Power of positive thinking gets Adam Ashe back on track

Glasgow No 8 Adam Ashe has had more than his fair share of setbacks in the past couple of years but spoke yesterday of how his adoption of '˜Inside-Out mindfulness' has helped him retain a positive mindset and get his career back on track.

Adam Ashe is hopeful of making his fourth consecutive start for Glasgow against Munster tomorrow night. Picture: SNS/SRU

As well as a series of injuries, the 24-year-old former John Macphail scholar suffered a couple of blows back in 2015. He played in the Pro12 semi-final win over Ulster but was dropped from the squad for the historic win in the final against Munster before being included in Vern Cotter’s World Cup training pool but failing to make the cut for the tournament in England.

Injuries have struck at regular intervals since but Ashe is back to full fitness and has been named in all three of new head coach Dave Rennie’s starting XVs so far in the Guinness Pro14 and is hopeful of making it four in a row against Munster at Scotstoun tomorrow night.

Earlier this year, Ashe and his now former Warriors team-mate Grayson Hart took part in a podcast to speak about how Inside-Out thinking had helped them and the six-times capped forward explained a bit more about it after training at the Ravenscraig sports complex yesterday.

“We pointed out in the podcast the inner workings of how human beings work,” said Ashe. “Having an understanding of that will help anyone.

“It helped me and when it comes to rugby, it is a long season and we will feel different before games. If we can come to understand it, regardless of how we are feeling before a game we are still going to 
perform.

“I guess the feelings we experience are connected to what we are thinking but at times it can seem they are connected to the outside world. The understanding I share is to point people back to where their feelings are actually connected and away from the illusory connection to the outside world. That can really help people, it helped me.”

It has helped Ashe to a satisfying start to the current season and one he hopes to continue tomorrow.

“This is the sixth [start] including the two pre-season games, which is certainly my most [in succession] for a while.

“I was glad to get through the pre-season considering the robustness and the ability of your body to hold up. I still get bumps and bruises but I had a period of having a neck injury and shoulder injuries that kept me out and my foot got an operation on then my hip.

“I am through the back end of those so hopefully no more.

“There is no fitness like playing a game of rugby. You can do as much pre-season as you want but you won’t get that same fitness unless you play rugby. To get that and to play six games and be fit now is great.

“The body is feeling a bit battered but in a good way. It feels good.”

Ashe accepts Glasgow may not have “clicked” yet but they go into the biggest game of the season so far against their old Irish foes with three wins from three. There are scores to settle with a Munster team that beat them four times last season, twice in the Pro12 and twice in Europe.

Ashe was on the sidelines for all of them so won’t be carrying any of that baggage.

“I guess I am just going into it like any other game,” he said. “Munster are a stuffy team, they play hard, they are physical and we know what they bring. I guess you could say they are predictable in how they are going to play but they are a hard team to play against, it will take a massive effort, one to 15 to turn them over at the weekend.

“We have not clicked at all so the fact that we have won three games is brilliant. It speaks a lot for what we have got here and what is going on, when it does click, it is exciting.”