Our conversation emphasizes the profound link between yoga practice and improved golf performance. By focusing on the mind-body connection, mobility, breath control, and embracing discomfort, golfers can cultivate resilience and enhance their game.
• Importance of yoga for mind-body connection in golf
• Benefits of increased mobility and flexibility as one ages
• Ground reaction forces and their impact on swings
• Deep breathing practices to manage stress on the course
• Embracing discomfort in yoga translates to performance resilience
• Yoga as a moving meditation fosters connection to the present moment
• Holistic approach to golf improvement through yoga practice
• Individualized training and yoga options available for golfers
Go to www.yogolfperformance.com for more information.
You can also follow Lauren on Instagram @yogolf_performance
I do get mail via my Buzzsprout but I cannot respond. Those who have questions and wanna reach me directly, please text me (831)275-8804
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, this is Jesse Perriman of the Flyers Golf
Podcast, welcoming you toanother great week.
Here we are in February of 2025.
It's going to shape up to be agreat year, y'all, and if you do
some of these things that Ihave on the podcast, especially
this offseason, you're going tocome out smelling like a rose
come springtime and there'sgreen grass and golf to be
(00:24):
played and tournaments to beplayed in and good results to be
had by all, and this week is noexception.
For longtime listeners of thepodcast, you're very familiar
with Lauren McMillan.
Lauren is the owner ofyogolfperformancecom.
She is in the JacksonMississippi area, has a studio
there, so if you're ever in townand want to go to a live yoga
(00:46):
class, she is available.
I will make sure to put herinfo in the show notes.
Brief intro we cover a lot ofthe mind body connection with
golf.
We really get into the depthsof what a yoga practice is, what
(01:06):
it looks like and what are thepotential results and how it can
help our golf games, how it canexpand our consciousness and
help us just to move and feelbetter and to be more in touch
with what's going on internally.
Going on internally and, in myexperience in my yoga practice
(01:30):
personally, I'm finding that I'mbecoming more internally
referenced.
So if anything goes awry outthere, I kind of check within
myself first to see if myinternal environment was
actually primed to hit a golfshot and I didn't interfere with
negative thoughts or timetraveling.
(01:50):
And yoga has been a really bigpart of it thus far yoga
combined with meditation.
But yoga is a flowingmeditation and it does get you
connected to your breath,connected to your body and
connected to the ground in moreways than one.
So thank you, lauren, forcoming on and cheers to everyone
and have a fantastic week.
(02:27):
Hello, this is Jesse Perrymanfrom the Flag Hunters Golf
Podcast, bringing you one of myfavorite humans on the planet.
Her name is Lauren McMillan.
Lauren is from Jackson,mississippi, where it's nice
down there in mid-February orwe're approaching mid-February,
and she is owner of Yo Golf.
It's actually a trademark nameYo Golf, yo Golf Online Studio.
(02:51):
She also teaches live.
If you're ever in theMississippi area and the Jackson
area, I'm going to make surethat all of her contact
information is directed onto theshow notes so that you can go
spend a session with her too, oror have her work on your on
your fitness.
She's also TPI certified, golfdigest certified, as well as one
(03:12):
heck of a yoga instructor,lauren.
Thanks for coming on, my dear.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Thanks for having me back and thank you for that
lovely intro.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
You deserved it, you earned it.
You just got back from the PGAshow in Orlando.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I sure did, and it was not warm and sunny there.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I can tell you that unusual for that time of year
being in Orlando.
Normally it's perfect, right.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Right, yeah, I mean, luckily we missed.
We missed the harsh winterweather that passed through
Mississippi, but it was still.
You know, we got some cold rain, but it was still a fantastic
time.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And you presented I did.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I presented for the second year on the health and
fitness stage.
This year I talked a lot aboutbalance training for golfers
simple and efficient ways forgolfers of all levels to learn
how to use the ground moreeffectively.
Learning how to activate thejoints and the muscles in a way
(04:07):
that is really going to givethem more power, better weight
shift honestly, all the thingsthat you could want.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
That's sounds awesome .
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It was yeah, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
We'll get right into it and and you also real quick.
As a reiteration, you do havethe online yoga studio
specifically for golfers.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yes, that is correct.
Yes, yoga performance it is.
There's, I think, close to 200,maybe more than 200 classes on
there now, varying by length.
Some are as short as fiveminutes, some as long as 60 by
level.
Swing concerns common injuries,anything that you're looking
for in regards to your golf game.
It is there to help you move,feel and play better.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And I am a member of that particular site, which I'm
very proud of, and I have gonethrough a lot of your protocols.
The one protocol that I reallylike is your warm up protocol,
your quick start warm upprotocol.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, that's, that's a cool one.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Little five, six minute, you know.
Just get the joints and themuscles loose and ready for that
first tee shot.
Yes, and a lot of them are donestanding where you don't even
have to get down on the groundor on the grass, if that's
something people are notinterested in.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
yeah, yeah, it's nice when, when you don't have time
and you go from your car to thefirst tee and you can just bust
that out real quick, um, insteadof swinging just super tight
and who knows where the ball isgoing to go on the first tee,
that's right.
Loose primes your body.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yes, and it makes a difference, even though it's
just a few minutes.
It is quick, it is efficient,it's targeting all the areas
that we want, so that you areready to go and you don't have
to wait until the fifth hole tofeel warmed up.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, yeah, while you're making a bunch of bogeys
in the first four holes holesbecause your body is just tight
and just doesn't want to loosenup You're not giving it the
proper commands.
So you know, I'm a yogapractitioner and I'm starting to
see it show up in my game.
(05:57):
I'm starting to see it show upin my golf swing.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
And you know how it's showing up, how I'm hitting the
ball harder.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Okay, so more, yes.
So I'm a 54 year old marriedmale that has been in decent
shape my entire life, but thepractice of yoga has been
different.
So a lot of really good golfinstructors want you to take a
(06:35):
full backswing, a real full 90degree backswing, and there's
reasons for that.
It sets up the downswing.
For what?
What?
Your arms and your hands andyour body and your feet and the
connection to the ground, all ofthem, what they have to do.
It's hard to set up thedownswing if you can't get your
shoulders rotated properly.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So some of the asanas have really helped to propagate
that quite seamlessly into mygolf swing.
So I don't have to blow out mynervous systems by speed
training.
Not that speed training is abad thing, but it hasn't worked
for me.
But yoga has.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, elaborate.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Interesting, but I'm not surprised.
Yeah, elaborate Interesting,but I'm not surprised.
You know, I think that some ofthe speed training, some of the
more intense forms of exercisewhether golfers want to get into
strong weightlifting or likehit works at hit workouts or
(07:43):
intense cardio, like you saidlike there's nothing inherently
wrong with those, those but whenwe take it down to the basics
and start to address ourmobility, our flexibility, our
stability, connect with thebreath, connect with the nervous
system, we can then safely andeffectively do those other forms
of movement and have greaterresults, because we've taken the
time to tone it down a bit andto address things from a base
(08:04):
level.
And I think that's exactlywhere yoga and similar movements
come into play.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
How important is it?
How important is it to have amobile, supple body, especially
as somebody ages, I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I would say I am biased, but I also feel like
it's correct to say that it isincredibly important.
It's important if you want toage gracefully and to move well
into your later years and tomaintain or restore bone density
or to not worry about falling,let alone being able to swing a
(08:39):
golf club and playing golf foras long as you possibly want.
So I would say it is pretty,pretty, darn critical.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, I'm finding that out.
You know, when I first joined,first joined your golf
performance and went throughsome of the movements, I was
embarrassed Really.
Oh gosh, yes, I had nobody,nobody watching me.
I was doing in my living roomon my mat and I was embarrassed
for myself of how reallyimmobile I had become, even by
(09:07):
just doing some of therudimentary stretches that I
thought were good and like I'mgood.
Okay, so you know I could touchmy toes, I'm good, you know I'm
good using all these kind ofgeneral check marks, right, but
little did I know how not good Iwas and how that translated
(09:28):
onto the golf course.
I decided last year to go intohyper observational mode.
I had specific goals for eachtournament I played in, but I
didn't finish well in all butone, and my observations had
(09:55):
come from lack of mobility.
I was getting stiffer, tighter,and I'm a meditator tighter and
I'm a meditator.
I have a good command over mymind most of the time, but my
(10:19):
body was reacting to not beingproperly mobilized, especially
in cold weather and warm weather.
It's you can get away with alittle bit, but here in
California on the coast it werepretty cold relative to the rest
of the nation, especially inthe summertime, so it put even
more of a spotlight of what Ineeded to do this off season,
like, okay, I need to take myyoga practice to another level
(10:41):
and really focus on it.
Focus on it as the primarydriver of what I need to do to
prepare for 2025 and um.
And one thing that I'm reallyfinding out through this and I
want you to comment on this,lauren is that through the
practice, there's beenadditional benefits that I did
not foresee.
So it's like a active wakingmeditation, the connection to
(11:08):
the breath and being grounded.
While being in some of theseasanas or postures or movements
that are taking me out of myphysical comfort zone, I'm
becoming more ingratiated andcomfortable, while being
uncomfortable because it'sfocusing the breath in some of
(11:29):
these compromised or what Iwould perceive as compromised
positions or movements.
But the more I focus on thebreath, more my body acquiesces
to the demands that I'm askingit to do and the more I can get
comfortable and get into that,and it's starting to translate
onto the golf course where mymind is being more I'm allowing,
(11:54):
I can have more control over mymind and not letting it go just
absolutely psycho, because I'mactually predispositioning my
both nervous systems intoenvironments where I normally
wouldn't do it without thepractice of yoga.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
You're starting to take it with you.
Yeah, yeah, I have a couple ofthoughts.
First, what you said aboutbeing embarrassed at first and
doing some of my classes in yourown living room.
That's one of the whole reasonswhy I created the website,
because a lot of golfers knowthat yoga and yoga related
movements are good for them.
But one of the first excuses Ihear is oh, I'm not going to go
(12:37):
to a studio because I don't wantto embarrass myself and I don't
know what I'm doing, so thistakes that out of it.
But going back to the way thatyoga helps us first of all build
that bridge, or rebuild or evenuncover that bridge between the
mind and the body and thebreath, I feel like a lot of
other forms of movement andexercise yes, it's there, but
(13:02):
they do not focus primarily onhaving those strong connections.
I think when you have a yogapractice you're able to kind of
identify those things a littlemore clearly if you practice
other forms of exercise.
