Three talks (July 8, 15, & 22) on how to effectively use mental skills in cross-country running.

Back to the Future: Why Grit and Self-Control Matter in Health and Achievement

presented by Dr. Robert A. Swoap

As technologies in health promotion grow and evolve, it is worth examining a few of the basic principles in health behavior change. In this breakout session, we explore why self-control and grit matter, why it is important to know the difference, and how to build both. Grit allows us to pursue and reach goals over extensive periods of time. Self-control involves the capacity to move our thoughts and behaviors away from momentary temptations and towards responses consistent with our goals. Drawing on the science of health & sport psychology, we will discuss how to develop both grit and self-control as complementary skills rather than as immutable traits. We will investigate neurocognitive processes involved in this pursuit, and what brain stimulation technology tells us about self-control. Finally, we will examine the central role of psychological connectedness to the future self in health behavior change.

Research to be presented at APS conference

Physical/emotional health of college students has dropped dramatically over the past 25 years. Recently, 39% of students indicated that they had felt so depressed that it was difficult to function; 61% felt overwhelming anxiety.

Learning Objective: How can contemplative practices (e.g., mindfulness training) be taught to college students to improve their physical and psychological well-being, without adding to their already busy lives.

Three consecutive Mondays — July 9, 16, & 23 — giving talks to high school runners on the mental aspects of cross-country training and racing.

Focus and fun: Staying fully present in every moment on the court.

There is now a significant body of scientific evidence, and substantial local experience, that mindfulness practice decreases stress and anxiety, increases attention, improves interpersonal relationships, strengthens compassion, and offers a host of other benefits. Mindfulness training may be a simple-to-learn, low-cost, long-term lever which positively impacts attention, cognition, emotion, physiology, and behavior.

Join education professionals and interested community members from a wide array of schools, districts, and communities around our region to explore how evidenced-based, secular mindfulness is benefitting students and educators. Learn more about what mindfulness is (and is not) in an educational context, and hear about lessons learned in classrooms and schools. Be part of this vibrant, intentional community of participants who care about students and educators, and believe mindfulness could be an important part of their safety, learning, and thriving.

Dr. Swoap will be leading a breakout session: Mindfulness in Health, Well-Being & Performance.

Join Steve Henry, Director of Athletics at Carolina Day School, and Dr. Robert Swoap, Professor of Psychology at Warren Wilson College for a discussion of student athletics, sports psychology, and parenting student-athletes. The book, Let Them Play: The Mindful Way to Parent Kids for Fun and Success in Sports is 10% off at Malaprop’s.

Part of the faculty research lunch series, this is a look at four mindfulness intervention studies done over the past few years at WWC (in the classroom and on the field).