Jess Gumkowski: The Awake Athlete Mindset – On Thoughts, Ego, Emotions, Karma, Mastery and Much More

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We are excited to welcome back Jess Gumkowski to the show, with a profoundly impactful conversation exploring what it is to live as an Awake Athlete. Jess is head yogi, wellness coach and podcaster over at YogiTriathelte along with her husband BJ, and has years of experience in endurance sports, meditation, yoga, teaching and much more. She authored the book, Awake Athlete: When Mastery Is Your Only Option, which was published in 2023 and is part memoir part guide through life, its struggles and its beauty.

On this episode, Tawnee and Jess take a deep dive on several related topics, though this does not make up or substitute the rich content found in her book.

Our Brain & Meditation

• Thoughts, and their relationship to the brain;
• Monkey mind
• Chimp vs professor brain (a la Dr. Simon Marshall)
• Limbic (instinctive), prefrontal cortex (conscious), and neocortex (unconscious) brain
• Why there’s no substitute for sitting in silence
• Walking meditations, etc, have their place but not the same as quiet, stillness in a sitting meditation
• Helpful tips for when you’re down on your pace, performance, training, etc
• Using MAF training as an example here
• Visualization and imagining the athlete you want to be
• Being present and at peace with what is

Ego Is Not the Enemy

• How to direct it from a small and limiting reality to assisting in positive change 
• Identity: ego and identity also go hand in hand, how to have a healthy approach to this
• Leverage your ego toward your performance goals and away from the pain and suffering and fear that ego and cause us
• Considering our identity as an athlete

Karma & Mistakes

• Fulfilling our personal karma, the good and the bad
• Everything is here to help you (also a book by Matt Kahn that is titled the same)
• Finding the lessons and gifts in EVERYTHING

Emoting and Feelings

• Clinging to joy
• Clinging to really anything and why this does not serve our wellbeing
• Things like nostalgia and the familiar make us feel good so we gravitate toward that
• Moving away from reactionary emotions, and toward more calm temperament
• The Ho’Oponopono prayer to make things right

And much more!