Mindset Matters
Mindset matters when you're trying to optimize resilience and performance.
It can make or break your day-to-day experiences, and shape your overall experience of life.
Dr. Kate loves to talk about mindset because IT IS FREE MEDICINE. It has no side effects, it's freely available to everyone to use, and best of all, it really works to help folks feel better.
Theresa Giunta is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant and Co-Owner of Summit Performance Consulting, LLC. Theresa works as a mental performance coach, inspiring and empowering individuals to unlock their true potential and become limitless in their performance by mastering their mindsets. She uses mindset every day to help her clients perform.
In this free workshop, we cover the following:
Cleanse Your Mindset, Find Your Flow with Theresa and Dr. Kate
0:00 Introductions
2:15 What is Flow?
5:40 Mini-Meditation: Remember Your Flow 3 minutes
8:45 Tools for Resiliency
9:45 Types of Stress (Helpful vs. Hurtful)
14:20 Space is Grace: Response vs. Reaction
16:00 Challenge Mindset
17:18 Dealing with Hard Situations You Can't Change
19:30 How to Stop Shaming Yourself for Your Stress
20:30 Finding Your Why
27:53 Cleansing Your Mindset
30:00 Cleaning Your Self Talk
38:00 Acknowledge, Accept, Take Action
Follow Along and Complete the Free Worksheet
Or, read along below and write the answers down in your own journal.
Exercises to Find Your Flow
Think back to a time where you completely lost track of time and space doing something you loved. That was flow! You can use the 3 minute meditation above to fully inhabit that memory.
The great part about memory and imagery is that they're free and you can use them anytime. Not near your favorite park? That's okay. You can get the benefits of the flow you normally feel during your walks there by remembering and visualizing times you've done this in the past. You can call upon this type of imagery anytime you need to add more flow, space, peace or calm to your life. You can also use it to help you calm your nerves before you have to go into a high-intensity situation.
Find Your Flow Journal Prompt
When was the last time you were so fully in the moment doing something you love that you lost track of space and time?
What were you doing?
Where were you?
What did you see?
What did you smell?
What did you feel?
What did you hear?
How did you feel during this time? Name at least 3 feelings / emotions.
The feelings that this memory brings up may be your anchor in moments of ungroundedness (i.e. happy, calm, kind). Develop a quick phrase that summarizes this feeling so you can use this in the future.
My anchor phrase is:
Space is Grace
Use the anchor phrase you developed from the exercise above to create space between a stressor and your response.
Think of a situation that commonly triggers stress for you. How you could you use the space is grace method in your response? How might things look different if you did this?
(Example: Something happens that upsets you. Take a breath and use your flow mantra "Kind, Happy, Calm" or "Peaceful, Bliss, Warm" or “Breathe” to create a few seconds of space between your response to the stress and your experience of it.)
Exercises to Cleanse Your Mindset of Toxic Thoughts
ACKNOWLEDGE your thought / assumption
Ask, is that helpful or hurtful?
Whichever it is, ACCEPT it, don’t avoid it. For example, if you’re having a “hurtful thought, instead of feeding into it , say “I hear you, but I am choosing to move on.”
Take ACTION by reframing your thoughts to helpful phrase
Change your thoughts to a more helpful or productive phrase. (Example, instead of "I'm not good enough", change this to "I am capable"). If you're struggling with coming up with helpful thoughts, start with some thoughts that you know are true. (i.e. I care about my job. I care about others. Helping others is important to me. Being a good parent is important to me. I care about my kids, etc.)
Convert to a Challenge Mindset
A challenge mindset is one where we choose to see opportunity in obstacles that we face each day. Consider this simple mindset shift when faced with an obstacle: “this is happening to me” versus “this is happening for me,” meaning for you to have an opportunity to grow. To develop a challenge mindset, follow the prompts below:
Where do things feel out of control or stressful in your life?
What types of challenges are those situations presenting to you?
What is the opportunity in that challenge presented to you?
How can you reword the way you talk about these challenges to indicate that you are a powerful person taking action? (see examples below)
Challenge (Obstacle) Opportunity
(Example: My house needs redecorating and reorganizing but you don’t have a big budget to fix it. Flip this instead to, "This allows me the opportunity to be fun and creative with inexpensive solutions for redesigning myspace in a way that works for me and my family.")
(Example: I can’t get back into shape because I have a nagging injury. Flip this to, "I can focus on other areas to build strength (physically, mentally, emotionally.")
On a deep level, the first phrase empowers you and gives your nervous system a problem it feels it can fix. The second statement is disempowering and leaves you in fight / flight / immobilization. This isn't good for your body and it doesn't help you fix the problem. Choose a challenge mindset and notice how much easier it is to face and embrace solving problems.)
Exercises to Find Your Why
Understanding why you do what you do (athletically, professionally, personally, and so on) is way more valuable than understanding what you do or even how you do it. Because, when you are connected to your WHY, you are connected to your values, and your overall purpose. Your purpose is your strongest source of motivation.
To discover your why:
Ask yourself, why do I do this? (i.e. waking up at 6 every morning, running every day, having a daily routine, working a job that causes stress) and write down your answer
Then, look at your answer and ask yourself, why is this important to me?
Using that second answer, again, ask yourself, why is this important to me? ( You can repeat this 2-3 more times)
When you’re done, your response will reveal a purpose based on your core values, revealing your deepest motivations and you can create a purpose statement to use whenever you need it.
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Theresa Giunta is Mental Performance Consultant and a former 2X All American Lacrosse Player from West Chester University, Theresa understands the need for mental toughness and grit to reach the next level of performance. Theresa has worked with clients who want to achieve their best, ranging from National Team Athletes, Division I, II & III collegiate programs, youth athletes, business professionals and entrepreneurs. With the combination of her education and experience, and energy and passion working with individuals and teams, Theresa is able to connect and assist clients in their specific needs for optimal performance. Her certifications include Certified Mental Performance Consultant from AASP; Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and degrees include Bachelors in Psychology from West Chester University; Masters in Kinesiology, the Psychology of Human Movement, Temple University. Learn more about Theresa at http://summitsportpsychs.com/
Dr. Kate Henry is a naturopathic physician with advanced training in mind body medicine and functional psychiatry. Her study of nutrition, botanicals, and lifestyle medicine has enabled her to offer unique expertise and out-of-the-box solutions for chronic and stubborn health issues, including Hashimoto's hypothyroidism, menopause and hormone issues, depression, anxiety, PTSD and more. It is Dr. Kate's greatest joy to help others feel fully alive and healthy in their bodies, souls, and relationships. You can learn more about her at https://www.DoctorKateHenry.com
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