Mindfulness for Young Athletes

Mindfulness has been around for centuries and a significant amount of research has been published in the past 6 years. Mindfulness has been shown to be helpful to improve overall wellbeing and sports performance. There has been a large increase in anxiety, depression, and overall stress in the pediatric, adolescent, and young adult population. This clinical commentary highlights the importance of using mindfulness as one tool to help young athletes improve their overall wellbeing and athletic performance. It also describes how it can be utilized in the sports medicine world along with noting a novel program at a Children's Hospital that is utilizing these tools to help young athletes.