With great power comes great responsibility and with it comes a lot of pressure. Indian wrestler Bajrang Punia must be feeling the same pressure as he carries hopes of billions on his shoulders for an Olympic gold in Tokyo.
The Haryana-born grappler earned a berth in the Tokyo Olympics after winning silver in the 2019 World Championships. Bajrang has been training hard with one eye on Olympic glory under coach Shako Bentinidis.
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The grappler is training both physically and mentally to handle the pressure of billion hopes. While for the physical aspect, Bajrang is training hard on the mat but for mental exercise, he has turned towards Sadhguru’s meditation techniques.
“Bajrang is a world-class wrestler but tends to lose concentration during bouts, conceding points,” Bentinidis told the New Indian Express.
“During our training camp in Azerbaijan, I started teaching him meditation. He practises Isha Kriya meditation taught by Sadhguru every day before the morning and evening training sessions. He also meditates during spare time and it has started reflecting in his performance. He has become a lot calmer and composed now,” he added.
Bajrang after securing gold in the 65kg freestyle category in the Rome Ranking Series last month headed to Azerbaijan. He was joined by 74kg freestyle grappler Jitender for the three-week training in the Central Asian nation.
The duo will be participating at the New Delhi bound Asian Wrestling Championship which are scheduled to take place from February 18 to 23.