But the more you stick with ayoga practice, the more it goes
beyond the physical and it goesbeyond the poses and beyond the
stretching and, like you justdescribed, you're able to notice
(13:25):
more clearly what's going on inyour mind.
You're able to feel andidentify what is going on with
the breath right now.
Where am I breathing, how isthat affecting me?
And the more you practice thatand the stronger it gets and the
easier it becomes.
Things happen like you justdescribed, where you're suddenly
able to roll up your yoga matand take it into life and onto
(13:46):
the golf course and it thenbecomes this really powerful
tool that you recognize, thatyou have with you at all times,
so when you're on the golfcourse you can rely on your
training and those tools becauseit's right there with you.
You didn't leave it in the gymor you didn't leave it at home,
so it becomes an anchor.
It becomes something that youcan rely on and bring you back
(14:09):
to yourself when things start topop up like a chattering mind
or tightness in your shoulders,and that awareness becomes a lot
greater.
There's a golfer that I've beenworking with out of Atlanta and
it's been amazing to see how,like when he and I first started
working together and I see thiswith a lot of golfers They'll
be like oh, my back bothers me,my shoulder bothers me, and we
(14:32):
were just kind of start fromthere.
But now the conversation ismore like.
He's able to see the connectionbetween how one part of his
body is compensated forsomething else.
He's able to feel how theenergy is shifting.
He's able to work with hisbreath to help relax and release
tension that's in his body andhe's.
He's playing a lot better andhe's moving a lot better.
So it's pretty remarkable tosee how it all works when it
(14:54):
comes together.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
In that regard, yeah, and the thing that we talked
about before we hit the recordbutton, lauren.
I want to make sure that Ireiterate, because I've got a
lot of questions this offseason.
I've had a few questions of,okay, how do you get under par
(15:18):
and want to go more under par,how can you get past certain
external barriers on the golfcourse, whatever that is.
So I've gotten that from a fewplayers, I've gotten it from my
some of my friends and I'vegotten it via email and DMS on
Instagram Like, hey, can youtalk about that?
And I and it's there's not onespecific answer.
(15:41):
I think it's holistic, yes, andand that's putting your
continuously putting yournervous system in situations
where you are uncomfortable.
That's the gateway, that's thekey.
In my opinion.
That's sort of what we'recoming up with.
And just in my last fewpractices, my last three yoga
(16:02):
classes, where I've been reallyuncomfortable like whoa man,
this just doesn't feel, you know.
But of course, after yoga isdone, I'm like, yeah, I can't
wait to go back and do thatagain, you know.
But how this is translatingonto the golf course is that my
(16:22):
thoughts are no longer I'm notgoing to say they're no longer
but the energetic charge betweenan external desire, and
actually what I'm doing islessening Meaning, for example,
I'm going to do things to getridiculously used to being under
par.
So who do I have to become toachieve that?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I think you become like you said earlier.
You become the person who iscomfortable with being
uncomfortable and knowing how torespond in uncomfortable
situations.
In a yoga class and during apractice, like you described,
there are situations whereyou're holding a pose for a very
(17:09):
long time and it is not exactlyfun.
But and you and I talked aboutthis before I don't remember if
this is an exact quote or justsomething I've heard, but I've
been told time and time againthe moment that you want to get
out of a pose, that's yoga,that's the moment of
transformation, because you'relearning how to quite literally
sit with yourself and torecognize what's going on in
(17:32):
your brain right now.
What are you saying to yourself?
Are you choosing thesedestructive, negative thoughts
and you're just holding on totension and anger?
How is your body feeling?
Are you unnecessarily grippingyour muscles or are you able to
see where you can relax, whereyou can soften, what you can let
(17:52):
go of, and can you breathe intoit?
And when you're able to?
Of course it takes practice andit takes time, but when we're
able to recognize the differencebetween the two and then
recognize our own tendencies,that's the aha moment where we
can start to make little bittychanges here and there, and it
doesn't.
It takes time, yes, and ittakes practice, but something so
(18:17):
subtle and the smallest shift,I like to equate it to like if
somebody changes your gripposition.
It could be a very tinymovement and it takes some time
to get used to, but it makes allthe difference in the world.
And so that then translateswhen we're on the golf course,
because we might be on adifficult lie or in an awkward
position or there's a lot ofpressure on the shot ahead of us
(18:39):
, we're able to see what is mymind saying right now.
Am I freaking out?
Am I really really tense?
And, without knowing it, am Itelling my body that I should be
really really stressed?
I mean, that's not the case atall.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, the practice, the art and the practice of yoga
in sort of in my translationright now, is demystifying.
Just the BS, you know, just theBS that we tell ourselves, say,
for example, in a yoga classwhere we are holding a pose for
a long time learning how tobreathe into it, and you know,
let's talk about that, thebreath connecting to the breath,
the importance of that, howthat translates, especially
(19:28):
under duress on a golf course.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yes, well, I think, first and foremost, as a society
, we are accustomed to takingreally short, shallow breaths,
meaning we're breathing up intothe upper part of the chest, up
near the collarbones.
A lot of that stems from decadesof being told to like suck it
in and like stand up tall, andso it's kind of like, and then
(19:51):
we end up breathing reallyshallow, even though we might
feel.
Fine, everything's peachy keen.
Our bodies are not beingutilized the way that they were
designed when it comes to therespiratory system.
So when we are taking thoseshallower breaths, we're not
using the diaphragm, we're notbreathing deeper into the ribs
(20:14):
and into the belly.
Because of that, we're usingthese quote unquote accessory
muscles like in the neck and inthe shoulders.
Those are doing more of the workthan they would like to, I
think, and that's when we comeaway with a lot of chronic
shoulder pain, upper back painand it's just kind of this
domino effect of things that wedon't like.
But another thing is, when wedon't breathe as deeply and as
(20:39):
completely and as fully as we'remeant to, it also prevents us
from nourishing our bodies on adeeper level, because when we
breathe into the diaphragmthat's so closely associated to
our lymphatic system, thatcontributes to our immune system
, it contributes to how weprocess emotional and traumatic
(20:59):
events.
There's just so many thingsthat are interconnected and we
just don't realize that thebreath really holds the key to
making sure all that is movingand operating smoothly.
So we almost get stuck just bykeeping the breath shallow, so
got off on a tangent there.
All that to say.
The breath is really, reallyimportant and people don't think
(21:20):
like, or they think, oh, I knowhow to breathe.
Well, sure, we all do.
That's why we're still here.
But it can be helpful torecognize that, oh, I could be
breathing in a more effectiveand efficient way.
That will help me not only inlife and not only in how my body
operates but, honestly, in howI play.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Yeah, well said.
What a great, great comment,great explanation, lauren, thank
you.
You know, attention goes,energy goes where your attention
goes.
And I remember a really goodfriend of mine asked hey, what
do you do to go from the drivingrange to the first tee?
(22:01):
You know, I mean, that's like a, that's like they say, the last
, the longest walk golf is fromthe driving range to the first
tee, especially, especially, uh,in competition, and it was such
a great question.
It's such an interestingquestion and through our, our
conversations, all themultitudes of conversations that
(22:23):
you and I have had, andsimplify it, your attention is
going to be down there versus inyour head, because that's the
(22:49):
problem is the longest golfcourse in the world or the
longest walk is between thedriving range and the first tee.
But if you don't know how tobreathe and you're in your head
yeah, it's going to be a longass walk, it's not a very
comfortable walk.
But if you're focusing onbreathing through your diaphragm
and you're really focused onthat, your attention is right
(23:10):
where it needs to be In thelower part of your body, where
you have the shortest connectionto the ground and you're going
to be energizing your entirenervous system and which is
going to lead to the nextquestion Okay, the difference,
and what does yoga do?
(23:35):
Okay, so there's two nervoussystems the sympathetic and the
parasympathetic.
I've noticed that thesuccessful yoga practices that
I've had going into class iswhen I've been in that
parasympathetic nervous system,in spite of whatever my brain is
trying to do, you know,uncomfortable, left the parent.
The sympathetics go in danger.
(23:56):
Danger, we need to get out ofhere.
But how can we prime ournervous systems to be more
ingratiated, especially underthe gun in the parasympathetic?
How does yoga help facilitatethat?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Well, so I guess, for people who aren't familiar, so
sympathetic fight or flight, orthe danger one that's firing off
alarms, and then theparasympathetic rest and digest.
That's when we feel calm,relaxed, comfortable, all the
things.
But of course, like we've beentalking about, we're talking
about what do we do inuncomfortable and possibly
stressful situations.
(24:32):
I think when we operate onautopilot, our tendency is to be
in the sympathetic nervoussystem and to just let the
stress guide us instead ofguiding our own stress and
working with it.
And so, again, what wementioned earlier about how yoga
poses and a physical yogapractice, holding positions for
(24:55):
a long time, challenging ourbodies, whether through balance
and flexibility or our corestrength all of it teaches and
trains us how to again becomeuncomfortable in what might
originally be an uncomfortableposition.
And I also think that any newexperience has the potential to
(25:16):
be uncomfortable, so we can giveourselves grace off the bat and
just know, rather than viewingthis as a scary unknown.
Think of it as just I'm being abeginner and it's just a new
experience.
And how can I approach thiswith ease and with openness,
rather than fear and tensing upand holding ourselves back?
I think the same thing could beapplied to if it's an
unfamiliar golf course andyou're out there and you're on
(25:38):
the first tee and you you mightnot know where you're supposed
to hit it, but if you canphysically and physiologically
relax, that's going to help youin so many more ways than if
you're tense and nervous.
So how can we get from thatsympathetic nervous system to
the parasympathetic nervoussystem, and how does yoga help
us do that?
(25:59):
For one, I think it goes back tothe example of being in a yoga
pose, and something I like to doas a teacher is to cue.
Well, first, I keep breathe,and as soon as I say that,
people realize that they've beenholding their breath, which a
lot of us tend to do withoutrealizing it, which that's going
(26:20):
to keep us in that sympatheticfight or flight response mode.
So, breathing, letting yourbody, it's almost a, it is a
signal to your body that you aresafe.
That's one thing.
The next thing I'll cue is well, I'll say a couple of different
things.
It'll be like notice whereyou're holding tension, and
another one that I'll say isrelax the muscles in your face
(26:44):
Because, again, withoutrealizing it, when we are,
whether it's in a yoga pose orstanding out of dress and we're
gripping the club and we'regripping our muscles.
