“You want to improve as an athlete and that is great. You can’t think of your mental health of being an isolated thing that isn’t going to improve your performance.” – Jennifer Schmidt
Jennifer Schmidt helps active people navigate their mental health challenges towards wellness. She is a Recreation Therapist and Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, taking athletes mental health beyond exercise.
We talk about:
- Flight or Flight vs Rest & Digest
- Biological responses to stress
- Getting to the root causes of anxiety and depression
- Cold exposure
- Identity in sport
- Light, laughter, journaling, energy levels and more!
Thanks also to LMNT for sponsoring this video! Visit DrinkLMNT.com/FLO to get your free LMNT sample pack with any purchase.
Hope you enjoy this episode with Jennifer Schmidt.
Watch this full interview on YouTube.
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Find out more about Jennifer here:
Links & Tools mentioned:
Show Notes:
- 00:00 intro
- 03:06 welcome Jennifer! Getting into mental health coaching for athletes.
- 05:15 mental health starts in the body
- 06:54 recognizing mental health issues in athletes
- 10:56 getting to the root causes of stress responses, looking at biology
- 16:02 anxiety and depression as symptoms, not isolated states
- 17:01 practical ways to manage anxiety in the moment
- 20:29 inflammation with anxiety and depression
- 22:31 nail the basics, then get to the “fancy” stuff
- 23:47 stress of busy schedules and talking about our emotions
- 28:47 potential benefits of cold exposure
- 36:29 light and mood, circadian rhythms, SAD lamps
- 40:57 injury and identity with sport
- 44:04 journaling, stream of consciousness writing and gratitude
- 47:39 laughter is the best medicine!
- 53:48 transformational journeys for athletes
- 58:22 holistic approach to training and health
- 1:00:22 mental health after racing, finding that dopamine hit!
- 1:03:03 find out more about Jennifer
- 1:04:32 closing thoughts
- 1:05:34 outro
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What was your favorite lesson, takeaway or quote from this episode? Please let me know in the YouTube comments.
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