Written by Nadia von Bertouch, Marketing and Communications Manager at Outside The Locker Room. I’m writing this blog post on my ‘day off ’. And when I say day off, I mean from one of three jobs. I am a professional AFLW footballer for the St Kilda football club. When I’m not training down at RSEA park in Moorabbin, I’m …
Performance is 90 percent mental and the rest is physical.
This is a quote many athletes would have heard before. And while the maths might not exactly add up and as clichéd as the saying might be, it helps to remind us that it is important to train for both the physical and mental components of any performance (whether athletic or not).
OTLR is proud to partner with Brisbane Lions and Epic Good Foundation to provide much needed mental health education and welfare support for community clubs and schools in Queensland.
Our founder, ex-AFL player Jake Edwards, started the charity in response to his own mental health challenges upon finishing his AFL career.
Has COVID-19 and the fallout sent you into a spiral in an unknown direction? Do you feel like you’ve been knocked down? Do you feel like you have or are likely to fail?
If you said YES, that’s overwhelmingly normal and what I call being human. At some stage, we are all knocked down and face challenges that are extremely complex in different environments. So why is it that the solution most friends and family give us – “get back up and try again” – so widely used and yet hard to implement?
When we think about grief and loss, our brain tends to assume the worst, which commonly is associated with the passing of a loved one. However, feelings of loss can be closely tied to the loss of various other entities, rituals and opportunities. Although it’s easy to distinguish the loss of a pet compared to the inability to train with your local football team, the byproducts of this loss may carry the same weight. This is especially important in our current society where our youth have needed to become increasingly more resilient and open-minded – sometimes needing to sacrifice their needs due to ever-changing circumstances.
On this day 12 years ago – 10 June 2008 – just after 8 o’clock on an overcast winter’s morning; Mum emerged from our long, winding hallway, stepped into the kitchen, softly trembling with tears as she struggled to find the words to tell us that Dad had passed away…
In 2004, my dad was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer. In the following years, the cancer advanced to other parts of Dad’s body, and eventually, his brain…
The time has come for new changes, new opportunities, and to come back out into society again. Some people are heading back to their old work, some are moving back into the office after working from home, some are going back to school, sports, and hobbies. But others have found a new purpose during their downtime: starting a new business, pursuing a new passion, immersing in self-reflection and self actualisation – and some may have discovered a new lease on life.
When I was 12 years old and in Grade 6 at primary school, my mum and my two younger siblings moved from Fitzroy to Clayton. Mum had obtained emergency housing after one too many domestic violence incidents with my stepdad.
A friend that I met at school and his family got me involved with the football and cricket clubs, and from then on it became my outlet: first from my poverty stricken home-life, and later on from the drugs and crime that my brother and returning stepdad were involved in. I loved being able to get away on the weekend, to just enjoy sports and the family-orientated environment that they provided.
I love me a good metaphor. ‘Happy as a pig in mud’, ‘full as a centipede’s sock drawer’ etc. etc. During tough situations, (I don’t know about you, but this is my first global pandemic and definitely counts as a tough situation!), I like to take solace in a metaphor to add humour, imagery and most importantly a sense of hope.
In my field of work, a couple of my favourites are ‘riding the waves of emotions’ and ‘weathering the emotional storm’. COVID-19 is indeed a ‘storm’ and it wasn’t on the BOM radar. We find ourselves in uncharted waters, thrown in the deep end, with only time telling who will sink or swim!
I know returning to sport is vital, turning up to game day and being a team player… however when I’m crippled with anxiety it’s not the same. For the past 5 years I have struggled with postnatal depression and anxiety after a rapid return to work in my small business as a naturopath just weeks after my daughter was born. This was not an ideal situation however, due to the way the cards fell and a combination of personal events, that was what had to happen.
Jobs and careers are an important aspect of life. Not only as a source of income, but they are also a means by which many of us define ourselves. “I’m a fireman/teacher/sportsperson/doctor etc”. It’s also one of the first questions we may ask someone we have just met….”So, what do you do?”.
It is true, there is no sport. There are no training nights, there is no game day. There is no waking up on game day with the excitement and nervousness that comes with sport. There is no seeing your teammates, there is no banter,
My belief is that we understand ourselves a little bit better whenever there’s an obstacle thrown in front of us. It might be a sporting injury, a relationship loss or another unexpected event you did not invite into your life. Did
School holidays can be hard at the best of times for young people as they are away from their friends and usual school supports. While the holidays can conjure up a picturesque view of quality family bonding and relaxation time for
With big change, comes uncertainty. With uncertainty comes fear. With fear comes a desire to take control of our environment and do everything we can to think ahead, plan and know the facts. However, this head-based fight-flight-freeze reactivity can become overwhelming.
This is certainly a challenging time for a lot of people. It may bring up feelings of anxiety, distress, isolation and disconnection. People are experiencing severe hardship with the loss of jobs, businesses, livelihoods and the concern for the health and wellbeing of themselves and loved ones. We here at Outside the Locker Room are here with you, we are …