A more extreme from of Magnifying and Minimizing is All-or-Nothing Thinking. 

Consider this cheerleading scenario.  Your cheerleading squad is at Nationals and you have come in 3^rd in your division.  You all know that your performance was excellent; you hit everything.  What’s your reaction? 

Do you smile with pleasure, knowing that your squad performed so well?  Are you angry that you didn’t place first? Are you complaining that the judging was unfair? 

Well, All-or-Nothing Thinking occurs when you wipe out everything positive and only look at the negative. This can have a snow ball effect such that EVERYTHING becomes negative.  So, in this case, the thinking would be look like this: “We lost.  We were terrible.  I should just get out of cheerleading.  I don’t think the coaching was good either. And the judges always pick that other squad. We’ll never come in first. This is the worst experience of my life.” 

See how easily misery can happen? Such cognitive distortions can discourage you from trying new things or deter you from taking good risks. 

Tip:  In a situation like this, the squad can benefit from a debriefing in which everyone is asked what  went well, what went very well, and what, if anything can be learned from the event.

Many cheerleaders are getting ready for Nationals which means Christmas break is not much of a break for some of you!  It’s tempting to devote every waking moment to practice but that would be a mistake!  Just like the puppy in the photo, it’s important to take time to rest to allow your body and brain to rejuvenate.  So, be sure to set aside time for those naps (but not on a coffee table like our furry friend).

How…you might be wondering? Well, think of all the tension and excitement surrounding Nationals or any cheerleading competition where it is easy to get distracted by extraneous thoughts and feelings that interfere with your performance. Meditation is a great technique to train yourself to let go of extraneous thoughts and feelings and focus on what is most relevant – your performance!

Now you might think you don’t have time to meditate. Well okay, but if you have a big competition coming up you may want to think twice about this.

Meditation is simple and hard; teachers of meditation say it is the simplest hard thing you can do! Why? Well, take about 10 minutes and try it – at least once.

There are many different “types” of meditation but what they have in common is a focus on the breath. So, what I recommend is this:

Find a nice quiet place and sit up with your eyes closed. Now just notice the rise and fall of your breathing and don’t try to “do” anything. Meditation is more about “being” than “doing.”

Just notice how your breath rises and falls, comes in and out. Just notice it and as you do so, when thoughts appear, simply notice those and let them go, without staying focused on the thoughts, without deepening them. Just notice these thoughts as distractions but don’t judge them or become attached to them. You’re going to practice not reacting to new thoughts. You’re just going to acknowledge their existence and let them go.

Okay, if you’re like most people you realized you have many, many thoughts of all kinds and you probably noticed that it’s not easy to just sit there and focus on your breathing! (It’s the letting go of all these thoughts that prompt people to say meditation can be hard.)

When I meditate, I start thinking about such things as: that person I need to call; an email I must respond to; a birthday I forgot; what to cook for dinner tonight; something I forgot to tell my husband; and lots of other stuff. Each time that happens, I notice it and let it go…and again – I notice it and let it go…over and over. You might be thinking – so what!? Well, each time I go through this process I am training my brain to let go and refocus, let go and refocus, let go and refocus. I am also training myself not to react impulsively but rather to observe with a somewhat detached interest.

Now, isn’t that important for performing? Consider how useful it would be to have that skill of letting go of irrelevant thoughts and feelings which can undermine your productivity and your performance and being able to refocus on what is most important – your performance in the moment!

You also must be able to let go of any little mistakes that you make because if you dwell on those mistakes you won’t be able to pay attention to what you need to do next. Meditation can help you with that. You can learn to stay focused on your performance instead of getting caught up in distractions.

Although it’s recommended that you spend 20minutes a day on meditation, you can also incorporate mini-meditations of a few minutes throughout the day. A few moments here and there can also train your brain to let go and refocus.

The better you get at changing your thinking from negative to neutral or positive, (which is part of the mental game of cheerleading), the better you will perform at Nationals. 

When you are at the competition itself, you may get caught up in the excitement and the intensity of it all. You will be hyper aware, hyper alert and you will notice the brilliance of some of the other teams.  Watch out for your reactions! 

For example, let’s say you happen to see another team’s performance that is superb. What do you think? Many cheerleaders might think “Gee, they’re so good…we will never be as good as they are. They’ll probably win and we won’t come in first.”   

Are these thoughts good for you or bad for you?  Of course they are bad for you and if you hold on to them, they will adversely affect your performance.  But if you have practiced how to identify and change your thinking  and you can change your time focus, you will not be affected by this!  You will be able to quickly change your thinking and refocus on your own performance in the present. 

See why mental prep is so important?  When you go on stage you have to have a clear head and a positive outlook.

Cheerleading competitions are high stakes, high pressure events. Competitions – especially Nationals –  are exciting, exhilarating, and for some of you – terrifying! Who can deny the thrill of performing in front of hundreds or thousands of screaming fans? 