We're just trying not to shankthe ball and lose it.
We tend to squeeze the musclesin our face as well and I like
to joke with people, even thoughI'm serious.
I'm like holding the muscleslike that's not going to help
you in this situation.
(27:05):
So relax and they get tochuckle out of them and they,
which helps them get into theparasympathetic as well.
But then it kind of has thiscascading effect of relaxing the
whole body.
So when setting up, what I liketo say is kind of combine the
breath with that active sense ofrelaxing your body.
So before you even come intoyour backswing or even into the
(27:27):
takeaway, take a mental scan ofthe body, notice where you are
holding tension, and it couldjust be like noticing the crown
of your head, your shoulders,relaxing the belly, relaxing the
hips.
You're still active and readyto go.
There's still a sense ofpreparedness there.
You're not just falling asleepwhile you're standing over the
golf ball, but you're letting goof unnecessary tension and that
(27:52):
is going to help you have asmoother swing tempo and a more
efficient swing.
The next is connecting to thebreath.
So first notice if you'reholding your breath, then notice
if you're taking more shallowbreaths and instead I like to
cue it as breathing into the ribcage.
I feel like that can be easierfor people to remember.
Breathe into your ribs.
(28:13):
That's going to help furtherrelax the shoulders, it's going
to get your body ready, it'sgoing to get that nervous system
ready and is going to help youlock in your focus because
you're not running through yourmind everything that you're
trying to remember to get theperfect shot.
And then, after you take thatfull breath in and you exhale,
that's when you swinginteresting boy.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
There you have it, folks, you got the keys to the
kingdom there.
What a great answer, justbreathe and relax.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
That's all there is to it Right.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yeah, just breathe and relax.
I mean I my favorite quote ingolf is by Tom Watson, where he
said I didn't learn how to winuntil I learned how to breathe.
And there's so many layers tothat, but, but a really
important one is just simply,you're getting out of your head
yes you know, most golfers, eveneven the world's greatest, they
(29:06):
, they will, they will saytypically in a press conference,
if you, if you pay close enoughattention, they'll say always
say something like yeah, I wasin my head on that shot yes you
know they'll always say it, buta lot of people don't get it.
But that's a really good cue anda clue to like okay, we'll
investigate that.
(29:26):
You know how can you get out ofyour head and get into your
body when you are, when, when,when you know the S hits the fan
, and when you're coming downthe stretch playing a golf
tournament, whether it'sbreaking 80 for the first time,
maybe qualifying for a USGAevent or qualifying for for any
(29:48):
of the great tours in the world.
If you're in your head, goodluck, right, best of luck to
your brother or sister, becausetypically you're going to get
your own way and then all betsare off right so the practice in
the discipline of yoga isteaching me, as a practitioner,
(30:12):
as a student of yours, how toget out of my own way yes
Speaker 2 (30:18):
and it's a byproduct of doing the practice, which is
a real cool thing it's very cooland I think it's important for
people to remember and to keepin mind that when we're talking
about the practice again, we'renot talking about super intense
party tricks where you have tobe really bendy and flexible.
(30:40):
It applies to any and everyyoga posture, position, things
like that.
You're getting these benefitsregardless of how quote unquote
advanced your practices.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, that's a great statement, you know that's.
That's especially for those ofus who I mean God bless you for
creating this platform becauseyou know, being a relative
beginner, I'm kind of borderingon to the intermediate now, but
in going into a studio, it's,it's pretty terrifying.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
It could be intimidating.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Yes, especially if you're a dude and you're going
in with a bunch of women inthere because they're primarily
women and it could be you knowI'm going to speak for a lot of
males it's like it's really outof our comfort zone.
It really is.
But you know, like anythingelse, I mean, the first time you
(31:38):
jump into an ocean it can bepretty scary, but then you learn
how to absolutely love it right.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Well, that's another example of becoming comfortable
with being uncomfortable andembracing it yeah, yeah, it's
such a great.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
You know what do I have to do to get from the
driving range to the first tee.
What do I have to do to break90, what I have to do to break
100.
What do I have to do to break70.
What do I have to do to break90?
What do I have to do to break100?
What do I have to do to break70?
What do I have to do to do allthese things, these external
things that people want to doand they really want to do it,
you have to become the personcapable of doing it.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
That's the answer to the riddle.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
And through through the discipline and practice of
yoga.
That's certainly going to stackthe deck in someone's favor.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Well, and speaking of all these external things, we
love all of the gadgets and thelessons and hearing things from
different teachers and beinginspired by other golfers, but
it comes down to our internalprocess as well, and probably
even more so.
And I think that all of thoseoutside things can't work as
(32:47):
well if we don't have thatinternal oh, that internal
equilibrium, that internalfunction working the way that we
want it to.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yeah, yeah, I kind of look at, is it?
If you learn how to drive arace car?
Or if somebody says, hey,lauren, here's a, here's a Lambo
, you get to drive it aroundlike a maniac at Laguna Seca
Raceway, which is a pretty nastytrack in my hometown of
Monterey, california, and unlessyou have become the person
(33:21):
capable of handling thatmachinery, you're going off the
track pretty quickly right.
Or you're going to wrap itaround a tree, you know.
So I think that's really kindof an important thing.
You know, that's really theanswer to the riddle.
The discipline and the practiceof yoga can really help
expedite that process.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
I think a lot of things in life, and especially
in golf, can be unnecessarily,overly complicated.
This is just honestly taking itdown to the basics.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
We're stripping the fat.
Yeah, we're stripping the fatoff this thing now through your
experience of being a teacherand being versed in tpi, being
tpi certified.
For those who don't know,titles performance institute um.
Greg rose and dave um david uh,god, what's his last name?
I can't remember.
They created this.
(34:19):
Yeah, dave Phillips.
Yeah, really good guy.
Both really really really goodpeople have created a program
specifically designed to helpassess and create programs for
the golfer to get his or herbody in good shape, good enough
shape to be able to.
I mean, the golf swing itselfcan be taxing on the body,
(34:41):
especially an untrained body.
It can hurt your back, yourshoulders, your hips.
I mean there's a myriad ofinjuries out there to the
unprepared and under-trainedbody.
How does yoga help facilitatethe rotational forces and the
pressures that the body istrying to produce to be able to
(35:01):
exert on the golf ball?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
first we're working with the ground the ground
working with ground reactionforces.
I think in the golf world,instructors will say use the
ground, and you could hear thatall day long.
But if you don't know what itmeans, then you're not going to
do it.
But there is this conceptcalled ground reaction force,
and it essentially describes theway that the earth Meets the
(35:31):
amount of force that we areputting on it, so gravity we're
just standing here or sittinghere the amount of force that
we're putting into the ground,the earth is putting just as
much force back up against us.
So, similarly, the more forcewe push into the ground by
(35:52):
bending our knees, by gettinglow in our golf stance, by
staying grounded and staying low, low, by pushing not only into
the ground but pulling up fromthe ground, the more force that
we can apply there, the moreforce that we're going to get
out of it, and so that's why yousee things like force plates
being so popular in the golfindustry.
But so yoga a it helps us learnhow to connect with the ground,
(36:15):
for one thing and I think yogahas an advantage because it is
traditionally and always mostlypractice barefoot.
So you're setting yourself upfor a win already, right, which
we can get into a whole thingabout foot function and how,
like, strengthening the feet isso beneficial, but that's a big
piece of it.
So that's helping us right thereand that's automatically going
(36:36):
to strengthen not only the chainof communication from the
ground up to our brains, whichthen translates to our bodies in
the golf club, but it helps uswith balance and things like
that.
So first we're starting withthe ground, getting quote
unquote grounded learning how toeffectively shift our weight
(36:57):
through different poses anddifferent postures.
Not only how to do that, buthow to do shift our weight
through different poses anddifferent postures.
Not only how to do that, buthow to do it with control, which
of course, translates on thegolf course when we're shifting
our own weight through the swingand trying to avoid things like
swaying and sliding or beingable to stand strongly on uneven
(37:19):
lies, which is inevitableunless you're on the tee box,
which even then might not betotally even so, we have to be
able to do this from there.
It's teaching us how to, ofcourse, be mobile in our joints,
but with the right intentionand the right approach, we're
also building the strength inour muscles to protect those
(37:40):
joints, and that's also a that'sgoing to help us with aging,
but it's going to help us havemore power in our swing, is
going to help us be able togenerate more distance All of
these things that we want.
You asked about rotation as wemove up the body and get into
the core and we get into thespine.
(38:00):
There's a lot of twists in yogawhich, inherently, are going to
help us rotate.
But we learn how to activateour core muscles, and I'm not
just talking about the abs, I'malso talking about your back,
your sides, your hips, yourpelvic floor, your shoulders
essentially everything that issurrounding and protecting your
spine.
That's what I refer to as thecore.
You learn how to engage thosemuscles and use the breath to
(38:25):
then help you not only find thelink through your spine but get
that deeper twist to coilthrough the abdominal muscles
and then explode as you movethrough your golf swing.
So all of that again starts atthe ground.
You're generating that forcethat you push down and pull up.
You draw it in through yourmuscles, turn through the spine,
work with the joints and that'sgetting us that beautiful
(38:47):
distance and that strong, longbackswing that we want, and it
just translates to the ballsoaring as far as you want it to
more or less.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
I love it.
What a great explanation, sogood sending me off on these
tangents.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
I get excited I love it.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
I love it.
I think it's it's reallyimportant for people to know
this information, to at leasthave it, and the, the elegance
and how you explain it, lauren,is phenomenal and and it helps
us uh, you, I'm a student ofyours and it helps us who are
students of yoga or people orpeople that are thinking about
(39:26):
it, like, the translation isreally strong.
It's a very, very powerfultranslation from the practice
and discipline of yoga to thegolf course.
How it translates in these arethings that are happening,
happening like even beyond ourconscious awareness.
Right, you know, I mean, if, ifyou can, if you can become
(39:47):
conscious of the breath to thepoint where you are
unconsciously deep,diaphragmatic breathing, I mean,
wow, it's trainable, it'sdoable, this is trainable, this
is doable, this is a thing.
Yes, yeah, it's the questionsthat I have pondered from the
(40:10):
people that have given me thesegreat, just simple questions
like hey, man, you know, how doyou get used to being, how can
you go from two to three under,three to four under, four to
five under?
Or, if you're coming down thestretch and you're starting to
get in your head, how can youget back to the breath?
How can you get your mind backin your body where it needs to
(40:31):
be.
