Balanced Bucky: Wisconsin takes a unique spin on mindfulness
June 14, 2022 | General News
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Ross Vincent '22 and Chad McGehee bring new mood to the Badgers through meditation
By: Jose Montoya
MADISON, Wis. - Every morning Bucky meditates.
It's true, the best mascot in the world practices mindfulness.
Well, it's actually UW graduate and Wausau native, Ross Vincent '22.
Vincent has jumped around Camp Randall and stormed the floor of the Kohl Center and brought millions of fans smiles to their faces for the past four years.
Outside of the duties of being Bucky, one of his interests is meditation. Sometimes you can catch Bucky zoning in for game day at Porter Boathouse on Lake Mendota
It's something he has been doing since he began practicing mindfulness in the spring of 2018.
"(Mindfulness) really helped me focus on the present," Vincent said. "It really is just all about you at the end of the day, and how you can be a better community member, a better friend, a better significant other, and the list goes on and on."
Being a member of the spirit squad means that your schedule is drastically different from the everyday student. The team is present at more than 700 events each year.
Put that on top of practices and studies in psychology and certificates in entrepreneurship and education; Vincent's workload is rigorous.
Learning to focus time and energy did not come easy as a first semester freshman, but in the spring he took on a new challenge - meditation.
"I was pretty burnt out at the end of my first semester and I said to myself at the start of the second semester that I wasn't going to repeat some of the past failures that I brought to college," Vincent said when he initially talked about the life changing transition. "I totally just cleaned the slate and started over."
He downloaded an app called Headspace, which promotes "meditation and mindfulness for any mind, any mood, any goal."
At the beginning of this journey, Vincent had no idea how it would work out, but he stuck with it and now has found something he can share with others.
Teaching the importance of well-being and sharing meditation techniques with Wisconsin student-athletes is what Wisconsin Athletics Director of Meditation Training, Chad McGehee, does best.
UW was the first major institution to create a department within athletics dedicated to meditation and mindfulness.
Mindfulness and meditation can help relieve stress, improve sleep, and win B1G championships
Vincent first reached out to McGehee through LinkedIn in the fall of 2020 as he was focusing on a class project dedicated to social entrepreneurship and looking to tie his interest in meditation.
The two of them set up a time to chat and an instant connection formed. The interview was supposed to be around 15 minutes and cover a small list of questions that were predetermined, but it ended up being a much more in-depth chat where both of them shared their journeys practicing meditation.
A year later, Vincent decided to stay in Madison for a 5th year to have a full season with the spirit squad and complete his degree program. He was still meditating regularly and keeping up with his busy schedule, but he reached for a new opportunity by reconnecting with McGehee and asking if he needed help with anything.
At the time, McGehee was still rolling the ball and figuring out what would work best with individual teams, student-athletes, and UW athletics staff. Originally he didn't have anything he could pinpoint for Vincent, but not even a day later, he reached back to the eager learner and asked him if he would like to help him on projects with another former student-athlete with similar interests.
McGehee had another inquiry from a student-athlete with similar interests and decided that teaming the three minds together would be valuable to sharing the importance of mindfulness with the entire department.
So Vincent began working with former men's tennis player Rob Krill and they assisted McGehee and his efforts to support the 23 Badgers' programs.
After a few initial planning meetings and learning about the department's plans to tackle the upcoming year, Vincent saw a unique way to incorporate a vital aspect of Wisconsin athletics.
"Why aren't we doing this with the spirit squad," Vincent began asking himself. He pitched the idea to McGehee and the opportunity to teach meditation training with the group took full flight.
The spirit squad went through three different sessions this past February. In those classes, McGehee introduced meditation to those with little, lots, and no experience at all.
"Ross' story is really one of compassion. He benefited personally from meditation and wanted to share those same benefits with others," McGehee said about Vincent.
Having support from department administration and coaches pushed Vincent to share his passion with a group that may have never practiced meditation in any form ever.
McGehee was able to share more of his process and encourage Vincent while leading the sessions.
"It was a chance for Chad to come in and talk about what he does and how it can be helpful," said spirit squad coach Josette Jaucian. "I think with all the craziness of their lives right now they could use a little relaxation and just a little time to focus on themselves." The three sessions taught by McGehee and Vincent received fantastic feedback from members of the spirit squad
The training was so successful that the dance team wants to continue using it to prepare for the nationals competition they attend in the winter.
"(Vincent) saw how meditation could support the performance and well-being of his teammates on the spirit squad and found a way to make the training relevant to them," McGehee said.
That connection and ability to tie it into a competition makes it fun, but also carries over to the entire team and it will continue to impact those who completed sessions with McGehee or Vincent.
"The feedback that we got in the end was overwhelmingly positive," Vincent said about the training. "It was kind of cool for everybody seeing myself in a different context, going from this goofy guy who puts on a Badger for games to now a little bit more serious."
Jaucian's team is not the only program in the Big Ten to incorporate some meditation in their training. She says that around eight to ten coaches have told her about them practicing meditation in some capacity.
Although several schools in the conference take part in this form of training, it's probably pretty safe to say that Wisconsin is the only place where the mascot was the one helping the spirit squad learn about meditation and mindfulness.
