Sport and Spirituality

Sport and Spirituality PDF

Author: R. Scott Kretchmar

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-05-21

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 0429589387

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This comprehensive volume explores the interface between sport and religion, or more broadly, sport and spirituality. While most of the contributions come from Western and Christian traditions, the volume raises broader questions about the kinds of impact that spirituality can and should have on sport, and equally, that sport can and should have on spirituality. The authors put forth an anti-dualistic message, one that argues against any vision of sport and religion existing in separate domains. Mind interpenetrates body, faith and love interpenetrate competition, spirituality and the Divine can interpenetrate secular games. This positive book has powerful implications for reforming contemporary sport, particularly crass, extrinsically-driven, win-at-all-cost versions of competition. It is a book about the incarnation, the paradoxical existence of the spirit in the flesh, love in competition, the myth-making power and meaning of games to engage the world, transcendent hope found in kicking a ball around, and how sport as a liturgy can mediate divine presence. This book was originally published as a special issue of the journal Sport, Ethics and Philosophy.

Sport and Spirituality

Sport and Spirituality PDF

Author: Jim Parry

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-09-12

Total Pages: 279

ISBN-13: 113413682X

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Exploring the spiritual dimensions of sport, this broad-ranging study takes a provocative look at the human aspects of the sport experience. It is a must-read for students of sport studies, sports coaching, and sport and health psychology.

Playing in the Zone

Playing in the Zone PDF

Author: Andrew Cooper

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 1998-04-20

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13:

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Our ancestors believed that sports were a gift of the gods--that they were potent rituals, which, if performed correctly, would placate unseen powers, honor departed heroes, or improve the harvests.This book explores this inner dimension of sports, drawing from mythology, the history of religion, observations on popular culture, and a wonderful array of anecdotes about the world's most accomplished athletes.

Sport and Spirituality

Sport and Spirituality PDF

Author: Jim Parry

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2007-09-12

Total Pages: 562

ISBN-13: 1134136811

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Sport science can quantify many aspects of human performance but the spiritual dimensions of sports experience cannot be fully understood through measurement. However, the spiritual experience of sport – be it described as ‘flow’, ‘transcendence’ or the discovery of meaning and value – is central both to our basic motivation to take part in sports, and to achieving success. Sport and Spirituality: An Introduction explores these human aspects of sports experience through the perspectives of sport psychology, philosophy, ethics, theology and religious studies. It includes discussions of: Spirituality in the postmodern era Spirituality, health and well-being Theistic and atheistic perspectives on sport and the spiritual Nature and transcendence – the mystical and sublime in outdoor sport Applied sport psychology and the existential Spiritual perspectives on pain, suffering and destiny Sport, the virtues, ethical development and the spirit of the game The Olympic Games and de Coubertin’s ideas of the ‘religio athletae’. This groundbreaking text will be a valuable resource for students of sport and exercise studies, sports coaching, physical education and sport and health psychology. This book should be read by all those interested in the preparation, performance and well-being of athletes.

Nature as Spiritual Practice

Nature as Spiritual Practice PDF

Author: Steven Chase

Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing

Published: 2011-05-17

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 0802840108

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Chase's innovative work uses a compelling blend of theological, scriptural, historical, and cultural discussions to reclaim the role of nature in the formation of Christian spiritual and moral identity.

The Christian Athlete

The Christian Athlete PDF

Author: Brian Smith

Publisher: David C Cook

Published: 2022-04-05

Total Pages: 229

ISBN-13: 0830783261

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The Christian Athlete is a gospel-centered guide that assists athletes who identify as Christians and are seeking to understand how to practically apply their faith to their sport. Athletes desire—and deserve—a more substantive expression of the Christian faith in the context of sport, but they don’t know what it looks like or where to turn to learn more. Author Brian Smith shares his story as an athlete and coach, and his experience working with high-level athletes in the last decade to help readers better understand how to integrate faith and sport by: Assisting those who want a wide-angled understanding of how to live the Christian faith in the context of sports Walking through the many questions Christian athletes ask about winning, losing, injuries, practice, and everything in between Moving Christian athletes from simply having clichéd spiritual sayings decorating their bodies or t-shirts to actually living out their faith through all the opportunities their sport offers them The Christian Athlete will show readers how to live out a biblical perspective on athletics and urge them to engage in the gifts they are given to glorify God whether they are the team MVP or riding the bench.

