Mental Health for Athletes Yoga and Meditation Class Series
This class is part of a series of six yoga and meditation classes that are designed for athletes with a special focus on mental health.
The classes focus on developing:
- Self-compassion
- Self-judgement
- Self-acceptance
One yoga class and one meditation class will are centred around each concept.
*You can find all the classes we have created up until this point here.
We are creating these classes to assist athletes improve their mental wellness and to support the Student-Athlete Mental Health Initiative
Click her to find out how you can support the Student-Athlete Mental Health Initiative.
Self-Acceptance
“The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” – Mark Twain
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.” – Heraclitus
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The final yoga class in our Mental Health for Athletes series focuses on self-acceptance. Developing self-compassion and a mindset of non-judgement are integral parts of embracing true self-acceptance, which is why this practice follows the first two in the series.
Self-Acceptance is the ability to love yourself unconditionally no matter what flaws and traits exist.
Athletes are taught to continually critique performances, identify weaknesses and have high expectations. This is necessary to achieve personal excellence, but for many athletes it results in never being comfortable in their own skin.
Self-Acceptance is about loving who you are at your core, accepting your strengths and weakness and allowing yourself to make mistakes.
Embracing self-acceptance does not mean that you put self-improvement in the rearview mirror in fact it will create a foundation that allows you to develop as an athlete and a person in a much healthier way.
This is a restorative yoga class that has been created with the intent of helping athletes develop greater self-acceptance.
Instructors
The yoga classes in this series are taught by Jeff Grace who is a registered yoga therapist.
Jeff holds diplomas in Coaching (Douglas College-New Westminster, BC) and High Performance Coaching (National Coaching Institute – Calgary, Alberta). He has a background of over 20 years coaching both swimmers and triathletes.
At the age of 26 Jeff was diagnosed with Bipolar II Disorder you can read more about his story here.
You can find out more about Jeff at www.excelwithgrace.ca and www.swimmingspecificyoga.com
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The meditation classes in this series are taught by Eliza Jane who received her Masters in Integrative Health from the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Growing up, she played hockey on the national and collegiate level and is passionate about bringing mindfulness and self-compassion practices to athletes of all levels.
She lives in Vancouver, BC where she works as a wellness coach, meditation teacher, and group fitness instructor. To learn more about Eliza, visit her website at www.livewhereyourfeetare.com
