On Wednesday, Daniel spent the day in Tokyo, soaking up traditional Japanese culture with our friends at Red Bull Japan. First on the schedule was a visit to the world renowned Asakusa Shrine to take part in a traditional Shinto prayer. While Dan was there, he received a blessing from a priest, who prayed for a Red Bull victory on Sunday.
After that it was on the Zenshoan Temple in Yanaka for Zazen meditation. The seated Zen Buddhist practice aims to suspend conscious thought, allowing the practitioner to let input from the outside world simple wash over them. It wasn’t the usual pre-race routine but we got a very happy driver back afterwards.
“Receiving the blessing was a nice experience,” said a very relaxed Daniel. “Obviously before the race it’s good to have some positive energy and thoughts. “The Zen meditation was another new experience for me. It’s something I can use in my sport and my racing. It teaches you to control your emotions and understand how your body and mind work together, so it was nice to learn some new techniques.”
