With the Olympics finishing last weekend and Winter Olympic athletes competing under the Olympic motto: ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ Latin for “Faster, Higher, Stronger”, in PyeongChen, there have been some magnificent feats and performances, all with their own story of challenge and motivation.

The pressures of training and performing has found athletes utilising their own techniques to look after their own wellbeing and mental health, in addition to their daily training programs. The balance between training, fatigue, normality and performance, is a juggle for any athlete.

Athletes at any level find themselves in a situation where pressure comes from those around them – representing their country, their family or their desire to perform at their best. Maintaining their arousal levels prior to a competition can be challenging, although necessary, to ensure that they are prepared for their competition and ready to race at their best.

Arousal is the body’s alertness and readiness for competition. An athlete can become over aroused (or extremely nervous) or under aroused (and not nervous or prepared at all). Athletes manage these pressures and preparedness for competition in a variety of ways.

I recently read an article, written by Laina Richards, How Olympians Practice Well-Being to Optimize Performance, Take care of yourself like an Olympic athlete, where she outlined some practical activities and tips athletes have to assist in maintaining their wellbeing and arousal levels.

1. Knitting – the Swedish Olympic Team knit to keep the mood light around training and competitions.
2. Creating a culture of unity – the Norwegian Alpine Team create five rules (not related to Skiing) to create unity. The athletes feel the “culture of unity” created by these rules.
3. Visualisation – American doubles Luge star Matt Mortensen says that if he is feeling nervous, he thinks about a waterfall to focus. “It’s always constant, it’s always moving,” he said. “It’s always going to do its thing, no matter what. Nothing’s really going to interrupt it.”
4. Sleep – Mikaela Shiffron is known for her sleep schedule, ensuring she gets nine hours sleep per night. In addition to logging an average of nine hours per night, she “is famous for her naps—she requires an hour a day…”
5. Mindfulness and Meditation – Snowboarder and Olympic gold medallist Jamie Anderson concentrates on “overall wellbeing” for athletic success. This means staying mentally healthy in addition to pursuing physical fitness. Anderson believes in the power of positive energy and meditates frequently. “The more I take care and practice, the better I feel overall.” Anderson “has a meditation ritual before a big run that helps clear her mind.

With the pace of life in the 21^st Century, and ever-present technology that has allowed life and business to operate at lightning speed, taking time to look after your own wellbeing is vital.

Taking time to slow down, reflect and process the days events is a necessary component to our daily routines. The examples outlined in Richards’s article, are well used by our students in School life, including projects such as Knitting for Nepal over winter or accessing the Smiling Mind App.

Many more suggestions can be located on St Catherine’s Student Wellbeing page of the student portal, here.

References

“What is the Olympic motto?”. International Olympic Committee. 2013. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2014.