Simone Biles stunned the world when she withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics, and now the gymnast is sharing her mental health journey in a new Netflix docuseries.
“I knew it would be a long journey, but to me it wasn’t done,” Biles said in a trailer for the series, which premieres on July 17, just one week before her Olympic return at the 2024 Olympics in Paris.
“This return back to the Olympic level is really an intersection of where mental health and this idea of mental fitness cross, said Dylan Panuska, a clinical psychologist at Endeavor Health.
Panuska said mental fitness is a key component for Olympic athletes.
“Mental fitness is their ability to use coping skills and regulate in the face of high stress situations,” Panuska said.
Top athletes train physically and mentally and Panuska shared four ways we can all boost our mental fitness, whether we’re playing a sport for fun or working on our on the job performance.
“This idea of mental fitness and focusing like an Olympian has a lot to do with setting your mindset,” Panuska said.
MINDFULNESS — Panuska said mindfulness is the foundation. “There’s a fair amount of truth to the idea that we don’t have much control over what pops in our head. But we do and we can gain the ability to manage what shows up in our head,” Panuska said.
VISUALIZATION AND MENTAL IMAGERY – “Visualizing it shares a lot of the same neuro-physiological processes as actually doing it. And so, to the brain, it’s like you’ve already done it. And then when you’re in the moment, it’s much smoother and cleaner. I find it to be one of the most underutilized strategies that I’ll just everyday people can use,” Panuska said.
REGULATE YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM – How? With deep breathing, including a technique called extended breathing. “If you extend your exhalation of your breath, that actually engages your parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for bringing your stress state down. So if you just extend that a little bit longer than your inhale, that will help get you back here like peak performance,” Panuska said.
REPETITION MIXED WITH CUE WORDS – You’ve likely heard the phrase, “practice makes perfect.” Panuska said mixing in cue words while practicing helps you reset your brain. “The cue words, serve as sort of like a reset button, kind of snaps you back to your value and what’s important moving forward.” He recommends you pick the words based on your personal values. “I’ve had somebody use the phrasing, “What’s the point?” And to them, that helped kind of break their negative thinking,” Panuska said.
While most of us aren’t going for gold like Simone Biles, these tips can help us get mentally fit to reach our goals, experts say.