RELAXED PERFORMANCE FOR STRESSED PROFESSIONALS

The Physical Practice of Mental Fitness



The ability to relax is a super power.  To remain clear, composed, and present when stress arises and pressure builds.  The bigger the moment the greater the stress.  The world’s top performers have the ability to remain focused and present when the going gets tough.  This is part of their greatness.    

The ability to relax is great for your health, experience, and performance.  Chronic stress is one of the biggest threats to our health leading to hypertension, chronic fatigue, anxious states, burnout, the list goes on.  It will also suck the joy out of any pursuit and cause us unlimited suffering.  The most surprising thing, however, is that it will negatively impact our performance in just about anything.  If you’ve pushed yourself in any aspect then you know the feeling.  Racing through a presentation.  Mishitting the ball.  Clenching your jaw after a stressful day.  Disrupted digestion.  Inability to sit still.  The negative impacts are endless.  

The good news is, the ability to perform in a relaxed way is a trainable skill.  Just like we can train our physique we can also train our state of being.  The state of relaxation is not the absence of action.  It’s possible to be relaxed and powerful.  Relaxed and strong.  Relaxed and focused.  You get the point.  On the flip side it’s possible to be anxious on the couch.  


The more we can take care of our system the more stress we can handle and the bigger the stage we can step on to.  It’s not about being calm all the time.  It’s about building the capacity to feel nervous without the nerves taking us over.  To feel afraid without getting frozen.  It’s about the capacity to feel the discomforts of high level performance without having to lose ourselves or our health in the process. 



WHAT

This is a physical practice.

There is a growing recognition that so much of our mental state depends on what is going on in the body.  As an osteopath I’m trained to understand these physical systems.  As a former athlete I understand the pressures of performance.  The athlete in me loves the coaching model.  I love building skills as opposed to treating weaknesses.  So I bring my knowledge of the body to a physical practice of building the skill of relaxed performance.  



WHERE

I work over zoom.  

For all the limitations that this poses of not being in 3D in person the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. 

-It’s a more intimate and safe space than say a gym or a clinic.  

-It’s more convenient and efficient with time

-It allows me to work with people that don’t live in the same region



HOW

As I said above, this is a physical practice.  We work a lot with the nervous system which is how you experience your body.  In simple terms we’re focused on how you feel more than how you look.  Although we work with the body in order to get there.  This is not a psychologically based approach even though we are focused on states of the mind-body.  Like any trainable skill, relaxed performance requires reps and intelligent progression.  




WHO

This approach has proven to work well with high stress professionals.  Often this relates to people in service to others.  Working in stressful environments.  Experiencing a lot of stress around their performance.  Some examples below:

-lawyers

-therapists

-entrepreneurs

-athletes

-parents

-executives

-and just about anyone who experiences uncomfortable mental states around their performance






THIS MIGHT BE A FIT IF:

  • You’re ambitious and hard-working, but also health conscious

  • You want to achieve great things but also want to feel well in the process

  • You’re tired of the grind-crash cycle

  • You want a body-mind approach

  • You’re able to practice a patient slow approach



NOT A FIT IF…

  • you’re looking for hypertrophy (wanting to get bigger)

  • your primary goals are appearance based

  • looking for high intensity/ high stimulation exercise (go to Barry’s or F45. they do this better)