your life can lead to emoti onal imbalance. Remember that you are number one. Taking care of yourself fi rst will help you be bett er in any aspect of your life, from your job, to your family, to your friendships. Stress is a major off ender of the


maintenance of emoti onal balance. many studies show the long-term eff ects that stress has on our health. Stress and emoti ons aff ect chemicals in our body, called neurotransmitt ers. Dopamine, which is heavily involved in the reward center of the brain, decreases with stress and poor


FINDING BALANCE Amongst everything we have to do in a


day, it can be hard to fi nd the ti me to connect with yourself. However, that can be the most important thing in taking your coaching and your athletes’ training to the next level. Finding the ti me can be challenging, so schedule it. Make sure it is uninterrupted. If it is your athletes, you can schedule ti me into their training plan. make leisure ti me a priority. Do things


sleep. Norepinephrine, which


is an excitatory neurotransmitt er, also decreases with stress. Interesti ngly enough, it increases with exercise. Serotonin, of which a lack of is well linked to anxiety disorders and depression,


increases with


exercise. Generally speaking, the levels of our “feel good” neurotransmitt ers decrease with stress and increase with exercise. In additi on, a well known hormone that is released in response to stress, corti sol, is found to be present in high levels in roughly half of individuals who are clinically depressed. That number is a litt le too high to say “coincidence.”


that help you relax and feel good, such as taking a walk, meditati ng, taking a bath or reading a book. Spend ti me with close friends and family to develop a strong social support system. The most important thing is that you spend ti me relaxing — not adding more stressors into your life. Taking care of yourself will help you or your athlete feel more energized and fulfi lled and therefore, be able to give more fully of yourself to others. We know how important the mind-body


connecti on is in our training and racing. It is also that important in our everyday life. A negati ve atti tude can manifest itself in the body in a number of diff erent ways, from back pain to high blood pressure to a stomach ulcer. Try not to obsess about


negati ve situati ons or problems in your life; instead focus on the positi ve. If your head is in a good place, your body will follow. If you or your athletes struggle with negati ve self- talk, try this: anyti me you have a negati ve thought about yourself or a situati on, think of one thing that is positi ve with regards to them same situati on. This will help to exemplify the upside of every circumstance that is seemingly negati ve. understand this: being emoti onally


balanced does not mean that you are happy 100 percent of the ti me. It simply means just that: you are emoti onally balanced. No one is happy all of the ti me. But it means that you are able to deal with life’s ups and downs and not stay down for too long. Emoti onally balanced individuals have a high level of resilience that helps them bounce back from tough ti mes. They are in control of their emoti ons and don’t let them run their lives. you have power over your emoti ons; your emoti ons don’t have power over you.


Rebecca Kurtz is a coach with Carmichael Training Systems. She is a USA Triathlon Level I Certi fi ed Coach, and works with triathletes, swimmers, cyclists and runners of all levels. She can be contacted at rkurtz@trainright.com.


In fi nding balance, leisure should be a priority. Spend ti me relaxing or spending ti me with your friends and family to develop a strong social support system.


page 18 | PERFORMANCECOACHING


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