Off field, Heaney finds balance in meditation

Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney isn’t necessarily superstitious, but he is strict about his routine, as most tend to be in his walk of life. Just before walking onto the field for one of his starts, he’ll sit on the chair in front of his locker and tie the laces of his cleats, first the one on the right and then the one on the left. Then Heaney will close his eyes, take a deep breath and start to visualize how he’s going to attack the opposing lineup.

“It only takes a minute, two minutes,” Heaney said. “To other people, it looks like I’m just sitting in my chair lacing up my cleats. But for me, it’s something that I’ve always done. I don’t know if you call it meditation, but it’s definitely positive visualization.”

Heaney grew up understanding the importance of mental stability. His father, Mark, was a pastor who became licensed as a professional counselor. He couldn’t teach his son the mechanics of pitching, but he saw how distraught Heaney became when he didn’t do it properly, so he went about helping his son attain optimal mental stability.

Heaney got serious about the pursuit while attending Oklahoma State University, taking up yoga and eventually doing some meditation. He’ll lean on it now, as he begins the arduous …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com