This Mom and Skater Really Get It!

I recently received a message from a Mom who had attended, with her two daughters, a Mind-Body Performance workshop I facilitated. She shared with me how her daughter has struggled in competition with performing in the long program especially when she has skated well and placed high in the short. The pressure to maintain her position at the top of the pack would affect her so greatly that she would make major jumping errors, like popping, and would feel devastated for how she let herself down. After attending my workshop she started implementing the ideas that I taught her and using relaxation techniques to help her combat her nerves.

Sectionals presented a similar scenario, with her skating well in the short and placing in the top 3. Being a qualifying event the pressure was huge. Her mother relayed that …

“not only did she skate her personal best long program but she won her mental game. She ended up in 5^th and did not qualify for Challenge but she made the team, and more importantly she overcame her biggest problem, compete her best under pressure. She felt good after, even though she realized that all she needed was to rotate the double axel but she realized that the miracle was the fact that she was mentally present in the moment, that she didn’t give up for a second. She was the winner of herself, and I hope this is going to give her confidence for the future”.

 We don’t always shine a light on the fact that training as a Figure Skater builds character and great life skills. This Mom and Skater really get it because they are able to see the big picture, we are not just striving for PEAK ATHLETIC PERFORMANCE but for PEAK LIFE PERFORMANCE.

Sometimes a performance is about so much more than just qualifying for the next competition…

Those moments when we realize all our hard work, both on and off the ice, created the success we experience are the basis from which our confidence grows, showing us that our potential is limitless. When we pay attention to our thoughts and teach our thoughts to work with us we can concur nerves, fear, overwhelm, and all of those other feelings that keep us from achieving our personal best.