Ep. 49: Pioneering Mindfulness in Sport with Bruce Beall

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October 28, 2022 • 55 mins

In this episode, Olympian and rowing coach Bruce Beall joins the conversation.

Bruce rowed at the University of Washington, earning three varsity letters. He competed on the U.S. National Team in three World Rowing Championships, two Pan American Games, and the 1984 Olympics.

He has coached at the University of Washington, Boston University, Harvard, and Cal Berkeley. Bruce was the Executive Director of the Pocock Rowing Foundation and was a member of the U.S. Rowing High Performance Committee for the four years leading up to the Athens Olympics. He is now the Director of Rowing and the boys' varsity coach at Bainbridge Island Rowing.

Bruce is known to the sport psychology world for his early collaboration with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn, applying mindfulness to elite rowing performance.

Keith begins the episode with a brief anchoring practice, and then talks with Bruce about:

[5:45] Bruce's journey to mindfulness and how he introduced it to the rowing world

[11:51] How Bruce incorporates mindfulness into his coaching

[14:45] The relationship between breaking neuromuscular habits and attention

[24:22] Distinctions in pain versus fatigue and how to manage fatigue

[27:56] Introducing mindfulness to your athletes in ways that create buy in

[33:03] Getting out of your own way and allowing your potential to shine through

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