The Mindful Fit Pro Podcast

In this episode, Shelly shares how your role as a fitness professional goes beyond supporting physical health and the importance of mental health awareness and education.

1 in 5 individuals experience a mental illness (SAMHSA, 2021), so why isn't it as common for fitness professionals to be certified in Mental Health First Aid as they are CPR?

Listen to this episode of The Mindful Fit Pro Podcast, to learn how you can make a bigger impact in the lives of your clients by supporting their mental health.

RESOURCES:

Download your own copy of the ✨ FREE ✨ Mental Health Resource Guide for Fitness Professionals here: https://tinyurl.com/3wcddsfb

Check out upcoming Mental Health First Aid training offered by The Mindful Fit Pro LLC: www.mindfulfitpro.com/mental-health-first-aid

Learn more about the international evidence-based program Mental Health First Aid: www.mentalhealthfirstaid.org

REFERENCES:

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (HHS Publication No. PEP21-07-01-003, NSDUH Series H-56). Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/

In this guided practice, Shelly leads you through a body scan meditation designed to help you connect with your body when you're feeling anxious. The body scan meditation is a practice that involves intentionally bringing attention to each part of your body and cultivating a sense of presence and awareness of how you are doing right here, right now.

As Shelly guides you through the meditation, you're invited to focus your attention on specific parts of your body, such as your feet, legs, arms, and face. With each area of the body, you're encouraged to notice sensations, or lack thereof, without judgment or analysis. Simply be present with whatever you feel.

This guided meditation can be helpful for anyone looking to shift from the anxious thoughts running through their head and tap into a felt sense within the body. It can be done in a seated or lying down position and is suitable for beginners or experienced meditators alike.

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If you are experiencing worry, doubts, or symptoms of anxiety that are interfering with the quality of your day to day, affecting your performance at work, or overall feel like they're getting to be too much, I want you to know help is available. I encourage you to reach out to a friend for support and consider seeking additional support from a mental health professional as well.

For a list of mental health resources accessible in your area, click on the link below.

https://tinyurl.com/4xdxryzu

Entering your email using that link will send you a .pdf that contains a regularly updated list of national organizations, local support groups, and other services you can search for with your zip code.

In this Mindful Fit Pro podcast episode, Shelly discusses performance anxiety and how sometimes even talented professional athletes can "choke under pressure" and perform poorly when under stress. As instructors and personal trainers, you might loose sleep worrying about an upcoming class and get more than just the Sunday scaries before opening the studio early Monday morning. Fortunately, we can look to sports psychology and see how athletes learn to cope with performance anxiety before the big game. In this episode, Shelly shares four things you can do to ease pre-class jitters and cope with any nerves related to teaching as fitness professional.

Mentioned in this episode is research by psychologist Allison Brooks, you can learn more about their research here: https://psycnet.apa.org/doiLanding?doi=10.1037%2Fa0035325

The four tips outlined in this episode are not meant to replace professional medical treatment. If you are experiencing worry, doubts, or symptoms of anxiety that are interfering with the quality of your day to day, affecting your performance at work, or overall feel like they're getting to be too much, I want you to know help is available. I encourage you to reach out to a friend for support and consider seeking additional support from a mental health professional as well.

For a list of mental health resources accessible in your area, click on the link below.

https://tinyurl.com/4xdxryzu

Entering your email using that link will send you a .pdf that contains a regularly updated list of national organizations, local support groups, and other services you can search for with your zip code.

✨ Get exclusive meditations and more mindfulness tips when you sign up for The Mindful Fit Pro emails: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62840ce1908f99063e7e56ae

Episode 1: “What is mindfulness?”

In this episode, Shelly explores a common definition of mindfulness and leads you through a brief guided mindfulness meditation to help bring this definition to life.

✨Guided practice begins at 4.48✨

Adding mindfulness exercises to your classes and personal training sessions can help your client’s stay present and focused on their workouts. Get inspired to teach something more than just another sweat session by downloading your own copy of the Essential Guide to Mindfulness for Fitness Professionals. 

This FREE Ebook further explores how you can bring mindfulness to your teaching and includes take-away practices you can start teaching immediately.

Download your own copy of the free EBook here: https://tinyurl.com/y4ujdcyc

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To learn more about the topics covered in this episode, see the linked resources below.

The practice of mindfulness dates back several thousands of years, with its roots in Buddhist teachings. To learn more about Buddhism, read https://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh308_Bodhi_Noble-Eightfold-Path.pdf or use Wikipedia as a stepping stone to further explore the origins of mindfulness, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path

One of the most widely used definitions of mindfulness comes from researcher and Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) creator Jon Kabat-Zinn. To learn more about the MBSR and related programs visit: https://www.mindfulnesscds.com/ 

To explore some of the latest research on mindfulness, search "mindfulness" on Google Scholar:  https://scholar.google.com/

✨Get exclusive meditations and more mindfulness tips when you sign up for The Mindful Fit Pro emails: https://view.flodesk.com/pages/62840ce1908f99063e7e56ae

Announcing the Mindful Fit Pro podcast! Hosted by Shelly, the face behind Mindful Fit Pro.

If you are a fitness professional, this podcast is for you! Mindful Fit Pro is THE place for learning how to embrace your role as a fitness leader.

Mindful FitPro stands at the intersection of physical and mental fitness, bringing you all things mindfulness, mental health, and the latest in psychological research.

To learn more about Mindful Fit Pro, please visit www.mindfulfitpro.com