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We are excited to welcome back Jess Gumkowski to the show, with a profoundly impactful conversation exploring what it is to live as an Awake Athlete. Jess is head yogi, wellness coach and podcaster over at YogiTriathelte along with her husband BJ, and has years of experience in endurance sports, meditation, yoga, teaching and much more. She authored the book, Awake Athlete: When Mastery Is Your Only Option, which was published in 2023 and is part memoir part guide through life, its struggles and its beauty.

On this episode, Tawnee and Jess take a deep dive on several related topics, though this does not make up or substitute the rich content found in her book.

Our Brain & Meditation

Thoughts, and their relationship to the brain;
Monkey mind
Chimp vs professor brain (a la Dr. Simon Marshall)
Limbic (instinctive), prefrontal cortex (conscious), and neocortex (unconscious) brain
Why there’s no substitute for sitting in silence
Walking meditations, etc, have their place but not the same as quiet, stillness in a sitting meditation
Helpful tips for when you’re down on your pace, performance, training, etc
Using MAF training as an example here
Visualization and imagining the athlete you want to be
Being present and at peace with what is

Ego Is Not the Enemy

How to direct it from a small and limiting reality to assisting in positive change
Identity: ego and identity also go hand in hand, how to have a healthy approach to this
Leverage your ego toward your performance goals and away from the pain and suffering and fear that ego and cause us
Considering our identity as an athlete

Karma & Mistakes

Fulfilling our personal karma, the good and the bad
Everything is here to help you (also a book by Matt Kahn that is titled the same)
Finding the lessons and gifts in EVERYTHING

Emoting and Feelings

Clinging to joy
Clinging to really anything and why this does not serve our wellbeing
Things like nostalgia and the familiar make us feel good so we gravitate toward that
Moving away from reactionary emotions, and toward more calm temperament
The Ho’Oponopono prayer to make things right

And much more!

The post Jess Gumkowski: The Awake Athlete Mindset – On Thoughts, Ego, Emotions, Karma, Mastery and Much More first appeared on Endurance Planet.