fear

Mental Moment-PTSD

Written by on May 14, 2013

PTSD

In my practice, PTSD is a growing barrier in particular for elite female athletes who have been in their athletic career for quite some time. Most of them have been carrying PTSD around with them for a long time. Imagine being an elite athlete and dealing with the pressures that already exist in the elites athlete world: pressure to stay at a high level, stress from long hours of training, lack of life balance, traveling, obtaining/keeping sponsorship’s  politics, injuries, financial stress, etc. Now add PTSD to that: fear of getting re-injured, fear of falling, fear of getting hit by a car, … Continued

Mental Moment-athletes dealing with fear

Written by on March 23, 2013

fear

Fear can be a biggie for athletes. There are many skills an athlete can develop to deal with fear that’s different than allowing it to take over their mind with negative thoughts and their body with rapid heart rate and restricted movement. The plan on how to deal with fear depends on how deeply embedded the fear is (how far back does it go), how aware the athlete is of it’s occurrence(s) and how much it impacts the athletes performance. The best advice I can give you around fear is this: fear is what you make of it. Feelings become huge and … Continued

Mental Moment-what is holding you up

Written by on January 15, 2013

Wipe out fear

I was held up last week and all he wanted was my phone. Having to deal with this situation I came to realize the parallels in dealing with this and what elite performers face all the time. My situation I was walking out of an appointment and heard loud footsteps running up behind me. I turned around and saw a tall person in a hoody starring me in the face. He grabs for my phone. I grab back. He is so close my initial reaction is to poke him in the face, at least until I heard these words: give … Continued

Mental Moment-writers block

Written by on October 2, 2012

writers-block

If you are a writer you’ve probably at some point in your writing career experienced writers block. I have done quite a bit of writing over the years and have had an occasional block. I spoke to a colleague today who is having a bit of writers block. Here are some reasons for writers block Some reasons for writers block Writing like anything is a form of ‘putting yourself out there’. Writers block usually stems from one or more of the following reasons: Fear of rejection (fear of success) Anxiety around making sure it is perfect Lack of confidence Your ability to … Continued

Mental Moment-as the newness wears off

Written by on September 6, 2012

anxiety-girl

I’ve written a couple of blogs about my rowing exploits mainly along the lines about how learning something new is hard. Over the years it’s not like I haven’t done anything that’s new but I haven’t done anything new that has challenged me and my comfort zone as has rowing. Dealing with fear & anxiety Over the past few months I’ve continued to row but was realizing all along that my fear and anxiety particularly in the single also continued to increase. When I first started rowing I was in a wider scull and although there were definite moments of … Continued

Mental Moment-it shows on your face

Written by on August 8, 2012

Liu Xiang

Yesterday morning as I was cycling I decided to watch the Olympics. The preliminary 11o meter hurdles came on and so did a story about China’s Liu Xiang. Eight years ago in Athens Liu won the 110 meter hurdle race. In Beijing Liu blew out his Achilles after just a few steps and after a long recovery to that he could come to the London Olympics has seemingly blew out his Achilles again. It was really sad to watch. NBC showed the tape of this sad event over and over. As they showed the frontal view of Liu’s fall the thing that was … Continued

Similarities of burnout and PTSD

Written by on June 6, 2012

Burnout

I talk to a lot of athletes about avoiding burnout and I talk to some who are in the midst of burnout; helping them sort through how to deal with it. It’s not really until now that I’ve worked with more than one elite athlete who’s experienced burnout, helping them to deal with the continued aftermath of it. Similar to PTSD What I am starting to see if that the aftermath of burnout is similar in some ways to post-traumatic stress disorder. What is PTSD? After a traumatic experience (i.e. burnout and over-training syndrome), it’s normal to feel frightened, sad, anxious, and disconnected. But … Continued

Mental Moment-fear

Written by on May 1, 2012

fear of heights

I have always had a fear of heights and even though I’ve deliberately done things to try and overcome it (hot air ballooning & para-sailing) to a certain degree it still remains present. One day awhile ago I was out running and I came to an overpass bridge and decided I would cross up and over the freeway to the other side. I started up the short winding path to the crux of the bridge to where the overpass is high above the road and I panicked. I thought what if an earthquake hit. I would fall to the road. I … Continued

Diary of a cyclist-control

Written by on March 24, 2012

women cycling

Hey Michelle, well once again you manage to bring me to tears! You obviously hit some buttons every time you respond. So many things you say are right and true. I am not sure when in my life I became so scared to stand up for what feels right for me, but apparently I have an issue with this. From staying in one too many ****py relationships to worrying about other’s thoughts….I need to stop. My marriage is awesome, this is the first guy I ever met that just loves me for me…and my quirks and I for his. We … Continued