Have you wondered why you say negative things to yourself in high-pressure or pivotal moments in your sport?
This is called self-talk – and every athlete does it. Everyone at one time or another has experienced negative self-talk. It can range from “I’m not good enough” to “coach never puts me in the game” to “my legs are trashed right now” to “I’m no good at running hills”. Self-talk is the combination of the words we internally speak to ourselves and the feeling tone associated with those words. For example, you might think “I’m so good!” but if it’s influenced by sarcasm, then indeed the literal message of “I’m so good” is lost.
In modern day sport psychology, we combat negative self-talk by having athletes reframe the negative self-talk, or replace it with neutral or even positive messages. This intervention is impactful in the moment in training and competition because it can distract an athlete from a tendency toward negative self-talk.
But where is the self-talk coming from? As a depth clinician, I contend that self-talk arises from the unconscious. Most specifically, the self. The self is the archetype of wholeness and it has this really pesky, but impactful, way of pushing us to become who we are meant to become. In competition and training, however, we don’t have the time or resources necessary to be in a dialectical relationship with the self. So, we need to do this work outside of training.
That’s what this workshop is about. It’s about getting curious about your self-talk and as a result, developing a more mature and compassionate relationship to it. When we do this type of work, things can transform, which can help us extinguish the anxiety and worry we have when it comes to performance. If we are familiar with our negative self-talk’s purpose, origin, and complexities, it can take the whammy out of it when it arises. We can meet it with respect, give it space, and listen to it without being hijacked in an emotionally dysregulated way.
Please join us on Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at 6:30 at PR Sports Labs in Boulder for this free one hour workshop. Light refreshments will be served. Please bring a writing utensil, a notebook, and some items to color with.
Please RSVP at the EVITE here
