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9/3/2022 0 Comments

Figure Skating Mental Training and Developing Positive Self-Talk

The Role of the Cognitive Triangle in Figure Skating Self-Talk

PictureSolo dancer performing a twizzle

The Cognitive Triangle is the foundation of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and is used to treat many mental health issues.  It is well-researched and documented and very widely applied to performance related therapies, and as such, is particularly relevant in sports psychology and figure skating performance.

Basically, the cognitive triangle diagrams the relationship between our thoughts, feelings, and actions. We have a thought or a belief, which produces a feeling, which leads to anaction or a habit. Then that action or habit produces additional feelings and thoughts, thus continuing the cognitive cycle.

In my last blog post I discussed how the Cognitive Triangle  is key to our ability to control our actions, our reactions to our environment, and ultimately to our happiness.

I am not a therapist or licensed social worker, even though I sometimes wish I were.  When I was a young coach, I felt completely unprepared to guide my skaters through the negative thought cycles that often sabotaged their goals and happiness. All I had to advise  them with was my sincere emotional investment in their well-being coupled with my own ADHD and anxiety fueled overdrive.

Later, after many years of personal therapy and study, I became aware of what I called the Positive Thought Cycle and began applying it to my own life. It didn’t take long for me to appreciate the ability we have as humans to intervene in our own thought processes in order to change our behaviors.


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    Author // the skating yogi

    My name is Sarah Neal. I have been immersed in the world of figure skating for over four decades. I have seen firsthand the abuse that happens at the higher levels of our sport and experienced how that trickles down into unhealthy training practices and habits at the lower levels. I have seen this play out in the operations of the very institutions that control our sport.  Whether for a profession or hobby, pursuing skating should be a joyful, rewarding process. It should be an opportunity for athletic and personal growth and for building lasting friendships. With this in mind and following the 8 limbs of yoga, I use movement, breathwork, meditation, self-reflection, and community to help skating folks transform their outlook and relationship with skating. I help them learn to ditch comparisons and connect with their true selves and new possibilities.  I also educate skating folks on building and nurturing a safer, more supportive skating community while continuing to develop skaters as authentic humans.  I don't have all the solutions figured out, but I know what is kind and what feels right in my heart, and I know that yoga can change people because it changed me. 

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