Check Your Baggage at the Boards

Wouldn’t it be great if you could step on the ice with a clear mind to practice each day?  If you could just wipe the slate clean from yesterday’s mistakes, today’s insecurity and tomorrow’s ‘what ifs’? In order to practice in the moment you need to let go of the past and future.  A thought to help with this process is to ‘check your baggage at the boards’.  Simply put….each day step on the ice with a clear mind, leaving whatever happened during your last practice, your last competition, or in your life before you came to the rink today at the boards.

Remember, each practice is a new opportunity to learn, grow and transform into the athlete you are meant to be!

2 Steps to Help You Check Your Baggage at the Boards

1. Acknowledge What You Are Feeling

Whether it is fear, anger, sadness…once you acknowledge what it is you are carrying you bring it from your unconscious mind (controlling you without being aware) into the conscious mind (awareness). You start to take back control, take back your power. At this point, you can choose to think/feel differently.

 2. Positive Self-Talk

You can use positive self-talk to help talk yourself down when you feel your emotions starting to elevate.  Deep breathing, in through the nose and out the mouth is also a great way to calm the body.  Putting the two techniques together, using positive self-affirmations on the exhale of the breath makes it even more effective. For example, on the exhale say ‘let it go’, out loud or in your head. 

The goal is to make each practice a positive, productive and purpose-driven experience.