Untangle

Optimize Mental Health, Flow and Sports Performance. With Dr. Alex Auerbach

Mar 12, 2024

Dr. Alex Auerbach, Sports Psychologist for the Toronto Raptors, talks about using mindfulness and ACT to optimize athlete performance and mental health. He discusses the benefits of mindfulness, acceptance therapy, and flow state for athletes, emphasizing self-awareness and emotional regulation. The podcast explores the intersection of mental health and sports performance, the role of ACT and mindfulness, and enhancing performance through mental techniques and reframing performance anxiety.

46:23

Episode guests

Alex Auerbach

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Mindfulness and ACT enhance athlete's mental health and performance.

Self-awareness and emotional regulation are key for athlete well-being.

Spiritual practices promote holistic well-being and connection to higher purpose for athletes.

Deep dives

Understanding the Role of Mindfulness and ACT in Sports Psychology

Exploring the interview with Dr. Alex Auerbach, a sports psychologist, revealed the significance of mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) in enhancing athletes' performance and mental health. Dr. Auerbach highlighted the benefits of self-awareness, emotional regulation, and grounding difficult feelings to optimize performance and achieve the flow state. Mindfulness was shown to aid in stress management and resilience for athletes and individuals.

Introduction

3min

Exploring the Intersection of Mental Health and Sports Performance

17min

Exploring Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Mindfulness

5min

Enhancing Athletic Performance Through Mental Techniques

15min

Exploring the Beneficial Aspects of Performance Anxiety in Public Speaking and Sports

2min

Exploring the Benefits of Mindfulness and Meditation for Coaches and Staff

3min

Dr. Alex Auerbach is a Sports Psychologist and Director of Wellness and Development for the basketball team, Toronto Raptors. Before working with the Raptors, he was the Director of Clinical and Sports Psychology for the University of Arizona. He’s a huge fan of Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy —also called ACT — for optimizing both the performance and mental health of athletes. He works with athletes on self-awareness, and emotional regulation and helps them understand and even name and ground their often difficult feelings. Mindfulness is a core pillar in all his work.

He shares some of the great research that’s been done suggesting that mindfulness can lead to optimal performance and, possibly, to the all-important flow state. There are so many stressors in the life of a professional athlete — and these tools are a great way to help manage stress and tension as well as being more resilient to the ups and downs that are a natural part of life.

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Untangle

Optimize Mental Health, Flow and Sports Performance. With Dr. Alex Auerbach

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Understanding the Role of Mindfulness and ACT in Sports Psychology

Managing Mental Health and Performance for Athletes

The Intersection of Spiritual Literacy and Sports Psychology

Enhancing Performance Through Mindfulness and Flow State for Athletes

Navigating Autopilot and Performance Anxiety in Sports

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts