I would like you all to meet a cheerleader who really defines what mental toughness is all about.  Her name is Lexus Kline and she cheers for the Wheeling All Stars in Follansbee, West Virginia. Her birthday is coming up soon; she will turn 11 on July 7^th. 

If you read my blog you know that I write a lot about persistence, courage, commitment, and dedication.  Well, Lexus has it all! Here is her story: (more…)

When I attended a recent cheerleading competition I noticed a large crowd around one of the vendor booths. Being curious, I investigated and discovered that the attraction was a product that made grand claims to improve balance and infuse energy not to mention cure almost any ailment known to man! 

I walked away, knowing it was a bunch of hooey but I was concerned that so many people were paying $30 for a worthless piece of plastic.  The manufacturers of these wristbands rely on the placebo effect which is based on a person’s belief or expectation that something (a pill, a technique or a device) will be effective. 

Power Balance is currently being sued for making false claims. At this time 15 lawsuits have been filed against Power Balance in California, Florida, Alabama, and New Jersey.  (more…)

If you are a cheerleading coach and one of your cheerleaders develops a mental block, it is your job to try to figure out what happened.  Sometimes it’s clear and the solution is easy.  This is especially true when it is a technical issue and the fix is a matter of tweaking something the athlete is doing. 

Of course there are the other times when the cause and the fix are not clear. As I mentioned yesterday, high stress families, especially families where feelings are not expressed or allowed or where conflict is not addressed in a healthy way, can be breeding grounds for all sorts of medical and psychological symptoms including mental blocks. (And by the way – high stress is a significant factor associated with sport injuries.)  

You will have your own way of working with blocks and it’s good to follow through with what you usually do – especially if you have had success with other cheerleaders.  But if you find the problem is not resolving or if the athlete is especially emotional, then you might want to consider assessing for family stress. So how do you do this?   (more…)

As I have said before, there are many possible reasons why a cheerleader develops a tumbling mental block.  Good cheerleading coaches recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all mental block nor is there a one-size-fits-all remedy. 

It can be helpful to appreciate the psychological complexity of a block and so this article is devoted to exploring the impact of family stress on a cheerleader and how this might result in a block. (more…)

Is this a busy time of year or what?  Not only are you in the middle of cheerleading competition season, but you’re also getting ready for the holidays! 

It’s easy to feel stressed out and hassled so I’m offering you a little gift.  This is a recording of a lovely little meditation that is designed to calm and relax you. It’s called Self-Calming Meditation and it’s about 10 minutes long.  It begins with the sound of a bell and some soothing music and then my voice.  People really like it and I hope you do, too! (more…)

Did you wear blue on Wednesday?  Many in the cheerleading industry did so to show their support and concern for Midwest Cheer Elite who lost one of their cheer moms – Lori Morris – who also served as booster treasurer for the gym. 

Lori was driving her van with two of her children plus another cheer mom, Cindy Blair and Cindy’s daughter, Kenzie to a cheerleading competition when her van was hit by another driver who was going the wrong way on a major highway..  That driver and Lori were killed.  Cindy and her daughter Kenzie were seriously injured and Lori’s two girls were kept overnight at the hospital. 

This heart-breaking tragedy sends shock waves throughout the cheerleading world. Of course everyone connected to Midwest Cheer Elite feels it the most. They have lost a much-loved member of their cheer family. 

How does anyone manage such a calamity? 

In my 30 years as a psychologist I have had the honor to work with many people who have suffered from heart breaking losses.  What follows are some things I have learned which may be helpful to anyone who finds themselves in these sad situations.  (more…)

Cheerleaders from Central High School in Bridgeport, CT have protested that their assigned cheerleading uniforms were too skimpy and made them feel uncomfortable.  

The cheerleaders complained to the city’s school board that they felt humiliated at having to wear uniforms that left their midriffs exposed. 

One of the cheerleaders, Ariana Mesaros, told the board, “It really hurts our self-esteem. I feel like if I go out, I feel trashy. I am embarrassed to stand up here dressed like this. Is this really how you want Bridgeport to be represented?”   (more…)

That’s right – cheerleading and regular physical activity in general contributes to enjoying a healthy, strong, and fulfilled life. 