I mean, as soon as you get outof the present moment, all bets
are off.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
I mean you're done.
You know, I got a chance tohang out with Luke Clanton last
month.
He's the number one amateur inthe world.
He just turned pro.
Really a great kid, played forFlorida State, phenomenal player
.
He's going to go off and have agreat, great professional
career.
And we asked him this question,me and a buddy of mine that got
to hang out with him.
We asked him like how do youget used to being like stupid,
(41:02):
under par?
And he said the moment youstart thinking about it, you're
dead.
And I said well, how do you doit?
He said well, I had to gettrained, I had to get my body
used to it.
How do you do it now?
He says I focus on the presentmoment.
How do you do it now?
He says I focus on the presentmoment.
How do you do that?
I do it through the breath.
I mean, it's literally thatsimple.
Simple but not easy because thehead is like you know I I liken
(41:29):
the head to, you know, when youturn on a garden hose full
blast and the things spewing allover the place and you're
trying to catch it.
That's how my head operates.
It's like going all over theplace and it takes.
It takes something to catch it,something.
So connecting to the breath anduh has been a very powerful
revelation for me and for a lotof other people.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
I think that the breath is the most powerful tool
that we have and the beauty ofit is we carry the breath with
us at all times and when we'rein tournament play and in these
high pressure situations wecan't have our massage therapist
right next to us, we can't haveour favorite recovery tools, we
can't have the ice bath orwhatever it is, but we do have
(42:13):
the breath.
We know how to utilize iteffectively and efficiently.
It is why, literally a gamechanger.
The other thing I was going tosay and I may have said this in
one of our previousconversations on here I once had
a teacher in the Nashville areawho would constantly say in his
classes if you truly focus onyour breath, it is impossible to
have a thought, and I thinkthat's true.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
Yeah, repeat that again.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
If you are completely focused on your breath, if you
truly lock in your focus on yourinhales and exhales, it is
impossible to have a thought,and the moment that you notice a
thought starting to come in,that focus on the breath is gone
.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Boy that is so powerful, and that's the yellow
brick road to getting into theall exalted state that we want
to get into, and that's the zonethat's in flow.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
It's not as shiny or as new and exciting as a set of
brand new clubs, but at the endof the day, it's far more
effective.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
Wow, what a great quote, what a powerful statement
, lauren.
I mean, just think about youknow, for those that are
listening, just contemplate that.
I would like that to be at theforefront of your thoughts,
especially when you are going togo out and you want to test
this out.
Give it a test drive.
Give it a test drive on thegolf course.
Just just see what happens andyou'll start to notice quickly
(43:45):
how much you're in your head.
You know, it's one thing I loveabout yoga it's almost
impossible to be in your head.
As soon as you go into yourhead, especially if you're doing
any of the balance poses,you're going to lose your
balance right away.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Oh yeah, go into your head especially if you're doing
any of the balance poses,you're going to lose your
balance, right?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
away.
Oh yeah, it's game over, it's.
It's like instant manifestation.
As soon as you're in your head,you're done and you have to.
You have to recenter andrefocus and listening to what.
Listen to what Lauren has tosay.
I love it.
You always are saying connectto the breath, breathe, you know
, relax your face.
Things like that Also important, and these are such the simple
(44:22):
commands that we can giveourselves to get us out of fight
or flight, which unfortunately,there's a lot of people that
play golf and in fight or flightyou know a lot of them do yeah.
And that's sad because you knowwe're, we're, we, we're.
It's recreation.
So we're trying to recreatereality, but yet we're still
(44:44):
imprisoning ourselves by thisvery phenomenon of being in our
head, being, you know, uppertier or upper part of our body
breathing where it justfacilitates that.
You know it's just in your.
Your energy goes where yourattention goes, and if you can
(45:06):
get your attention down there inthe belly breathing that way,
it's remarkable how powerful andtransformative it is.
I mean I I called upon it forthe first time last year,
playing in my club championship,and it worked, and it works
every single time.
You may not get the results youwant, but you're going to have
a heck of a lot more fun insteadof thinking about it, your head
(45:30):
spinning, I wonder what isgoing to happen on the next shot
.
I wish I didn't do that onnumber eight, when you're on the
17th hole and your head's allover the place.
That's no way to play golf.
Speaker 2 (45:41):
No.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
That's no way to live actually.
No, it's a shitty way tooperate on both planes.
So that's one of the thingsthat I this was an like when I
decided to commit to it, committo the practice of yoga.
This is a blessing that Ididn't see happening.
(46:03):
It really is a blessing.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
That tends to be the case.
People often go in wanting toget more flexible or just
wanting to relax in general, butit is.
It is a gift that keeps ongiving.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
Yeah, you know, I talk about it.
I talked about it with myfriend the other day and I've
talked about it with you.
I think that most, most dudesin the NFL are are yoga
practitioners.
I know that most of theoffensive and defensive linemen
are yoga practitionerspractitioners most that there is
(46:37):
a yoga instructor specific foreach NFL team.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
And if they're doing it, we need to be doing it.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Yes, I would say so.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
I mean because they're having car wrecks on
every play and their bodies aregetting twisted every which way
from Sunday and if they'reimmobile, something's going to
break.
Right, they're going to breaksomething, and you know, this is
something I think that shouldbe a big part in your, in
someone's toolbox.
It's a, it's a, it's a.
(47:10):
It's a.
It's a walking, living, movingmeditation as well.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
Yes, 100%.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Talk about that just for a quick sec, like how is
that, how does that manifest,how it's like okay, lauren and
Jesse, okay, you got me somewhatconvinced, but how is the
discipline and practice of yoga,an actual moving, breathing
form of meditation?
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Well, I think meditation is another one of
those things that people hearabout and they're like oh, I
would benefit from that, butthey're like I can't sit still.
I've never been able to sitstill, that's fine, you don't
have to.
What I love about, and I vieweven my own yoga practice as a
form, a moving form ofmeditation, or even like a
moving form of prayer, as itwere, because and I think the
moving part of meditation, oreven like a moving form of
prayer, as it were because and Ithink the moving part of it you
(48:02):
are physically clearing outenergetic blockages, and if I
just lost people on that phrasealone, just know it's good for
you and it's helping you relax.
But the moving standpoint, whenyou are focusing on your breath
and again this is when you arefocusing on your breath, and
again this is either in aphysical yoga practice or when
you are on the golf course whenyou're focused on the breath,
(48:25):
you're getting out of your head,you're feeling, into your body,
you're becoming more aware ofthe steps that you are taking,
how your feet connect to theground, how you can feel the
ground under your feet whenyou're standing over a golf ball
.
You're much more aware andappreciative of your
surroundings.
So I mean golf is one of themost beautiful sports because of
(48:48):
the locations that we get toplay in.
Yet if we're so focused on beingfrustrated about our slice or
chicken winging it, we're notappreciating the beauty of of
nature and the healing powersthat we are immersing ourselves
in.
So it allows us to veryintentionally become present and
(49:12):
yes, we're moving and we're notsitting still, but we are doing
the things that our bodyultimately wants us to do, which
is to be still, even ifinternally breathe.
Honestly, when you take a deepbreath and you feel your body
relaxing, it's almost like yourbody's saying thank you, and
then you again, you, you clearout.
(49:32):
In yoga there's a saying oflike let go of what is not
serving you, and that can bekind of confusing, but
essentially it's just like letgo of what is not serving you,
and that can be kind ofconfusing, but essentially it's
just like let go of what youdon't need.
Or I like to add on giveyourself permission to let go,
because sometimes we don't wantto become fully uncomfortable
yet and we're, we're holding ontightly and that's okay.
But even just giving yourselfpermission to relax into the
(49:54):
moment can have a profoundimpact.
And I think the more youpractice that, this kind of
moving form of meditation andletting your golf game be, that
it returns to a game that, a isenjoyable, b is helping you
relax and C you feel better andyou move better and at the end
(50:18):
of the day you're playing better.
But again it comes back toclearing out things that you
don't need letting go of what isnot serving you and just
returning to that practice overand, over and over again and
just letting it strengthen likea muscle.
So that's what I think of whenI think of a moving form of
meditation, but especially interms of how we approach our
(50:39):
golf game.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
I couldn't have said it better myself, and that's why
you do what you do, lauren.
So in closing, real quick,you're accepting students, right
, you can accept students onyour golf performance dot com.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
Yes, there's a monthly and an annual membership
.
Performancecom yes, there's amonthly and an annual membership
, and I also have a few onlinecourses available.
If you're just looking for.
Hey, I just want, uh, an XYZlecture and class focusing on
distance.
That's there for you.
But I also work with folksone-on-one, um, in person if
they're in the Jackson Metro,but I also work with people over
FaceTime and it might soundstrange but honestly it works
(51:19):
pretty well.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
Yeah, and I would highly recommend working with
her.
I've hit her up many times forthoughts and Lauren always is
really great at figuring outwhat your individual needs are
and can design a programspecifically for you needs are
and can design a programspecifically for you.
(51:41):
So I mean, lauren, I got totell you your answers in this
conversation were phenomenal andI'm going to leave the
listeners with this who do youhave to become?
You know, who do you have tobecome to get to where you want
to go in this game, because it'sa holistic thing, it's not just
(52:04):
one thing.
There's no magic bullet.
So who do you have to become?
And the, the, the practice anddiscipline of yoga it's it's
certainly helping me become whoI want to become and I thank you
for your inspiration and yourguidance as a friend and as a
(52:24):
teacher, and I really appreciateyou, lauren, and I'm sure the
people that listen will alsoappreciate you as well and your
words of wisdom.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
I'm grateful for you.
Speaker 1 (52:34):
Grateful for you too, my sister.
So I'll make sure to puteverything that you need to get
a hold of Lauren in the shownotes.
I highly encourage it.
Oh, almost forgot, you are inthe latest edition of Golf
Digest 2 with will find a seriesof movements.
Speaker 2 (52:51):
Honestly, these are movements that I turn to time
and again when working withgolfers, movements that do
everything that we talked abouttoday help you with your balance
, help you get more grounded,help you build lower body
stability and then that upperbody mobility that we all need
(53:13):
in the golf swing.
So, yeah, be sure to check thatout, thank you.
Hello, this is Jesse Perriman of the Flyers Golf
Podcast, welcoming you toanother great week.
Here we are in February of 2025.
