Executive Summary

Cold plunging, or deliberate cold-water immersion, has become increasingly popular among athletes and high- performance professionals for its physical recovery benefits. However, its potential as a mental training tool to promote intentional focus and build resilience is now receiving attention as well. Recent neuroscience research indicates that cold exposure activates stress response mechanisms, providing an opportunity for your mind and body to develop mental endurance under controlled stress. More specifically, cold exposure stimulates the vagus nerve, which results in the release of key neurotransmitters that help strengthen the neural pathways underlying focus and resilience (Jungmann et al., 2018; Miksi, 2024; Shetty, 2024). This paper presents information on how cold exposure ca...

Exciting opportunities. An unpainted script. A new start.  Whether it be this transition into the winter sport season or any other time of the year, the dawning of a new season brings a plethora of excitement, anticipation…and nerves, particularly for tryout week.  Whether a team or organization is cut or no-cut, the first week of practice means that athletes  will receive a decision at the end of the week based on performance and evaluation of coaches.  All athletes strive to be their best during tryout week, yet internal expectations, the pressure of being watched/judged, and fear of the worst often prevent them to.  It doesn’t matter whether an athlete is a returning star or a bubble player trying to make the roster, harnessing the mental side of sport can help an athlete be th...

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Sport Psychology can help an athlete transcend from good to great in both sport and life for a lifetime, but it doesn’t take a lifetime for an athlete to use the skills learned from sport psychology to improve.  In fact, many athletes notice a difference after just a few sessions.  The before-and-after portraits of sport psychology success stories can conjure the perception that these mental skills apply only to performances years down the road.  Quite the opposite is true.  While athletes have goals in the near and distant term, sport psychology sessions target tangible skills that athletes are encouraged to rehearse quickly, often as soon as the next practice, to improve performance.  The accumulation of these skills can indeed take time, but the objective of each session, and each skill, is to elevate performance and mental wellness in the here and now.

Charting the Course Read Full Article