A Light Bulb went on in her Brain
I live for moments when an athlete makes the connection between the work they are doing and the impact it has on their performance. That was the case recently. My athlete shared with me that she completed a clean program this week in practice. During the performance,...
Define a Mentally strong Performance
What I consider to be a mentally strong performance may surprise you. It is not a clean skate every time! In fact, there may be several mistakes. It is how you respond once a mistake is made that is how you define a mentally strong performance. An Olympic Example...
playing pool and Jumping
Popping jumps is an incredibly frustrating habit that many skaters struggle with. They open up in the air, not completing the required rotation on the jump. Almost every skater I work with has experienced this problem in their training. For years I have taught ways to...
Connecting Mind and Body in Training
Has your coach ever told you, “get in the zone”, or “stay in the moment”!? They mean that in order to perform your best you must stay present. From a mental training perspective this means performing from your conscious awareness. The best way...About Me
Hi, I'm Rebekah. I help skaters improve their performance by strengthening their mindset. Please check out my blog, sign up to my mailing list, or follow me on social media for inspiration. Facebook Feed
Benoit, on raising the age of senior ladies...![]()
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"If you asked all the female skaters who have stopped if they would like to continue, I think they would all say yes. We could see very nice senior-level competitions with Elena Radionova, Anna Pogorilaya, Zagitova, Tuktamysheva and Medvedeva and have in juniors Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova and Alena Kostornaia. They could move up to seniors at 17, and then we would see."
Benoît Richaud - A Creative Force – International Figure Skating
www.ifsmagazine.com
French choreographer Benoît Richaud has earned the respect of figure skaters and fans for his innovative and original approach to his craft.
"Watching the skaters perform and then hearing them reflect on the physical and mental training required, was insightful. This is how you learn to be a better athlete."![]()
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Meagan Duhamel![]()
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#madalineschizas
Quieting Distractions: Skaters’ Reflections from Worlds | Rebekah Dixon
rebekahdixon.ca
Watching the skaters perform and then hearing them reflect on the physical and mental training required was insightful. This is how you learn.
"A small quiet space of no thought, just noticing and observing before engaging and attaching to a particular perspective.![]()
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There is peace in that space of noticing our thoughts. We are not in them, believing them and reacting from them. We are just being, as we are, noticing thoughts and our reactions to them."“I am ... noticing my thoughts ...”![]()
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Thoughts have a tendency to hook us, and bring us into the story they are telling. These thoughts are frequently a distraction to the present moment, bringing our attention to a perspective of the past or narrating a future that may or may not be. ![]()
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Our thoughts lead to emotions. They powerfully elicit feelings appropriate to the story’s context, both good and bad.![]()
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Now add that our mind has a negativity bias designed to pick out potential threats in our environment and highlight them. So our thoughts have a natural tendency to be overly negative, despite the expectations for “positive thinking.”![]()
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We cannot control our thoughts. ![]()
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Let me say that again. ![]()
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We can NOT control our thoughts. At least not the first automatic negative thoughts that pop into our heads. On the other hand, we do control our reactions to them.![]()
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You might have noticed that it is very hard to think positively when you are actively engaged with a negative thought. In the process of responding and changing negative to positive, notice that there is a space between negative thinking and positive thinking.![]()
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A small quiet space of no thought, just noticing and observing before engaging and attaching to a particular perspective.![]()
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There is peace in that space of noticing our thoughts. We are not in them, believing them and reacting from them. We are just being, as we are, noticing thoughts and our reactions to them. ![]()
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From that quiet place we can decide if this thought serves us well. Does it move us closer to our desired goal? Or does it move us further away?![]()
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Then decide how we want to respond to it. Engage the thought if it moves us closer, or stay detached and just notice the experience of thinking because the content of the thought does us no good.![]()
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Let me know in the COMMENTS - how would noticing your thoughts improve your performance?![]()
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This mindfulness of thoughts is a psychological skill that can be practiced and developed. I would love to support you with 1:1 coaching at dreddieoconnor.com/telehealth-services/ or in our Success Stories Membership community at dreddieoconnor.com/membership/