Nerves

What do you do when you’re nervous or stressing out? Changing your focus and envisioning a positive outcome can help. Practice and trust in your training. Faith. Meditation. Music. Movement, like running or yoga. Rest. There are a lot of ways people handle nervous energy. Or you could view it as excitement. Sometimes our tummies can give away our nervousness. Hinata knows that very well. I’m watching Season Two of Haikyu on Hulu. In this episode, Yamaguchi is nervous about playing in the spring tournament. The thought of him repeating his blunder from the last competition makes him anxious. Yachi tries to cheer him up, but as he tells her about his ordeal, his anxiety quickly transfer to her. The group tries to make sense of it. Having experienced that on the receiving end, I totally get it. So maybe Shimizu’s guess was pretty accurate. Of course Hinata can’t resist poking at Kageyama!

True. But it’s up to us how we choose to react to it and how we handle the situation. Check out how the Karasuno Crows handle their stress, on Hulu!

Haikyu!

I just finished Season One of Haikyu on Hulu (I think it’s on Netflix and VRV/Crunchyroll as well). It was my first sports anime! I always enjoyed playing volleyball, so an anime about the sport peaked my interest. Having watched so many shoujo anime, I wasn’t sure what to expect from a sports anime.

Haikyu showed the hard work, effort, practice, training, dedication, drills, and sacrifices athletes make to be successful in their sport. Discipline and passion should be present (and talent doesn’t hurt). What’s that quote? “Hard Work Beats Talent When Talent Doesn’t Work Hard” (Tim Notke).

This show had me rooting for Hinata, Kageyama, and all of the Karasuno Crows! Personalities clashed at the beginning, but the team bonded as they prepared to do battle with their rivals, and they became even stronger! Their coach, faculty mentor, manager, and advisors encouraged, supported, and motivated them to always do their best. There are meaningful mentoring scenes. The teammates acquired skills and tips from each other, and learned from their rivals. In sports, and in life, it’s interesting how much energy, mood, and vitality affect us. And what the contributing factors are, what helps, what doesn’t, and how can we repeat those positive experiences. A lot of psychology. If you’re looking for something that will inspire you, energize you, and give you a great team to root for, check out Haikyu!