Playing in the Zone

Playing in the Zone PDF

Author: Andrew Cooper

Publisher: Shambhala Publications

Published: 1998-04-20

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1570621519

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Our ancient ancestors believed that sports were a gift of the gods—that they were potent rituals, which, if performed correctly, would placate unseen powers, honor departed heroes, or improve the harvests. Today, sports still speak to deep yearnings, imaginings, and the irreducible need people feel to resonate with themselves and their world. But the hidden meaning, or "secret life," that lies at the heart of sports and gives them their force and magic goes largely unnoticed. The old baseball hand Wes Westrum once said, "Baseball is like church. Many attend, but few understand"—and the same could be said for sports in general. In Playing in the Zone, Andrew Cooper explores this inner dimension of sports, drawing on mythology, the history of religion, his observations on popular culture, and a wonderful array of stories and anecdotes about the world's most accomplished athletes. The author—a clinical psychologist and longtime Zen student—compares the intense focus of the mind that is often required in spiritual practice with the experience of "playing in the zone"—that quality of mind where the most remarkable athletic feats seem to occur effortlessly. He explores the "dark side" of sports, its brutality and violence, showing how it can also provide fertile ground for self-awareness and self-transformation. Particularly insightful is the author's discussion of how the heightened drama of sports offers a powerful vehicle for the expression of mythic imagery and symbols in popular culture.

Meaning and Spirituality in Sport and Exercise

Meaning and Spirituality in Sport and Exercise PDF

Author: NOORA J. NESTI RONKAINEN (MARK S.)

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-12-18

Total Pages: 160

ISBN-13: 9780367732752

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Despite the growing literature on spirituality and its positive impact on well-being in health psychology, education, occupational psychology and leisure studies, it has been less examined in sport studies. Meaning and Spirituality in Sport and Exercise: Psychological Perspectives examines the many forms of spirituality in sport from a psychological perspective, from moments of transcendence and finding deeper meaning and value to prayer before an important competition or in adversity, such as a career-threatening injury. Based on the latest research and the Nesti's experience in applied sport psychology service delivery, this book covers a range of novel topics linking spirituality to athlete development, injury, exercise motivation, and ageing athletes, and offers applied, practical guidance for sport psychologists working with spiritual athletes. Offering a unique contribution to the study of spirituality in sport, and to sport psychology practice, this book is vital reading for any upper-level student or academic working in sport and exercise psychology, religion and sport, or the philosophy of sport, and any practising sport psychologist.

You Are More Than Your Score

You Are More Than Your Score PDF

Author: Dan Shenk

Publisher:

Published: 2022-08

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

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You Are More Than Your Score: On Sports and Spirituality majors in storytelling: true stories from sports history, up to the present, about dozens of household names. The book takes a heartfelt, behind-the-headlines approach to the mixed blessing of sports, along with the very real human beings who compete. It also presents numerous accounts of ordinary people with extraordinary stories. Further, the author describes how games and sports have played an important part in his life and faith. He has increasingly seen the benefits of spiritual disciplines. The book describes more than 30 spiritual practices, including meditating with music, experiences in nature, personal retreat days, journaling and prayer as "multi-faceted and many-splendored." You Are More Than Your Score, therefore, seeks to bring together two vital aspects of the author's life. Toward the close of the final chapter, we find this: "Let's celebrate sports, and yes, let's compete, demonstrating sportsmanship in victory and defeat. But let's also see that life is so much more than sports-and so much more than score, wins and losses." The book makes a strong case that defeat, loss and brokenness in sports, as well as in life itself, can set the stage, empathically and paradoxically, for grace, healing and service to others, in the spirit of Jesus. Paraphrasing the end of the Introduction, may this book encourage readers to recognize and tell their own stories-what they have experienced and learned personally-and to reflect on all this in light of God's great gift of life itself. The author invites readers to join him on the journey.