Free Blog : Aidan Sheahan

    It has been proven time and time again that mindfulness has a positive effect on the mind as well as the body. So if mindfulness can be so beneficial, how can it work with sport athletes ? Can an athlete use mindfulness to his advantage and how can he do this ? In comes Aidan Sheahan, professional free ski athlete and mindfulness practitioner. In this blog I hope to explore Aidan and how he uses mindfulness as a benefit to help his skiing.

 From the Aspen area, Aidan has been a professional free-skier for much of his young life. Residing in Carbondale and skiing the slopes Aspen, Aidan has been praised on his "smooth" and "fluid" style which has earned him a spot in many skiing films. Aidan uses his summers and falls to work toward his degree, and uses his winters to practice his skiing. When not skiing Aidan enjoys: Skating, Slackening and creating music. In an interview with Freeskier Magazine, Aidan is quoted as saying "anything that uses creative power I find to be really fun." It is clear that he has found something through skiing in creative sports because he goes on to say in the interview "I think the same sort of creativity and style that is portrayed in skiing can be applied to many other activities, as well."
     Aidan is confident that our body follows our minds, and this is why he practices mindfulness. Aidan believes that mindfulness helps his skiing because "I can get centered and ski from a place of fun and inspiration and creativity, not bound to what I think other people want me to do. It’s way more practical than people think, it’s not weird crystal wearing craziness, but simply cultivating more creativity and freedom within yourself by becoming aware of external thoughts and motivations."
if you are not aware of the creativity and self awareness that free skiing requires, a sample of such can be seen in the short movie created by Aidan himself here :

 In this short film produced by Matt Hobbs Aidan talks about his mindfulness and how he implements it into his skiing, as well as his personal life. Because of mindfulness Aidan has been able to balance his skiing as well as his life and make it the way he wants it to be, mindfulness has taught him how to follow his thoughts and wants and it has led him to where he wants to go, which is something I  look to accomplish with my life. 

sources : youtube.com

Freeskier.com