Who would want to miss the opportunity to show the world the fruits of your months of hard work? The skills and hard work in your routine weren’t just given to you like free stuff on Gumtree or a present when it’s not your birthday.  And it has been hard work – creating your routine, revising it, and practicing it over and over again until you’ve nailed it! 

But rehearsing the routine repeatedly is only part of being a winner.  What is equally if not more important is the mental game of preparation for cheerleading competitions.  As I mentioned before, most pro athletes and virtually all Olympic athletes work with sports psychologists, so why not cheerleaders? 

Winning is the science of being totally prepared and being mentally prepared is essential.  

So what do I mean by mental preparation?  Mental preparation refers to learning how to control your body and control your thinking. It means training your body and your mind to do what you want them to do at the time of your performance to ensure you perform at an optimal level. 

You know, everything you do is dependent on your brain. You become what you think. Let me explain this a bit more so you have a good framework to help guide you as we proceed. 

A competition, although wonderful and exciting, may be perceived as a threatening event. Why threatening? Well there is risk involved. There is uncertainty involved (you may not win, you may not nail your routine, someone may get dropped, and so forth). Plus you are being observed by judges and a huge crowd; your every move is going to be scrutinized. 

In such situations you naturally get at least a bit anxious. Anxiety is your mind’s response to real or imagined danger. 

In such situations certain physical things happen. The grand control center in your brain, the prefrontal cortex which is located just behind the forehead, alerts certain other structures in the brain to flood your prefrontal cortex with stress hormones and neurotransmitters that short circuit brain functioning.  As a result, your attention narrows and your thinking becomes less flexible. Jumping to conclusions and acting precipitously or freezing are common at this point. 

In other words fear and stress can make you stupid! No offense – it happens to all of us. 

If an event is seen as positive or neutral, the prefrontal cortex will release a different chemical cocktail than if it is seen as negative.  In other words, depending on how you perceive a given situation, you will either perform well or poorly. So if you perceive a competition as a positive event and if you have control over your thoughts, your brain will release a slew of chemicals that will help you perform better.  

So, doesn’t it make sense to control your thoughts to make sure they are neutral or positive?  You’ll hear a lot more about this is future posts, so come back for more!

I’ve heard lots of talk about “adrenaline” in connection with cheerleading competitions – especially at Nationals.  People say things like, “Once the adrenaline kicks in, I’ll be fine.”  Well, there is such a thing as too much adrenaline.  We’re really talking about the physiological activation of your body and like other things, it’s good to find just the right level of activation for you. 

In psychology, we refer to this as the Zone of Optimal Functioning or ZOOF.  This means that an athlete must find the right level of activation or arousal for the activity he or she is engaged in.  Too much and performance suffers.  Too little and performance suffers.  Different people have different needs in this regard.  Some like to get revved up and indeed perform better when they are revved up.  Others need to calm down a bit. 

One cheerleader I met realized she performs better when she is clicking on all cylinders.  So her pre-performance routine includes running in place to get her juices flowing.  Another cheerleader performs better when she is calm and centered so her pre-performance routine involves a brief meditation. 

I refer to this as the Goldilocks theory of optimal performance functioning.  For those of you who remember the childhood story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Goldilocks discovered the Bears’ empty cabin and went inside.  She saw 3 chairs and sat in each.  One was too big, one was too small and one was just right.  The same thing happened with the beds (too hard, too soft and just right), the porridge (too hot, too cold and just right), and so forth. 

So – just like Goldilocks, the bottom line is: you need to determine what the right level of physical arousal or activation is for you that allows you to perform at an optimal level.  You’ll be learning techniques that will help you regulate this.

I had the pleasure of observing the Boston University cheerleading team practice the other night.  Coach Tarryn Walsh, herself a BU grad and former cheerleader,  has put together a compelling group of 21 spirited cheerleaders – 2 men and 19 women – who cheer at BU’s men’s and women’s home basketball games. 

Cheerleading is a club sport at Boston University and this is the first time the team has men on board.  The team will be competing at NCA’s nationals in April, Coach Walsh said, and so the team is spending time now getting their routine down in preparation for the big event. 

Boston University is known for its academic rigor and cheerleaders must find time to keep up with their academics and devote time to cheer practice. We’re talking big time dedication here! 

Being a club team, the level of expertise and experience varies among the cheerleaders but everyone seemed to be having a good time and the more experienced cheerleaders were generous and respectful in offering helpful tips to those who were less experienced. Even when a routine was less than perfect, there was a great deal of laughter and camaraderie and – importantly – there was continued effort to do it again and again and again until they got it right!  I never saw anyone look disgruntled or disheartened.  It seems the team has the right attitude: it’s about fun, it’s about learning, and it’s about connection.  It’s also about taking on the challenge of moving out of your comfort zone to take a risk and work towards success. Yep – that’s the right stuff!