One of the most freeing insights of meditation practice is realizing that the only power thoughts have is the power we give them.” — Joseph Goldstein
Derek Covington, MSc is a sports performance leader, strategist and innovator having delivered improvement in sport performance for the Canadian Olympic Team through nine Olympic Games.
As the former Director of Performance for the Canadian Olympic Team and International athlete, Derek combines his Olympic high-performance experience with mindfulness and meditation training into a powerful approach to helping individuals attain their performance and well-being goals.
Based in Montreal, Canada, Derek is a certified mindfulness instructor (mPEAK) through the School of Medicine, Centre for Mindfulness at the University California, San Diego. He coaches athletes and teams from around the world, from youth development to Olympic and professional levels.
Derek is the founder and Principal of First Water Performance helping individuals and teams looking to harness greater purpose in realizing their best selves through mindfulness-based approaches.
Derek’s philosophy and approach is to focus on the ‘how of success’ and less on the ‘outcome of success’. Our goals gives us the journey yet staying true to our journey is all we ever have. It is a philosophy cultivated in a belief in ourselves rather than a belief in achieving a future outcome. Our goal is to cultivate a quality of presence by not striving for an outcome. It is our certainty about inherently uncertain things that becomes the enemy of possibility, whereas embracing humility and learning becomes its friend. Our job is to have zero expectations and to let go. When we set out to achieve the impossible, success might be rare, but the ultimate celebration – learning and transforming – can always be guaranteed when it is practiced mindfully. It becomes less about individual success or winning the day, and more about being part of something bigger than ourselves and how we showed up on the day.
“Mindfulness, Meditation & Everything In Between” Here’s a snippet of the hour-long podcast. Mindfulness, Meditation, Mindfulness Meditation… How does one even approach the subject of ...