Give your athletes the tools to improve their mental health

Athletes are a different breed of human, but they are still human. They deal with the daily stress of school, life, and playing their sport. They have emotions, anxiety, struggle, mental blocks, and self doubt. They can also end up feeling like their identity as an athlete is the only thing that makes them great. Simon Biles stated, “the outpouring of love & support I’ve received has made me realize I’m more than my accomplishments and gymnastics which I never truly believed before.” I think most athletes feel this deep down, and this does not come without feeling pressure from others and from the athletes themselves.

Pressure can take a toll on athletes.

It’s good to have pressure. It pushes athletes to get better. It makes them wake up at 5:00am before school or work to get in a good workout or training session. It makes them go above and beyond to reach their goals. But when pressure gets to be too much, where do athletes turn? College athletes most likely turn to drinking or the party scene. High school athletes turn to being mad at the world and wanting to do things they typically wouldn’t, because they don’t know how to recover. No matter what age the athlete is, if they don’t know how to take breaks to recover or fill their cup back up, it could very well lead to negative physical and mental health consequences.

Young athletes only do what their coaches tell them, because they respect their coaches, want to play, and don’t want to be a burden. This means they often don’t express when they are dealing with pain, injury, or mental health struggle. Knowing when to speak up to a coach is the athlete’s decision. It’s not their parents’ decision, teammates’ decision, or coaches’ decision. Knowing when to speak up and knowing when to push through is a hard thing to juggle, but only the athlete knows their body. No one else does.

However, if athletes never take time to pause and learn how to listen to their own bodies, how will they even know when it’s time to speak up or not? They usually aren’t given the resources to build this type of keen body awareness.

How to encourage taking breaks and building awareness.

This is where yoga, breathwork, and meditation come in. They are recovery tools that give athletes a much needed break from the pressures of life and the gym/court/field. They also allow athletes to learn more about their bodies and minds.

Yoga designed specially for athletes is used to balance out the physical demands…