It's going to shape up to be agreat year, y'all, and if you do
some of these things that Ihave on the podcast, especially
this offseason, you're going tocome out smelling like a rose
come springtime and there'sgreen grass and golf to be
(00:24):
played and tournaments to beplayed in and good results to be
had by all, and this week is noexception.
For longtime listeners of thepodcast, you're very familiar
with Lauren McMillan.
Lauren is the owner ofyogolfperformancecom.
She is in the JacksonMississippi area, has a studio
there, so if you're ever in townand want to go to a live yoga
(00:46):
class, she is available.
I will make sure to put herinfo in the show notes.
Brief intro we cover a lot ofthe mind body connection with
golf.
We really get into the depthsof what a yoga practice is, what
(01:06):
it looks like and what are thepotential results and how it can
help our golf games, how it canexpand our consciousness and
help us just to move and feelbetter and to be more in touch
with what's going on internally.
Going on internally and, in myexperience in my yoga practice
(01:30):
personally, I'm finding that I'mbecoming more internally
referenced.
So if anything goes awry outthere, I kind of check within
myself first to see if myinternal environment was
actually primed to hit a golfshot and I didn't interfere with
negative thoughts or timetraveling.
(01:50):
And yoga has been a really bigpart of it thus far yoga
combined with meditation.
But yoga is a flowingmeditation and it does get you
connected to your breath,connected to your body and
connected to the ground in moreways than one.
So thank you, lauren, forcoming on and cheers to everyone
and have a fantastic week.
(02:27):
Hello, this is Jesse Perrymanfrom the Flag Hunters Golf
Podcast, bringing you one of myfavorite humans on the planet.
Her name is Lauren McMillan.
Lauren is from Jackson,mississippi, where it's nice
down there in mid-February orwe're approaching mid-February,
and she is owner of Yo Golf.
It's actually a trademark nameYo Golf, yo Golf Online Studio.
(02:51):
She also teaches live.
If you're ever in theMississippi area and the Jackson
area, I'm going to make surethat all of her contact
information is directed onto theshow notes so that you can go
spend a session with her too, oror have her work on your on
your fitness.
She's also TPI certified, golfdigest certified, as well as one
(03:12):
heck of a yoga instructor,lauren.
Thanks for coming on, my dear.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Thanks for having me back and thank you for that
lovely intro.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
You deserved it, you earned it.
You just got back from the PGAshow in Orlando.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I sure did, and it was not warm and sunny there.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I can tell you that unusual for that time of year
being in Orlando.
Normally it's perfect, right.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
Right, yeah, I mean, luckily we missed.
We missed the harsh winterweather that passed through
Mississippi, but it was still.
You know, we got some cold rain, but it was still a fantastic
time.
Speaker 1 (03:45):
And you presented I did.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I presented for the second year on the health and
fitness stage.
This year I talked a lot aboutbalance training for golfers
simple and efficient ways forgolfers of all levels to learn
how to use the ground moreeffectively.
Learning how to activate thejoints and the muscles in a way
(04:07):
that is really going to givethem more power, better weight
shift honestly, all the thingsthat you could want.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
That's sounds awesome .
Speaker 2 (04:14):
It was yeah, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:15):
We'll get right into it and and you also real quick.
As a reiteration, you do havethe online yoga studio
specifically for golfers.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Yes, that is correct.
Yes, yoga performance it is.
There's, I think, close to 200,maybe more than 200 classes on
there now, varying by length.
Some are as short as fiveminutes, some as long as 60 by
level.
Swing concerns common injuries,anything that you're looking
for in regards to your golf game.
It is there to help you move,feel and play better.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
And I am a member of that particular site, which I'm
very proud of, and I have gonethrough a lot of your protocols.
The one protocol that I reallylike is your warm up protocol,
your quick start warm upprotocol.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Oh, thank you.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Yeah, that's, that's a cool one.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Little five, six minute, you know.
Just get the joints and themuscles loose and ready for that
first tee shot.
Yes, and a lot of them are donestanding where you don't even
have to get down on the groundor on the grass, if that's
something people are notinterested in.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
yeah, yeah, it's nice when, when you don't have time
and you go from your car to thefirst tee and you can just bust
that out real quick, um, insteadof swinging just super tight
and who knows where the ball isgoing to go on the first tee,
that's right.
Loose primes your body.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
Yes, and it makes a difference, even though it's
just a few minutes.
It is quick, it is efficient,it's targeting all the areas
that we want, so that you areready to go and you don't have
to wait until the fifth hole tofeel warmed up.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Yeah, yeah, while you're making a bunch of bogeys
in the first four holes holesbecause your body is just tight
and just doesn't want to loosenup You're not giving it the
proper commands.
So you know, I'm a yogapractitioner and I'm starting to
see it show up in my game.
(05:57):
I'm starting to see it show upin my golf swing.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
And you know how it's showing up, how I'm hitting the
ball harder.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
Okay, so more, yes.
So I'm a 54 year old marriedmale that has been in decent
shape my entire life, but thepractice of yoga has been
different.
So a lot of really good golfinstructors want you to take a
(06:35):
full backswing, a real full 90degree backswing, and there's
reasons for that.
It sets up the downswing.
For what?
What?
Your arms and your hands andyour body and your feet and the
connection to the ground, all ofthem, what they have to do.
It's hard to set up thedownswing if you can't get your
shoulders rotated properly.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So some of the asanas have really helped to propagate
that quite seamlessly into mygolf swing.
So I don't have to blow out mynervous systems by speed
training.
Not that speed training is abad thing, but it hasn't worked
for me.
But yoga has.
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Interesting.
Speaker 1 (07:20):
Yeah, elaborate.
Speaker 2 (07:22):
Interesting, but I'm not surprised.
Yeah, elaborate Interesting,but I'm not surprised.
You know, I think that some ofthe speed training, some of the
more intense forms of exercisewhether golfers want to get into
strong weightlifting or likehit works at hit workouts or
(07:43):
intense cardio, like you saidlike there's nothing inherently
wrong with those, those but whenwe take it down to the basics
and start to address ourmobility, our flexibility, our
stability, connect with thebreath, connect with the nervous
system, we can then safely andeffectively do those other forms
of movement and have greaterresults, because we've taken the
time to tone it down a bit andto address things from a base
(08:04):
level.
And I think that's exactlywhere yoga and similar movements
come into play.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
How important is it?
How important is it to have amobile, supple body, especially
as somebody ages, I mean.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I would say I am biased, but I also feel like
it's correct to say that it isincredibly important.
It's important if you want toage gracefully and to move well
into your later years and tomaintain or restore bone density
or to not worry about falling,let alone being able to swing a
(08:39):
golf club and playing golf foras long as you possibly want.
So I would say it is pretty,pretty, darn critical.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, I'm finding that out.
You know, when I first joined,first joined your golf
performance and went throughsome of the movements, I was
embarrassed Really.
Oh gosh, yes, I had nobody,nobody watching me.
I was doing in my living roomon my mat and I was embarrassed
for myself of how reallyimmobile I had become, even by
(09:07):
just doing some of therudimentary stretches that I
thought were good and like I'mgood.
Okay, so you know I could touchmy toes, I'm good, you know I'm
good using all these kind ofgeneral check marks, right, but
little did I know how not good Iwas and how that translated
(09:28):
onto the golf course.
I decided last year to go intohyper observational mode.
I had specific goals for eachtournament I played in, but I
didn't finish well in all butone, and my observations had
(09:55):
come from lack of mobility.
I was getting stiffer, tighter,and I'm a meditator tighter and
I'm a meditator.
I have a good command over mymind most of the time, but my
(10:19):
body was reacting to not beingproperly mobilized, especially
in cold weather and warm weather.
It's you can get away with alittle bit, but here in
California on the coast it werepretty cold relative to the rest
of the nation, especially inthe summertime, so it put even
more of a spotlight of what Ineeded to do this off season,
like, okay, I need to take myyoga practice to another level
(10:41):
and really focus on it.
Focus on it as the primarydriver of what I need to do to
prepare for 2025 and um.
And one thing that I'm reallyfinding out through this and I
want you to comment on this,lauren is that through the
practice, there's beenadditional benefits that I did
not foresee.
So it's like a active wakingmeditation, the connection to
(11:08):
the breath and being grounded.
While being in some of theseasanas or postures or movements
that are taking me out of myphysical comfort zone, I'm
becoming more ingratiated andcomfortable, while being
uncomfortable because it'sfocusing the breath in some of
(11:29):
these compromised or what Iwould perceive as compromised
positions or movements.
But the more I focus on thebreath, more my body acquiesces
to the demands that I'm askingit to do and the more I can get
comfortable and get into that,and it's starting to translate
onto the golf course where mymind is being more I'm allowing,
(11:54):
I can have more control over mymind and not letting it go just
absolutely psycho, because I'mactually predispositioning my
both nervous systems intoenvironments where I normally
wouldn't do it without thepractice of yoga.
Speaker 2 (12:15):
You're starting to take it with you.
Yeah, yeah, I have a couple ofthoughts.
First, what you said aboutbeing embarrassed at first and
doing some of my classes in yourown living room.
That's one of the whole reasonswhy I created the website,
because a lot of golfers knowthat yoga and yoga related
movements are good for them.
But one of the first excuses Ihear is oh, I'm not going to go
(12:37):
to a studio because I don't wantto embarrass myself and I don't
know what I'm doing, so thistakes that out of it.
But going back to the way thatyoga helps us first of all build
that bridge, or rebuild or evenuncover that bridge between the
mind and the body and thebreath, I feel like a lot of
other forms of movement andexercise yes, it's there, but
(13:02):
they do not focus primarily onhaving those strong connections.
I think when you have a yogapractice you're able to kind of
identify those things a littlemore clearly if you practice
other forms of exercise.
But the more you stick with ayoga practice, the more it goes
beyond the physical and it goesbeyond the poses and beyond the
stretching and, like you justdescribed, you're able to notice
(13:25):
more clearly what's going on inyour mind.
You're able to feel andidentify what is going on with
the breath right now.
Where am I breathing, how isthat affecting me?
And the more you practice thatand the stronger it gets and the
easier it becomes.
Things happen like you justdescribed, where you're suddenly
able to roll up your yoga matand take it into life and onto
(13:46):
the golf course and it thenbecomes this really powerful
tool that you recognize, thatyou have with you at all times,
so when you're on the golfcourse you can rely on your
training and those tools becauseit's right there with you.
You didn't leave it in the gymor you didn't leave it at home,
so it becomes an anchor.
