Peaceful Warrior
Based on Dan Millman's book "The Way of the Peaceful Warrior," Peaceful Warrior is filled with sport psychology concepts and spiritual and philosophical questions that cut to the core of the viewers. Guided by a spiritual teacher who poses as a gas station attendant, the fiery world class gymnast, Millman, goes through a lifetime of adventure focused on finding meaning, truth, happiness, and joy in the pursuit of excellence.
Released 2006; Runtime 120 minutes
Concepts
- Imagery: Through learning to harness his mind though mental preparation, Millman prepares his body to return to the sport he loves; Specific examples include him imagining satisfaction from the journey, not the destination, and the image of "taking out the trash" let him focus on his goals.
- Injury & Illness: Millman gets into a major motorcycle accident, and it was thought he would never be able to walk again; 10 months later he was walking, running, and getting back onto the rings.
- Peak Performance: Putting sports, life, and relationships into perspective, Millman seeks to use his mental strength to take his performance to new heights, landing a triple flip that was said to be impossible.
- Pursuing Your Dream: Though his dream is threatened and presumably lost, Millman searches within himself to continue to follow his dream; He puts an incredible amount of hard work into his rehabilitation and training.
- Sport-Life Balance: The teachings of the movie's spiritual guide, Socrates, force Millman to consider the meaning of sport and where it fits in the grand scheme of life; Millman learns that there was more to life than winning.
Note: Read the book for the full experience, but the movie itself provides a wealth of great sport psychology discussion points.