minutes a day after a cold shower, to “create that space” for herself, and uses breathing techniques to bring herself back to the present. Gorden says meditation has helped her evolve from a rookie struggling at the senior level to Angel City vice-captain and twice named to the NWSL Best XI of the year.
“In the past, I would tell myself, ‘I can’t be anxious,’ and that would make me even more anxious,” she says. “There were times when my feelings would control me. For example, when opponents would pull my shirt, I would get upset, angry, and lose focus, and this would lead to me making a mistake. “But if I take a deep breath and allow my emotions to be there and know that it’s not me, I can relax and respond in a controlled manner and focus for 90 minutes, and that makes me feel super powerful.”
Houston Dynamo’s Griffin Dorsey is another player who was “living the dream” but “wasn’t very happy” after being drafted by Major League Soccer side Toronto FC in 2019. Struggling with the cruelty and pressure of professional sport, his form plummeted, so he turned to Google for answers and found meditation. At first, he thought it was “silly,” but 12 months later he is meditating with singing bowls (which produce calming vibrations) and incense, working with a life coach, using acupuncture and journaling to stay focused.
Dorsey moved to Houston in 2021 and won the club's young player of the year award in his first season. His pre-match nerves haven't gone away and he sometimes gets lost in those “negative spaces” during a game, but simply reaching down to touch the turf helps him get back to being present.
“We played Atlanta on the road this season and I tried to do a backheel pass in a position I shouldn't have been in and they scored,” the defender told ESPN. “Before that, I was playing a great game and that happened and I saw my mind go, 'Oh God, well, you've played a horrible game now. You're going to be benched next week.' Then I thought, 'Okay, that's it, it's over, let's move on.'”
Stereotypical perceptions of meditation reduce it to a form of relaxation or stress relief practiced by monks or new-age hippies, overlooking its deeper psychological and physiological benefits. For athletes, it gives them emotional control and presence when they are in the midst of a stressful competition. This is achieved through visualization, which in meditation involves creating mental images to focus the mind. It can help athletes gain clarity and confidence when faced with high-pressure, stressful challenges during play.
Other actions, such as deep breathing, can anchor you to the present. For example, England players incorporated deep breathing into their routine during penalty shoot-outs to improve concentration and manage stress. Three Lions breathing coach Stuart Sandeman uses a technique “designed to interrupt negative thought patterns, release tension and increase flow.”
All of this is geared toward achieving a state of flow, or being “in the zone” – a mental state where they experience effortless focus and peak performance, such as scoring 90 goals in 98 appearances in his first two seasons for the Premier League champions.
So when you see Haaland next season tearing through a defence and taking on a swarm of opponents, know that he has mentally rehearsed this moment. And if he scores, he will celebrate in a noisy stadium in the same pose he did sitting on a rock with water flowing around him and birds singing.
