Gratitude: An Anti-dote for Psychological Suffering
By: Kate Bennett, PsyD
I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on the Unit3d podcast during which I discussed my personal and professional practice of gratitude. Science continuously reports that the practice of gratitude has a positive impact on our physical and psychological health. Furthermore, as a clinical sport psychologist, I know that gratitude can be a gamechanger for performance.
A large aspect of sport involves physical and psychological suffering. Physical suffering includes pushing through hard workouts when everything in the body tells an athlete to let-up or stop all-together. (Note: I make it clear that athletes should never confuse warning pain - physical pain or injury - as something to push through.) Psychological suffering shows up at some point in a workout or competition, when an athlete (consciously or subconsciously) knows that slowing down or easing up will instantly make the suffering go away. Learning to master this moment of psychological suffering improves resilience, confidence and performance.
One of my very favorite skills to teach is psychological suffering. More clearly, developing mental skills to push through the toughest workouts and most critical moments of a competition when our minds have the ability to push through physical discomfort or ease-up. The instant gratification of easing-up leads to an end of suffering but often results in regret and disappointment later.
Gratitude is a key to psychological suffering. A grateful heart is a willing heart. When athletes can tap into true, authentic gratitude, they find an increased capacity to suffer. Authentic gratitude means being connected to one’s heart - truly finding a sense of appreciation for a person, resource, opportunity, or situation that has allowed them to make it this far in their life and athletic career.
Take a moment to identify three items of heartfelt gratitude right now. Think about how you might be able to draw on this list during your next intense workout or competition. How might this list increase your willingness to suffer when it hurts the most?
Follow this link to listen to the Unit3d podcast to learn more about my thoughts on gratitude.
Click this link to listen to my guided gratitude meditation.
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