It becomes something that youcan rely on and bring you back
(14:09):
to yourself when things start topop up like a chattering mind
or tightness in your shoulders,and that awareness becomes a lot
greater.
There's a golfer that I've beenworking with out of Atlanta and
it's been amazing to see how,like when he and I first started
working together and I see thiswith a lot of golfers They'll
be like oh, my back bothers me,my shoulder bothers me, and we
(14:32):
were just kind of start fromthere.
But now the conversation ismore like.
He's able to see the connectionbetween how one part of his
body is compensated forsomething else.
He's able to feel how theenergy is shifting.
He's able to work with hisbreath to help relax and release
tension that's in his body andhe's.
He's playing a lot better andhe's moving a lot better.
So it's pretty remarkable tosee how it all works when it
(14:54):
comes together.
Speaker 1 (14:54):
In that regard, yeah, and the thing that we talked
about before we hit the recordbutton, lauren.
I want to make sure that Ireiterate, because I've got a
lot of questions this offseason.
I've had a few questions of,okay, how do you get under par
(15:18):
and want to go more under par,how can you get past certain
external barriers on the golfcourse, whatever that is.
So I've gotten that from a fewplayers, I've gotten it from my
some of my friends and I'vegotten it via email and DMS on
Instagram Like, hey, can youtalk about that?
And I and it's there's not onespecific answer.
(15:41):
I think it's holistic, yes, andand that's putting your
continuously putting yournervous system in situations
where you are uncomfortable.
That's the gateway, that's thekey.
In my opinion.
That's sort of what we'recoming up with.
And just in my last fewpractices, my last three yoga
(16:02):
classes, where I've been reallyuncomfortable like whoa man,
this just doesn't feel, you know.
But of course, after yoga isdone, I'm like, yeah, I can't
wait to go back and do thatagain, you know.
But how this is translatingonto the golf course is that my
(16:22):
thoughts are no longer I'm notgoing to say they're no longer
but the energetic charge betweenan external desire, and
actually what I'm doing islessening Meaning, for example,
I'm going to do things to getridiculously used to being under
par.
So who do I have to become toachieve that?
Speaker 2 (16:47):
I think you become like you said earlier.
You become the person who iscomfortable with being
uncomfortable and knowing how torespond in uncomfortable
situations.
In a yoga class and during apractice, like you described,
there are situations whereyou're holding a pose for a very
(17:09):
long time and it is not exactlyfun.
But and you and I talked aboutthis before I don't remember if
this is an exact quote or justsomething I've heard, but I've
been told time and time againthe moment that you want to get
out of a pose, that's yoga,that's the moment of
transformation, because you'relearning how to quite literally
sit with yourself and torecognize what's going on in
(17:32):
your brain right now.
What are you saying to yourself?
Are you choosing thesedestructive, negative thoughts
and you're just holding on totension and anger?
How is your body feeling?
Are you unnecessarily grippingyour muscles or are you able to
see where you can relax, whereyou can soften, what you can let
(17:52):
go of, and can you breathe intoit?
And when you're able to?
Of course it takes practice andit takes time, but when we're
able to recognize the differencebetween the two and then
recognize our own tendencies,that's the aha moment where we
can start to make little bittychanges here and there, and it
doesn't.
It takes time, yes, and ittakes practice, but something so
(18:17):
subtle and the smallest shift,I like to equate it to like if
somebody changes your gripposition.
It could be a very tinymovement and it takes some time
to get used to, but it makes allthe difference in the world.
And so that then translateswhen we're on the golf course,
because we might be on adifficult lie or in an awkward
position or there's a lot ofpressure on the shot ahead of us
(18:39):
, we're able to see what is mymind saying right now.
Am I freaking out?
Am I really really tense?
And, without knowing it, am Itelling my body that I should be
really really stressed?
I mean, that's not the case atall.
Speaker 1 (19:06):
Yeah, the practice, the art and the practice of yoga
in sort of in my translationright now, is demystifying.
Just the BS, you know, just theBS that we tell ourselves, say,
for example, in a yoga classwhere we are holding a pose for
a long time learning how tobreathe into it, and you know,
let's talk about that, thebreath connecting to the breath,
the importance of that, howthat translates, especially
(19:28):
under duress on a golf course.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Yes, well, I think, first and foremost, as a society
, we are accustomed to takingreally short, shallow breaths,
meaning we're breathing up intothe upper part of the chest, up
near the collarbones.
A lot of that stems from decadesof being told to like suck it
in and like stand up tall, andso it's kind of like, and then
(19:51):
we end up breathing reallyshallow, even though we might
feel.
Fine, everything's peachy keen.
Our bodies are not beingutilized the way that they were
designed when it comes to therespiratory system.
So when we are taking thoseshallower breaths, we're not
using the diaphragm, we're notbreathing deeper into the ribs
(20:14):
and into the belly.
Because of that, we're usingthese quote unquote accessory
muscles like in the neck and inthe shoulders.
Those are doing more of the workthan they would like to, I
think, and that's when we comeaway with a lot of chronic
shoulder pain, upper back painand it's just kind of this
domino effect of things that wedon't like.
But another thing is, when wedon't breathe as deeply and as
(20:39):
completely and as fully as we'remeant to, it also prevents us
from nourishing our bodies on adeeper level, because when we
breathe into the diaphragmthat's so closely associated to
our lymphatic system, thatcontributes to our immune system
, it contributes to how weprocess emotional and traumatic
(20:59):
events.
There's just so many thingsthat are interconnected and we
just don't realize that thebreath really holds the key to
making sure all that is movingand operating smoothly.
So we almost get stuck just bykeeping the breath shallow, so
got off on a tangent there.
All that to say.
The breath is really, reallyimportant and people don't think
(21:20):
like, or they think, oh, I knowhow to breathe.
Well, sure, we all do.
That's why we're still here.
But it can be helpful torecognize that, oh, I could be
breathing in a more effectiveand efficient way.
That will help me not only inlife and not only in how my body
operates but, honestly, in howI play.
Speaker 1 (21:41):
Yeah, well said.
What a great, great comment,great explanation, lauren, thank
you.
You know, attention goes,energy goes where your attention
goes.
And I remember a really goodfriend of mine asked hey, what
do you do to go from the drivingrange to the first tee?
(22:01):
You know, I mean, that's like a, that's like they say, the last
, the longest walk golf is fromthe driving range to the first
tee, especially, especially, uh,in competition, and it was such
a great question.
It's such an interestingquestion and through our, our
conversations, all themultitudes of conversations that
(22:23):
you and I have had, andsimplify it, your attention is
going to be down there versus inyour head, because that's the
(22:49):
problem is the longest golfcourse in the world or the
longest walk is between thedriving range and the first tee.
But if you don't know how tobreathe and you're in your head
yeah, it's going to be a longass walk, it's not a very
comfortable walk.
But if you're focusing onbreathing through your diaphragm
and you're really focused onthat, your attention is right
(23:10):
where it needs to be In thelower part of your body, where
you have the shortest connectionto the ground and you're going
to be energizing your entirenervous system and which is
going to lead to the nextquestion Okay, the difference,
and what does yoga do?
(23:35):
Okay, so there's two nervoussystems the sympathetic and the
parasympathetic.
I've noticed that thesuccessful yoga practices that
I've had going into class iswhen I've been in that
parasympathetic nervous system,in spite of whatever my brain is
trying to do, you know,uncomfortable, left the parent.
The sympathetics go in danger.
(23:56):
Danger, we need to get out ofhere.
But how can we prime ournervous systems to be more
ingratiated, especially underthe gun in the parasympathetic?
How does yoga help facilitatethat?
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Well, so I guess, for people who aren't familiar, so
sympathetic fight or flight, orthe danger one that's firing off
alarms, and then theparasympathetic rest and digest.
That's when we feel calm,relaxed, comfortable, all the
things.
But of course, like we've beentalking about, we're talking
about what do we do inuncomfortable and possibly
stressful situations.
(24:32):
I think when we operate onautopilot, our tendency is to be
in the sympathetic nervoussystem and to just let the
stress guide us instead ofguiding our own stress and
working with it.
And so, again, what wementioned earlier about how yoga
poses and a physical yogapractice, holding positions for
(24:55):
a long time, challenging ourbodies, whether through balance
and flexibility or our corestrength all of it teaches and
trains us how to again becomeuncomfortable in what might
originally be an uncomfortableposition.
And I also think that any newexperience has the potential to
(25:16):
be uncomfortable, so we can giveourselves grace off the bat and
just know, rather than viewingthis as a scary unknown.
Think of it as just I'm being abeginner and it's just a new
experience.
And how can I approach thiswith ease and with openness,
rather than fear and tensing upand holding ourselves back?
I think the same thing could beapplied to if it's an
unfamiliar golf course andyou're out there and you're on
(25:38):
the first tee and you you mightnot know where you're supposed
to hit it, but if you canphysically and physiologically
relax, that's going to help youin so many more ways than if
you're tense and nervous.
So how can we get from thatsympathetic nervous system to
the parasympathetic nervoussystem, and how does yoga help
us do that?
(25:59):
For one, I think it goes back tothe example of being in a yoga
pose, and something I like to doas a teacher is to cue.
Well, first, I keep breathe,and as soon as I say that,
people realize that they've beenholding their breath, which a
lot of us tend to do withoutrealizing it, which that's going
(26:20):
to keep us in that sympatheticfight or flight response mode.
So, breathing, letting yourbody, it's almost a, it is a
signal to your body that you aresafe.
That's one thing.
The next thing I'll cue is well, I'll say a couple of different
things.
It'll be like notice whereyou're holding tension, and
another one that I'll say isrelax the muscles in your face
(26:44):
Because, again, withoutrealizing it, when we are,
whether it's in a yoga pose orstanding out of dress and we're
gripping the club and we'regripping our muscles.
We're just trying not to shankthe ball and lose it.
We tend to squeeze the musclesin our face as well and I like
to joke with people, even thoughI'm serious.
I'm like holding the muscleslike that's not going to help
you in this situation.
(27:05):
So relax and they get tochuckle out of them and they,
which helps them get into theparasympathetic as well.
But then it kind of has thiscascading effect of relaxing the
whole body.
So when setting up, what I liketo say is kind of combine the
breath with that active sense ofrelaxing your body.
So before you even come intoyour backswing or even into the
(27:27):
takeaway, take a mental scan ofthe body, notice where you are
holding tension, and it couldjust be like noticing the crown
of your head, your shoulders,relaxing the belly, relaxing the
hips.
