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Why should this cliche mean anything to us? On the surface it seems like a pretty meaningless catch phrase the pro's like to throw out during interviews because they have nothing better to say. And whilst this may sometimes be true, "one shot at a time" has a very real meaning.

golf is a slow sport and we have a lot of time to think. We have the luxury of musing on the past and future. That missed putt, "Oh damn just think how well I'd be doing if I hadn't missed it. Oooh, there's a par five coming up if I birdie it I might be abole to avoid going up 0.1..." Whatever.

These thoughts really aren't at all helpful. Rather we should aim to remove them because they break our concentration totally, lead to nervousness and anger. Ultimately they are the cause of poor play and all "caves" can be put down to suddeny becoming aware of how well you are doing (thought about the past) and hoping to finish it off well (thought about the future). When this happens we are likely to get nervous and "choke."

The pro's use one shot at a time as a mantra to bring them back into the present moment. They are only concentrating on what they are doing at exactly that moment, whether that be lining up a putt or talking to their playing partners. When the present moment is all that matters a Retief-Goosen-like calm descends. No shot is more important than another and interestingly golf can't make you angry.

Can you remember what you were thinking about during your best round ever? Take a few seconds to consider this...

For most people the answer is invariably very little. It's because you were so focused on what you were doing you didn't really think that much at all. You were too busy playing to worry about irrelevant things like the hole before or the greenside pond on the next hole. You were in "The zone". Another of golf's favourite cliches... :).

Falling out of the present isn't so much of a problem in continuous or fast moving sports though it is still possible. But that is no excuse to let it happen to you in golf. Next time you catch yourself slipping say that mantra to yourself "one shot at a time." And if that isn't enough there is the master cure to the disease of thinking too much: stretching your muscles. When you stretch you become aware only of the feeling in your muscles and it takes your focus into the present. Feelings can only exist in the present moment.

Fraser Hasell is the owner of www.goodatgolf.com

Even though the world population has shifted from mainly rural to mainly urban in the last decade, there are still lots of folks like me who live in the sticks. Doing things like taking a yoga class becomes a different thing in our case from driving to the neighborhood gym. Since I live 40 miles from the nearest town large enough for yoga studios, when I decided to take a class, I was more interested in the schedule than I was the type of yoga. I couldn't afford to be picky if I preferred not to wait around for a couple hours after getting off work. So I looked in the phone book, and didn't pay attention to anything but the schedule. There it was: M-W-F at 4:00. Perfect. I don't know what rock I'd been living under, but the word "Bikram" writ large across the ad in the yellow pages didn't trigger the term 'hot yoga' in my mind, and that left me in for a big surprise.

I showed up with a comfy pair of sweatpants and a long- sleeved t-shirt. As the woman at the desk was giving me a little orientation information - explaining that the room was heated to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit - I realized that my concept of yoga clothes weren't going to work here. Apparently, I wasn't the first to make this error. Susie told me they had loaners. Now, it's been a while since the last time I wore hot-pants, so when she handed me the little scrap of shorts, I thought, "No way." She said, "Trust me, you'll fit right in."

Susie continued, giving a few more orientation tips, which started to seem like a set of warnings. "Our first-time students are encouraged to rest whenever you feel you should - kind of take it gradually. The instructors just ask that you do your best to stay in the room for the entire time." What? Were we still talking yoga here? I'd seen pictures. Sure, I might not be able to balance on one leg while holding the other one over my head at my first try, but come on. How hard could it be to stretch as far as I could go and stop there? Why would I get desperate to leave the room?

Her next suggestion: "OK, I see you brought a bottle of water. That's good, but you'll be tempted to drink a lot, and I recommend you just drink sips - not too much at a time." Hmm. What was I getting into here? It sounded like I was facing some kind of ordeal - not what I had in mind at all since I was thinking of yoga as a peaceful, low- impact way just to stretch and keep my aging body flexible and strong.

Once I was dressed in the little bit of shorts, I opened the door to the yoga studio and was met with a rush of hot, stultifying air. Oh goody. I walked to an open space, spread my mat, lay on my back, and understood exactly what she meant by asking me to at least stay in the room. I was already dripping sweat, and we hadn't even begun the class.

Ninety minutes and twice through the 26 poses later, I was indeed still in the room. In the non-competitive, supportive atmosphere I had been completely guided to go to my edge, but not so far that I would be turned off by struggle. In fact, I was exhilarated. I lay on my back at the end, eyes closed in the peaceful, very hot room, and knew I'd be back for more.

Carina Snowden is a contributing author to Apex Yoga News the leading resource for yoga information. Visit Carina's archive of articles at http://www.apexyoga.com/