The Women’s Sports Foundation has reviewed all of the existing research on the links between sports and physical activity and the health and well-being of American girls and women.  The new report includes the following:

• Research affirms that engagement in moderate and consistent levels of physical activity and sport for girls and women is essential to good health and well-being.
• Although more research needs to be done, early studies examining the connections between physical activity and academic achievement show there is a positive relationship between the two in girls and women.
• Emerging research in prevention and training practices show that gender-conscious approaches to physical training and conditioning for female athletes help to reduce the likelihood of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries and concussions.

As if that weren’t good enough, their research also shows:

• Breast Cancer Risk: Based on the findings from 23 studies examining the effect of moderate and vigorous physical activity during adolescence on cancer risk, those who had the highest physical activity during adolescence and young adulthood were 20% less likely to get breast cancer later in life.
• Osteoporosis: A study following pre-pubertal 10-year-old girls for 20 months found that an exercise program (engaged in three times a week for 12 minutes per session) led to an increase in bone mass.  This result was not found for the girls who did not participate in the exercise program.
• Educational Gains: Females who participated in high school sports were more likely to complete college than those who did not participate in sports.

Thanks to Greg Webb of the Organization for Spirit Industry Providers (OSIP) for sending this information to OSIP members.

In my last post I wrote about the negative impact of multitasking on your brain. Knowing how hard it is to change behavior, I realize that some of you will choose to ignore my suggestion that you focus on only one thing at a time (what a concept!).  

Okay, if that is the case, at least try to take a few minutes out of your day to try to reverse the damage to your brain.  How? Read on… 

If you can spare 5 minutes a day (come on, anyone can do that!), find a quiet place and close your eyes.  Now focus only on your breathing, noting the rhythmic rise and fall of your breath.  As other thoughts arise (and they will!), simply notice them and let them go. Then return to focusing on your breathing. 

The above exercise will help to train your brain to focus and to let go of irrelevant thoughts – essential to good cheerleading!  If you can stretch this out to 10, 15, or even 20 minutes, so much the better. 

Here’s another one… 

Periodically, take a mental break by gazing at the sky or even an expanse of a blank wall.  Don’t try to focus on any one thing, allow your eyes to simply take in the bigness of what you are seeing.  Alternatively, you can close your eyes and imagine you are gazing at the sky or the sea.  

This will give your brain a nice little rest to refresh you.  A refreshed brain is a healthy one!

Cheerleaders are busy people.  There’s all that school work to get done on top of hours of cheerleading practice plus maintaining a social life.  Many cheerleaders tend to listen to music while they study and in addition to that, they are busy responding to emails and text messages. 

Of course, if you ask them how they can stay focused and get anything done, they will tell you they can manage just fine, thank you.  But can they? 

There is, at this point, a significant body of research on the impact of multitasking and the studies suggest that cheerleaders, like many of us, are fooling themselves into believing that they can get more done by multitasking. 

Actually, pushing yourself to perform two or more tasks is extremely inefficient says David Meyer, a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of Michigan.  Dr. Meyer and his colleagues found that people who toggle between tasks lose valuable time in the transitions. 

You see, the brain has to refocus each time it switches activities and that time can add up over the course of a day.  There is also something called “working memory” which is like “mental counter space,” says Dr. Laura Vanderberg, a biology researcher at Tufts University. There is only so much “mental counter space” and everything we do takes mental energy which takes up room on that mental counter. 

Multitasking adds to the drain on the brain’s limited supply of resources. 

So, what does this have to do with cheerleading?  Well, researchers at Stanford University found that people who try to juggle things such as checking text messages while writing an email or studying, are unable to block unimportant information as well as those who consume one media stream at a time. 

In other words, these people are distracted – all the time!  They cannot stop thinking about tasks they are not doing. They have trained their brains to be unfocused. 

The reason this is important for cheerleaders is because cheerleading – especially tumbling and stunting – require laser focus, meaning focusing on one thing only.  A distracted cheerleader is vulnerable to being injured or causing injury. 

So the next time you are tempted to do 3 things at once, remember that you are actively training your brain to be inefficient and distracted.