You're still active and readyto go.
There's still a sense ofpreparedness there.
You're not just falling asleepwhile you're standing over the
golf ball, but you're letting goof unnecessary tension and that
(27:52):
is going to help you have asmoother swing tempo and a more
efficient swing.
The next is connecting to thebreath.
So first notice if you'reholding your breath, then notice
if you're taking more shallowbreaths and instead I like to
cue it as breathing into the ribcage.
I feel like that can be easierfor people to remember.
Breathe into your ribs.
(28:13):
That's going to help furtherrelax the shoulders, it's going
to get your body ready, it'sgoing to get that nervous system
ready and is going to help youlock in your focus because
you're not running through yourmind everything that you're
trying to remember to get theperfect shot.
And then, after you take thatfull breath in and you exhale,
that's when you swinginteresting boy.
Speaker 1 (28:36):
There you have it, folks, you got the keys to the
kingdom there.
What a great answer, justbreathe and relax.
Speaker 2 (28:43):
That's all there is to it Right.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Yeah, just breathe and relax.
I mean I my favorite quote ingolf is by Tom Watson, where he
said I didn't learn how to winuntil I learned how to breathe.
And there's so many layers tothat, but, but a really
important one is just simply,you're getting out of your head
yes you know, most golfers, eveneven the world's greatest, they
(29:06):
, they will, they will saytypically in a press conference,
if you, if you pay close enoughattention, they'll say always
say something like yeah, I wasin my head on that shot yes you
know they'll always say it, buta lot of people don't get it.
But that's a really good cue anda clue to like okay, we'll
investigate that.
(29:26):
You know how can you get out ofyour head and get into your
body when you are, when, when,when you know the S hits the fan
, and when you're coming downthe stretch playing a golf
tournament, whether it'sbreaking 80 for the first time,
maybe qualifying for a USGAevent or qualifying for for any
(29:48):
of the great tours in the world.
If you're in your head, goodluck, right, best of luck to
your brother or sister, becausetypically you're going to get
your own way and then all betsare off right so the practice in
the discipline of yoga isteaching me, as a practitioner,
(30:12):
as a student of yours, how toget out of my own way yes
Speaker 2 (30:18):
and it's a byproduct of doing the practice, which is
a real cool thing it's very cooland I think it's important for
people to remember and to keepin mind that when we're talking
about the practice again, we'renot talking about super intense
party tricks where you have tobe really bendy and flexible.
(30:40):
It applies to any and everyyoga posture, position, things
like that.
You're getting these benefitsregardless of how quote unquote
advanced your practices.
Speaker 1 (30:52):
Yeah, that's a great statement, you know that's.
That's especially for those ofus who I mean God bless you for
creating this platform becauseyou know, being a relative
beginner, I'm kind of borderingon to the intermediate now, but
in going into a studio, it's,it's pretty terrifying.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
It could be intimidating.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Yes, especially if you're a dude and you're going
in with a bunch of women inthere because they're primarily
women and it could be you knowI'm going to speak for a lot of
males it's like it's really outof our comfort zone.
It really is.
But you know, like anythingelse, I mean, the first time you
(31:38):
jump into an ocean it can bepretty scary, but then you learn
how to absolutely love it right.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Well, that's another example of becoming comfortable
with being uncomfortable andembracing it yeah, yeah, it's
such a great.
Speaker 1 (31:52):
You know what do I have to do to get from the
driving range to the first tee.
What do I have to do to break90, what I have to do to break
100.
What do I have to do to break70.
What do I have to do to break90?
What do I have to do to break100?
What do I have to do to break70?
What do I have to do to do allthese things, these external
things that people want to doand they really want to do it,
you have to become the personcapable of doing it.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (32:16):
That's the answer to the riddle.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (32:19):
And through through the discipline and practice of
yoga.
That's certainly going to stackthe deck in someone's favor.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
Well, and speaking of all these external things, we
love all of the gadgets and thelessons and hearing things from
different teachers and beinginspired by other golfers, but
it comes down to our internalprocess as well, and probably
even more so.
And I think that all of thoseoutside things can't work as
(32:47):
well if we don't have thatinternal oh, that internal
equilibrium, that internalfunction working the way that we
want it to.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yeah, yeah, I kind of look at, is it?
If you learn how to drive arace car?
Or if somebody says, hey,lauren, here's a, here's a Lambo
, you get to drive it aroundlike a maniac at Laguna Seca
Raceway, which is a pretty nastytrack in my hometown of
Monterey, california, and unlessyou have become the person
(33:21):
capable of handling thatmachinery, you're going off the
track pretty quickly right.
Or you're going to wrap itaround a tree, you know.
So I think that's really kindof an important thing.
You know, that's really theanswer to the riddle.
The discipline and the practiceof yoga can really help
expedite that process.
Speaker 2 (33:43):
I think a lot of things in life, and especially
in golf, can be unnecessarily,overly complicated.
This is just honestly taking itdown to the basics.
Speaker 1 (33:58):
We're stripping the fat.
Yeah, we're stripping the fatoff this thing now through your
experience of being a teacherand being versed in tpi, being
tpi certified.
For those who don't know,titles performance institute um.
Greg rose and dave um david uh,god, what's his last name?
I can't remember.
They created this.
(34:19):
Yeah, dave Phillips.
Yeah, really good guy.
Both really really really goodpeople have created a program
specifically designed to helpassess and create programs for
the golfer to get his or herbody in good shape, good enough
shape to be able to.
I mean, the golf swing itselfcan be taxing on the body,
(34:41):
especially an untrained body.
It can hurt your back, yourshoulders, your hips.
I mean there's a myriad ofinjuries out there to the
unprepared and under-trainedbody.
How does yoga help facilitatethe rotational forces and the
pressures that the body istrying to produce to be able to
(35:01):
exert on the golf ball?
Speaker 2 (35:04):
first we're working with the ground the ground
working with ground reactionforces.
I think in the golf world,instructors will say use the
ground, and you could hear thatall day long.
But if you don't know what itmeans, then you're not going to
do it.
But there is this conceptcalled ground reaction force,
and it essentially describes theway that the earth Meets the
(35:31):
amount of force that we areputting on it, so gravity we're
just standing here or sittinghere the amount of force that
we're putting into the ground,the earth is putting just as
much force back up against us.
So, similarly, the more forcewe push into the ground by
(35:52):
bending our knees, by gettinglow in our golf stance, by
staying grounded and staying low, low, by pushing not only into
the ground but pulling up fromthe ground, the more force that
we can apply there, the moreforce that we're going to get
out of it, and so that's why yousee things like force plates
being so popular in the golfindustry.
But so yoga a it helps us learnhow to connect with the ground,
(36:15):
for one thing and I think yogahas an advantage because it is
traditionally and always mostlypractice barefoot.
So you're setting yourself upfor a win already, right, which
we can get into a whole thingabout foot function and how,
like, strengthening the feet isso beneficial, but that's a big
piece of it.
So that's helping us right thereand that's automatically going
(36:36):
to strengthen not only the chainof communication from the
ground up to our brains, whichthen translates to our bodies in
the golf club, but it helps uswith balance and things like
that.
So first we're starting withthe ground, getting quote
unquote grounded learning how toeffectively shift our weight
(36:57):
through different poses anddifferent postures.
Not only how to do that, buthow to do shift our weight
through different poses anddifferent postures.
Not only how to do that, buthow to do it with control, which
of course, translates on thegolf course when we're shifting
our own weight through the swingand trying to avoid things like
swaying and sliding or beingable to stand strongly on uneven
(37:19):
lies, which is inevitableunless you're on the tee box,
which even then might not betotally even so, we have to be
able to do this from there.
It's teaching us how to, ofcourse, be mobile in our joints,
but with the right intentionand the right approach, we're
also building the strength inour muscles to protect those
(37:40):
joints, and that's also a that'sgoing to help us with aging,
but it's going to help us havemore power in our swing, is
going to help us be able togenerate more distance All of
these things that we want.
You asked about rotation as wemove up the body and get into
the core and we get into thespine.
(38:00):
There's a lot of twists in yogawhich, inherently, are going to
help us rotate.
But we learn how to activateour core muscles, and I'm not
just talking about the abs, I'malso talking about your back,
your sides, your hips, yourpelvic floor, your shoulders
essentially everything that issurrounding and protecting your
spine.
That's what I refer to as thecore.
You learn how to engage thosemuscles and use the breath to
(38:25):
then help you not only find thelink through your spine but get
that deeper twist to coilthrough the abdominal muscles
and then explode as you movethrough your golf swing.
So all of that again starts atthe ground.
You're generating that forcethat you push down and pull up.
You draw it in through yourmuscles, turn through the spine,
work with the joints and that'sgetting us that beautiful
(38:47):
distance and that strong, longbackswing that we want, and it
just translates to the ballsoaring as far as you want it to
more or less.
Speaker 1 (38:57):
I love it.
What a great explanation, sogood sending me off on these
tangents.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
I get excited I love it.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
I love it.
I think it's it's reallyimportant for people to know
this information, to at leasthave it, and the, the elegance
and how you explain it, lauren,is phenomenal and and it helps
us uh, you, I'm a student ofyours and it helps us who are
students of yoga or people orpeople that are thinking about
(39:26):
it, like, the translation isreally strong.
It's a very, very powerfultranslation from the practice
and discipline of yoga to thegolf course.
How it translates in these arethings that are happening,
happening like even beyond ourconscious awareness.
Right, you know, I mean, if, ifyou can, if you can become
(39:47):
conscious of the breath to thepoint where you are
unconsciously deep,diaphragmatic breathing, I mean,
wow, it's trainable, it'sdoable, this is trainable, this
is doable, this is a thing.
Yes, yeah, it's the questionsthat I have pondered from the
(40:10):
people that have given me thesegreat, just simple questions
like hey, man, you know, how doyou get used to being, how can
you go from two to three under,three to four under, four to
five under?
Or, if you're coming down thestretch and you're starting to
get in your head, how can youget back to the breath?
How can you get your mind backin your body where it needs to
(40:31):
be.
I mean, as soon as you get outof the present moment, all bets
are off.
Speaker 2 (40:37):
Oh yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
I mean you're done.
You know, I got a chance tohang out with Luke Clanton last
month.
He's the number one amateur inthe world.
He just turned pro.
Really a great kid, played forFlorida State, phenomenal player
.
He's going to go off and have agreat, great professional
career.
