CINCINNATI – Cincinnati Bengal safety Jessie Bates stepped into the forest in northeast Indiana, surrounded by trees, very present in the moment.
In Japanese it is called Shinrin-Yoku. In English it roughly means “forest bathing”.
Twice this off-season, Bates, one of the NFL’s best free safes, met with Kathy Little, his yoga teacher. Near his hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana, he and Little walked wordlessly through hickory and oak trees old and new while Bates took stock of his senses and meditated.
It was a certain type of meditation that Bates wanted to explore as he neared the most crucial season of his young career. At 24, Bates is trying to build his best year as a professional. He was selected as the team’s NFLPA representative, an honor previously held by longtime veterans on the roster. And he’s in the middle of contract negotiations that will shape his long-term stability in Cincinnati.
In preparation, Bates accepted meditation, a discipline he believes will bring benefits during and after his fourth NFL season.
“This is something that some people might find a little cheesy,” said Bates. “But I think that definitely helped me find my peace of mind.”
Pro Football Focus rated Bates the best security in the league in 2020. According to NFL Next Gen, Bates had the lowest total expected points added among any collateral when targeted as the next defender.
But the deal he signed as a rookie has become a central tension point for Bates’ future. Talks between Bengals officials and Bates over a long-term deal to keep him in Cincinnati have stalled, according to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.
On July 29, Bates said he wished the situation had already been resolved. Two weeks later, in an interview with the team’s website, Bates said the impasse suggests the franchise doesn’t feel like it is one of the best collateral in the league.
But even when Bates admitted the tension in the contractual situation, he spoke as someone who was content with their circumstances.
“I have a goal that I personally want to achieve and I know I need to get better to help this team get to where we need to be,” said Bates.
It was a sign that its off-season recalibration was already paying off.
Quiet walks through the woods known as “forest bathing” have helped Bates this off-season. Kathy Little
“He wasn’t afraid”
When Bates entered the league in 2018, he was primarily goal-oriented.
This season, the second-round pick from Wake Forest became the first Bengals defensive rookie to start every regular season game in 20 years. And while he was successful over the next two seasons, he hadn’t given as much thought to aspects of his life outside of football.
Hoping to change this in 2021, he texted Little to ask about meditation. Little is a certified yoga instructor with Traction Athletic Performance in Fort Wayne, where Bates has been a customer since his time at Snider High School.
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Bates was previously on Little’s yoga classes. But this off-season he asked her if she could incorporate meditation time into the routine.
When Bates wasn’t spending time with his nephew, he usually worked out in the morning and then met up with Little for yoga in the afternoon. The session usually started like this – Bates sat on the lawn, legs crossed, palms up and resting on his thighs, ready for Little to guide him through a meditation aimed at drawing positive energy towards others in his life to steer.
“There were times when he needed that kind of grounding that meditation brings,” Little said.
At some point in the last year, Little noticed that Bates appeared to have dropped out during a session.
His eyes were closed.
To Little it was a sign that he was not fully present.
Little Bates rarely had to remind them to keep their eyes open that summer. When that change happened, Little said it was like a switch flicked with Bates, and she felt a new focus in it.
“It’s like a focus that’s gentle yet fixed,” said Little. “It was a balance between strength and stillness and softness. It was really cool to watch. “
Bates and Little meditated about two days a week during this off-season. When asked why Bates could open his eyes now, Little immediately thought about Bates’ maturity over the past two years.
“He was ready to see what he was a part of and ready to be fully involved,” said Little. “He wasn’t afraid. There was no fear. There was an assumption. “
Pro Football Focus rated Bates the NFL’s Best Safety in 2020. Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice / Getty Images
“Peace for Tomorrow and Today”
Bates isn’t the only Cincinnati high school member who believes in meditation.
When new bengals security Ricardo Allen First entering the league in 2015, he wondered how athletes like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James could stay calm under immense outside pressure, while Allen couldn’t keep his mind from calming down on some nights as he tried to to relax.
So, for the past four years, Allen has been meditating on a daily basis. And in Bates everyone feels someone who feels comfortable in his own skin.
“Being in this world, maybe going and getting this contract and that kind of thing, sometimes it blurs some things,” Allen said of Bates.
“To be able to bring it back inside and have peace with yourself and where you stand and what you do, it only gives you peace for tomorrow and also for today.”
Bengals assistant coach Robert Livingston recalls when Bates made his debut at the 2018 Indianapolis kick-off. Since then, Livingston has seen a 21 year old surrounded by veterans become a leader in the safety of the team and the entire team.
“He’s finding his voice somehow,” said Livingston. “Everyone will be a little different. I think as long as you are true to yourself, people will see that. “
Bates has been an eye-catcher in the NFL since his rookie year. League officials named it one of the top 10 securities in the league in an ESPN offseason poll. Bengal’s defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo praised Bates’ versatility and ability to cover ground in the back of the defense.
Perhaps most importantly, for Bates and the Bengals, coach Zac Taylor described free security as someone who embodies what the future of the franchise should be.
“Jessie is everything the Bengals are about,” said Taylor. “If we define a ‘Bengal’, Jessie Bates fits that description.”
Bates will play a key role in helping Cincinnati end a playoff drought that dates back to 2015. And while he goes into a crucial fourth season with no new deal, all of the meditation and training during the off-season has brought him something perhaps even more valuable.
Peace.
“I know it won’t be done right away,” Bates said in July. “And I agree. I will be the same person, the same teammate, the same family member as I always have been. “
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