College athletics should replace one workout per week with this…

Yes, you heard me right. Imagine college athletics if we got rid of one training session a week or shortened it by one hour and replaced it with mental fitness training… Imagine how things could be different if the student athletes had someone coaching them on tools and skills to stay mentally strong and healthy.

Imagine what it would look like if their bodies got a small break and instead they got to share what was going on in their heads…the result would be astounding. These kids would feel less alone because the truth is they’re all experiencing similar things through different lenses, but so many athletes feel alone.

Imagine if we could teach them the score of the game, their placement on the roster, the words their coach says to them, the words their teammates say to them, their grades… None of these things are what cause them to feel badly… or good for that matter. These things do not have the power to make them feel anything.  These are just the circumstances of their lives. 

What if we could teach them that they have way more power in their lives than they realize? They have the power to feel good, confident and happy, regardless of these circumstances.  What if we taught them that it’s ok to feel badly, frustrated, sad, angry or overwhelmed?  Sometimes you want to feel like crap after a bad game.  That’s normal and even helpful… when you realize why you're truly feeling this way.

What if we could show them how to allow themselves to feel badly about something and then not stay in that place and sit in that feeling and apply it to other things?   But if they learned that they could feel badly about a game and then put it behind them and not carry those thoughts with them onto the field at the next practice or the next game or into a conversation with their roommate?  What if we gave them that power?!

What if someone was teaching these kids that they are not their results on a field.  They are not the thoughts in their head.  What if someone told them every week that they are worthy regardless of the score or their performance?

What if we taught them tools to manage all the feelings they have going on inside them? What if we told them it was not only OK, but that it was expected to have many good and negative  feelings  every single day? What if we told them that there’s not one feeling that is too difficult for them? 

What if they learn that it is so powerful to recognize how you’re feeling and question it.  It is so powerful to pay attention to the thoughts swirling in your head.

What if they learned that they can tip the scale from anxiety,  stress, and overwhelm to calm, confident and content by paying attention to the thoughts going on in their head?

If they spent one hour a week learning these tools, getting coached on these tools, listening to their peers working through these tools, we could change their college experiences. We could change their performance on the field, but most importantly we could change what’s happening inside their hearts, and in their minds.  We could change their lives for the better.

Imagine if we replaced just one of their workouts or even a part of one FOR THIS.