Self-connection is a useful strategy to make sure you can separate different aspects of your life, from work to home and even the footy field.
A lot of the time we’ll work long hours and we go home and go straight inside and the last thing you want to do is interact with the kids or your partner because you still have that work mindset on.
Something I like to encourage is you have to have a transition routine before you walk into the house, and one of the best activities you can do when you get home – or you could pull over at a park or beach on your way home – is take your shoes off and walk on the sand or grass and walk around for five minutes and tune into your environment.
You can also add box breathing – breathe in for four seconds, hold your breath for four seconds, breathe out for four seconds, hold your breath for four seconds – to the activity to help clear your mind of any stressors and really separate those mindsets.
I like to walk barefoot in my garden and I get really in tune with how that feels on my feet, the smells, the sights, the flowers, I water the plants and it lets my body and my mind understand it’s okay to not worry about work, or home, right now.
Some people get the same transition by going to the gym or a martial arts or yoga class or just sitting down listening to some music in your car before you go inside. Anything you do you enjoy can be your transition routine.
It’s important to make sure that if you’re introducing a transition routine to your day, you communicate this with your family.
If you play rugby league, if you don’t have a separation routine between work and when you start the activity, that’s when you can get injured or lose focus. You just have a full head and you’re not going to take any instructions from your coach.
The transition between the footy field and home is also important. I come from a defence background and the combat mentality shares some common aspects to that of the physicality and aggression involved in playing rugby league.
Any stress you take home – the mental demons and “soul eaters” – can have a negative impact on your family and friends, even without you realising, making self-connection and the transition routine so important.
When you get your self-connection piece right, you can then work on your soulful connection with the people who mean the most to you.
