Coach ’ s top tip here ,
this is potentially the start of your course . Maybe there ’ s been the journey from hell for them to get to you ; perhaps work or home life has been too much . Maybe it ’ s the morning of their assessment , and they ’ ve been prepping for months . Allow time at the start of your course to allow people not just to tell you why they ’ re there but also what ’ s been troubling them before-hand . For one , I wouldn ’ t be comfortable telling a new group of people information based on the latter , instead of creating a time where people can come and confide in you in a personal manner . Like before , if someone has confided in , you listen and do your best to understand . This doesn ’ t mean belittling or making it trivial , and this means listening .
TWO PINTS OF LAGER AND A PACKET OF CRISPS , PLEASE !
The right fuel before-hand can be beneficial too . Overly heavy or starchy foods can make you feel sluggish and down . Lighter food and fruit can be enough to fuel you up without these down feelings of lethargy . Feed the body and the mind . The same goes through the day ; try eating little and often rather than a big meal for breakfast , lunch and dinner .
MUSIC IS FROM THE STREET , DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU MOVE YOUR FEET
The music played on the way to the river can have a considerable effect on your mood ; sounds obvious this but listening to the blues on the way to the river will probably act as a downer for some people ; that downer wouldn ’ t necessarily translate to the best state of mind to push your grade / feel at your best . We ’ ve all heard of the boxer choosing the entry music that gets them fired up and ‘ in the mood ’, this fired up is what we ’ re aiming for . Maybe not in the same way as the prizefighter , but the principle is the same . Is there a song or music genre that makes you dance around the kitchen like a loon or puts a smile on your face ? Listen to lots of that ! You ’ re after the sort of music that lifts you higher than you ’ ve ever been lifted before ( Jackie Wilson was on to something here ).
Is there one song in particular ? So long as it ’ s keeping you in the right state of mind , get it deliberately stuck in your head , turn it into the earworm . Try to keep it to yourself , though , as the ace of spades works for some , but if you ’ re more of a Toots and the Maytals kind of person , getting the other stuck in your head might be damaging .
Coaching tip here . Try encouraging the use of music ; if there ’ s someone who ’ s finding themselves distracted or mentally full , ask them to try music association to their movements ; if they ’ re still going all out , suggest something with a slower tempo / more chilled . It might mean you might not get any ‘ hard skills ’ in , but it could be enough to positively distract or stop someone powering around the river all the time .
AFTER PADDLING
In the last article , there was a lot of information based around the then , and now , there was also information about the human brain and the irrational brain . Without realising , we can often listen to and remember the irrational brain . The last article looked at recognising which one is making noise , and this section will look at which one to listen to , remember and reflect upon after paddling . The first thing I ’ m going to mention here is that the inner caveman , ‘ primal being ,' can find volume when you ’ re low on energy levels . If you can , do your thinking and reflecting when you ’ re fresh and awake and listen to both the human brain and the irrational brain , same as during paddling , try and use the human brain to reason with the beast . Hopefully , this gets you remembering what the rational being was saying and less from the
ThePADDLER
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