35 | The Mindset Behind Cancer Recovery, Injury Prevention, and Mental Health with Beau Whitman

Sep 23, 2020

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Resistant to sharing your vulnerabilities? Then don’t miss out on this groundbreaking interview with Beau Whitman – cancer survivor, coach, and high level athlete – as he opens up about his injury and cancer journey. Tune in as Beau dives into his athletic background and major injuries as an athlete; touching on how his mindset helped him cope with not only his injuries, but his cancer diagnosis as well. Beau unveils the way he reframed vulnerability, shedding a positive light on it, and its importance in connecting him with his community. Lastly, listen as he talks about his struggles with breath and the tools he found to help him mentally realign during panic attacks or flashbacks.

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What You Will Learn in This Interview with Beau Whitman: @beau.whitman

01:25 – Beau’s athletic background and medical history

04:01 – What bringing it back to the “basics” means to Beau

06:15 – Where the drive comes from for Beau to keep training at a high level

08:26 – How the gymnast mindset has influenced Beau in his journey

10:04 – How Beau’s athletic journey and injuries influenced his cancer reaction

17:07 – What vulnerability means to Beau and why it's important in his life and coaching

19:08 – Beau’s shift forward with his short life sentence - His vulnerability with his diagnosis

26:01 – How Beau reframed vulnerability

29:20 – Where Beau is now with his cancer story - His struggles with breath

32:26 – What Beau would do daily to mentally realign - Why pacing himself was so important

About Beau Whitman

Beau is one of seven children. Growing up with two younger brothers and four older sisters – all of whom are supportive, passionate, and wildly competitive athletes – shaped who he as an athlete, coach, trainer, and person. His athletic career began at Parkettes National Gymnastics Training Center where he was a competitive gymnast for ten years. After retiring, he competed as a five-sport varsity athlete in high school, participating in Soccer, Diving, Wrestling, Lacrosse, and Track & Field. With its close ties to Gymnastics, Pole Vaulting captured his heart and led him to join the Lehigh Mountain Hawks Division I Track & Field Team at Lehigh University. After college, he accepted a position at New York University as the Assistant Jumps Coach for the Track & Field Team. Here he uncovered his passion for coaching and helping other athletes.

To augment his coaching abilities, he became a certified trainer and CrossFit coach to further help athletes achieve their goals, compete, and recover from injuries. During his athletic career, he underwent six major reconstructive procedures, giving him the experience necessary to understand the physical endurance and restraint, as well as the positive mentality necessary to successfully recover from an injury. Following the mantra, “Rebuilt To Inspire”, he worked with injured athletes to help them make full recoveries, while motivating them to come back both physically and mentally stronger.

This work and passion for helping recovering athletes has now expanded to cancer survivors. In the summer of 2019, Beau was diagnosed with Stage III Germ Cell Cancer. Immediately...

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To see Beau Whitman's full bio and links, head over to the complete show notes here: https://jen.health/podcast/35

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