And we asked him this question,me and a buddy of mine that got
to hang out with him.
We asked him like how do youget used to being like stupid,
(41:02):
under par?
And he said the moment youstart thinking about it, you're
dead.
And I said well, how do you doit?
He said well, I had to gettrained, I had to get my body
used to it.
How do you do it now?
He says I focus on the presentmoment.
How do you do it now?
He says I focus on the presentmoment.
How do you do that?
I do it through the breath.
I mean, it's literally thatsimple.
Simple but not easy because thehead is like you know I I liken
(41:29):
the head to, you know, when youturn on a garden hose full
blast and the things spewing allover the place and you're
trying to catch it.
That's how my head operates.
It's like going all over theplace and it takes.
It takes something to catch it,something.
So connecting to the breath anduh has been a very powerful
revelation for me and for a lotof other people.
Speaker 2 (41:49):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:51):
I think that the breath is the most powerful tool
that we have and the beauty ofit is we carry the breath with
us at all times and when we'rein tournament play and in these
high pressure situations wecan't have our massage therapist
right next to us, we can't haveour favorite recovery tools, we
can't have the ice bath orwhatever it is, but we do have
(42:13):
the breath.
We know how to utilize iteffectively and efficiently.
It is why, literally a gamechanger.
The other thing I was going tosay and I may have said this in
one of our previousconversations on here I once had
a teacher in the Nashville areawho would constantly say in his
classes if you truly focus onyour breath, it is impossible to
have a thought, and I thinkthat's true.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
Yeah, repeat that again.
Speaker 2 (42:42):
If you are completely focused on your breath, if you
truly lock in your focus on yourinhales and exhales, it is
impossible to have a thought,and the moment that you notice a
thought starting to come in,that focus on the breath is gone
.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Boy that is so powerful, and that's the yellow
brick road to getting into theall exalted state that we want
to get into, and that's the zonethat's in flow.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
It's not as shiny or as new and exciting as a set of
brand new clubs, but at the endof the day, it's far more
effective.
Speaker 1 (43:24):
Wow, what a great quote, what a powerful statement
, lauren.
I mean, just think about youknow, for those that are
listening, just contemplate that.
I would like that to be at theforefront of your thoughts,
especially when you are going togo out and you want to test
this out.
Give it a test drive.
Give it a test drive on thegolf course.
Just just see what happens andyou'll start to notice quickly
(43:45):
how much you're in your head.
You know, it's one thing I loveabout yoga it's almost
impossible to be in your head.
As soon as you go into yourhead, especially if you're doing
any of the balance poses,you're going to lose your
balance right away.
Speaker 2 (43:57):
Oh yeah, go into your head especially if you're doing
any of the balance poses,you're going to lose your
balance, right?
Speaker 1 (44:00):
away.
Oh yeah, it's game over, it's.
It's like instant manifestation.
As soon as you're in your head,you're done and you have to.
You have to recenter andrefocus and listening to what.
Listen to what Lauren has tosay.
I love it.
You always are saying connectto the breath, breathe, you know
, relax your face.
Things like that Also important, and these are such the simple
(44:22):
commands that we can giveourselves to get us out of fight
or flight, which unfortunately,there's a lot of people that
play golf and in fight or flightyou know a lot of them do yeah.
And that's sad because you knowwe're, we're, we, we're.
It's recreation.
So we're trying to recreatereality, but yet we're still
(44:44):
imprisoning ourselves by thisvery phenomenon of being in our
head, being, you know, uppertier or upper part of our body
breathing where it justfacilitates that.
You know it's just in your.
Your energy goes where yourattention goes, and if you can
(45:06):
get your attention down there inthe belly breathing that way,
it's remarkable how powerful andtransformative it is.
I mean I I called upon it forthe first time last year,
playing in my club championship,and it worked, and it works
every single time.
You may not get the results youwant, but you're going to have
a heck of a lot more fun insteadof thinking about it, your head
(45:30):
spinning, I wonder what isgoing to happen on the next shot
.
I wish I didn't do that onnumber eight, when you're on the
17th hole and your head's allover the place.
That's no way to play golf.
Speaker 2 (45:41):
No.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
That's no way to live actually.
No, it's a shitty way tooperate on both planes.
So that's one of the thingsthat I this was an like when I
decided to commit to it, committo the practice of yoga.
This is a blessing that Ididn't see happening.
(46:03):
It really is a blessing.
Speaker 2 (46:06):
That tends to be the case.
People often go in wanting toget more flexible or just
wanting to relax in general, butit is.
It is a gift that keeps ongiving.
Speaker 1 (46:15):
Yeah, you know, I talk about it.
I talked about it with myfriend the other day and I've
talked about it with you.
I think that most, most dudesin the NFL are are yoga
practitioners.
I know that most of theoffensive and defensive linemen
are yoga practitionerspractitioners most that there is
(46:37):
a yoga instructor specific foreach NFL team.
Speaker 2 (46:41):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (46:42):
And if they're doing it, we need to be doing it.
Speaker 2 (46:46):
Yes, I would say so.
Speaker 1 (46:48):
I mean because they're having car wrecks on
every play and their bodies aregetting twisted every which way
from Sunday and if they'reimmobile, something's going to
break.
Right, they're going to breaksomething, and you know, this is
something I think that shouldbe a big part in your, in
someone's toolbox.
It's a, it's a, it's a.
(47:10):
It's a.
It's a walking, living, movingmeditation as well.
Speaker 2 (47:14):
Yes, 100%.
Speaker 1 (47:18):
Talk about that just for a quick sec, like how is
that, how does that manifest,how it's like okay, lauren and
Jesse, okay, you got me somewhatconvinced, but how is the
discipline and practice of yoga,an actual moving, breathing
form of meditation?
Speaker 2 (47:38):
Well, I think meditation is another one of
those things that people hearabout and they're like oh, I
would benefit from that, butthey're like I can't sit still.
I've never been able to sitstill, that's fine, you don't
have to.
What I love about, and I vieweven my own yoga practice as a
form, a moving form ofmeditation, or even like a
moving form of prayer, as itwere, because and I think the
moving part of meditation, oreven like a moving form of
prayer, as it were because and Ithink the moving part of it you
(48:02):
are physically clearing outenergetic blockages, and if I
just lost people on that phrasealone, just know it's good for
you and it's helping you relax.
But the moving standpoint, whenyou are focusing on your breath
and again this is when you arefocusing on your breath, and
again this is either in aphysical yoga practice or when
you are on the golf course whenyou're focused on the breath,
(48:25):
you're getting out of your head,you're feeling, into your body,
you're becoming more aware ofthe steps that you are taking,
how your feet connect to theground, how you can feel the
ground under your feet whenyou're standing over a golf ball
.
You're much more aware andappreciative of your
surroundings.
So I mean golf is one of themost beautiful sports because of
(48:48):
the locations that we get toplay in.
Yet if we're so focused on beingfrustrated about our slice or
chicken winging it, we're notappreciating the beauty of of
nature and the healing powersthat we are immersing ourselves
in.
So it allows us to veryintentionally become present and
(49:12):
yes, we're moving and we're notsitting still, but we are doing
the things that our bodyultimately wants us to do, which
is to be still, even ifinternally breathe.
Honestly, when you take a deepbreath and you feel your body
relaxing, it's almost like yourbody's saying thank you, and
then you again, you, you clearout.
(49:32):
In yoga there's a saying oflike let go of what is not
serving you, and that can bekind of confusing, but
essentially it's just like letgo of what is not serving you,
and that can be kind ofconfusing, but essentially it's
just like let go of what youdon't need.
Or I like to add on giveyourself permission to let go,
because sometimes we don't wantto become fully uncomfortable
yet and we're, we're holding ontightly and that's okay.
But even just giving yourselfpermission to relax into the
(49:54):
moment can have a profoundimpact.
And I think the more youpractice that, this kind of
moving form of meditation andletting your golf game be, that
it returns to a game that, a isenjoyable, b is helping you
relax and C you feel better andyou move better and at the end
(50:18):
of the day you're playing better.
But again it comes back toclearing out things that you
don't need letting go of what isnot serving you and just
returning to that practice overand, over and over again and
just letting it strengthen likea muscle.
So that's what I think of whenI think of a moving form of
meditation, but especially interms of how we approach our
(50:39):
golf game.
Speaker 1 (50:42):
I couldn't have said it better myself, and that's why
you do what you do, lauren.
So in closing, real quick,you're accepting students, right
, you can accept students onyour golf performance dot com.
Speaker 2 (50:56):
Yes, there's a monthly and an annual membership
.
Performancecom yes, there's amonthly and an annual membership
, and I also have a few onlinecourses available.
If you're just looking for.
Hey, I just want, uh, an XYZlecture and class focusing on
distance.
That's there for you.
But I also work with folksone-on-one, um, in person if
they're in the Jackson Metro,but I also work with people over
FaceTime and it might soundstrange but honestly it works
(51:19):
pretty well.
Speaker 1 (51:20):
Yeah, and I would highly recommend working with
her.
I've hit her up many times forthoughts and Lauren always is
really great at figuring outwhat your individual needs are
and can design a programspecifically for you needs are
and can design a programspecifically for you.
(51:41):
So I mean, lauren, I got totell you your answers in this
conversation were phenomenal andI'm going to leave the
listeners with this who do youhave to become?
You know, who do you have tobecome to get to where you want
to go in this game, because it'sa holistic thing, it's not just
(52:04):
one thing.
There's no magic bullet.
So who do you have to become?
And the, the, the practice anddiscipline of yoga it's it's
certainly helping me become whoI want to become and I thank you
for your inspiration and yourguidance as a friend and as a
(52:24):
teacher, and I really appreciateyou, lauren, and I'm sure the
people that listen will alsoappreciate you as well and your
words of wisdom.
Speaker 2 (52:33):
I'm grateful for you.
Speaker 1 (52:34):
Grateful for you too, my sister.
So I'll make sure to puteverything that you need to get
a hold of Lauren in the shownotes.
I highly encourage it.
Oh, almost forgot, you are inthe latest edition of Golf
Digest 2 with will find a seriesof movements.
Speaker 2 (52:51):
Honestly, these are movements that I turn to time
and again when working withgolfers, movements that do
everything that we talked abouttoday help you with your balance
, help you get more grounded,help you build lower body
stability and then that upperbody mobility that we all need
(53:13):
in the golf swing.
So, yeah, be sure to check thatout, thank you.
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