How Mindfulness Transforms an Athlete's Mental Abilities and Improves Emotion. With Renee Yomtob

In this episode of "Spirit of an Athlete," hosted by Amanda Smith, guest Renee Yomtob shares her journey from college volleyball player to yogi and coach. Renee discusses her struggles with anxiety and pressure during her athletic career, highlighted by a pivotal moment in a national tournament. She describes her transformative experience at a ten-day silent meditation retreat and her diagnosis of narcolepsy, which led her to explore holistic solutions. Renee now helps athletes improve their mental performance using techniques like neuro-linguistic programming, mental emotional release, and hypnosis, emphasizing the mind-body connection and the importance of mental well-being.

In this Episode: 

00:00:00 - College volleyball experience and a pivotal moment during a national tournament.

00:05:30 - Challenges faced as an athlete dealing with anxiety and pressure.

00:12:15 - Transition from competitive sports to yoga and meditation practices.

00:18:45 - Diagnosis of narcolepsy and exploration of holistic management solutions.

00:25:00 - Importance of the mind-body connection in athletic performance.

00:30:20 - Use of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) in coaching to overcome mental blocks.

00:36:10 - Implementation of mental emotional release techniques for athletes.

00:42:00 - Role of hypnosis in enhancing focus and mental clarity.

00:47:30 - Significance of storytelling in personal growth and overcoming limitations.

00:53:15 - Building awareness of thoughts and emotions to improve mental resilience.

Please connect with Renee here: 

Email: renee@athleticmentalperformance.com

Free Yoga Nidra Recording: https://www.athleticmentalperformance.com/yoga-nidra-sign-up

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renee-yomtob/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reneeyomtob/

Watch Gutsy Chick Podcast on YouTube!

Check out more from Amanda:
Website: Body Whisper Healing
Instagram: @Amanda.G.Smith
Facebook: Body Whisper Healing
Pinterest: AmandaGSmithBWH
LinkedIn: Amanda (Ritchie) Smith

Take the Gutsy Chick Quiz to find out how your athletic mindset might be holding you back from healing your chronic health issue: https://gutsychickquiz.com

Transcript

0:19

Welcome back to another episode of spirit of an athlete. I'm your host, Amanda Smith, the creator of the Gutsy Chick quiz at Gutsy Chick Quiz. Com on this episode I interviewed Renee Yomtob. She is near and dear to my heart because she was a college athlete volleyball player labeled as a headcase by her coaches. I can relate. And she became a Yogi which sent her down the rabbit hole of becoming a coach. In this episode, you'll learn about neuro linguistic programming, the mental release technique, excuse me, mental emotional release technique, hypnosis. Gnosis and how Rene helps the athletes she works with to be their best. I hope you enjoy this episode. Rene, thank you so much for being on spirit of an athlete and sharing not only your experience in college volleyball, but all that you do now to help athletes as well as just humans. General statement. So thank you for being here. It's my pleasure. Thank you. I'm excited for this one because you're a Yogi and I finally get to talk about my Yogi stuff, too. It's exciting. But before we go there, share a story from your college volleyball experience. Um, the first story that really comes rushing to the mind, to the top of the surface is it was the first time that my college team went to nationals. So yes, it was the first time we went to nationals. I was playing a little bit. I would get subbed in for one rotation in the back row. You can't tell, but I'm 55, so I only played back row okay. Back row for the win. Yes. And so uh, I was this was probably my second year at the program and we were in pool play and at nationals, you, you know, had to rank the first in your pool, maybe the second in order to move, uh, to bracket play. And we had to win this game. This was our third pool play game. We had to win it in order to move on because we were tied in our pool so far, uh, it went to five sets. It was the fifth set, and I let a ball drop on game winning point in the back corner. No, it was I. Yeah, I got stepped in for my one little rotation. I got to serve and then played back you know middle back. And I can picture it. It was over to my left. It was in that corner and I just like, watched it drop. And it's stuck with me for so long because I'm pretty quick, you know, I'm quick. I'm fast. That's like my corner, my position. I could get those all day in practice. And so it's stuck with that experience, stuck with me because I knew it wasn't a physical limitation. It's because I got subbed in. I knew it was game point, and I knew that they were going to push it there and that it was going to be on me to get it. And so it just stuck with me for so long. Even the next year we went back to nationals and that memory was like flooded. You know, I was playing more at that time and I had to really focus on like pushing that aside. Um, uh, which at the time I couldn't really I was such a headcase. Oh. Like, um, my nickname. You were too. Oh, yeah. That's. Those are the exact words that my coaches used across the board. All the colleges I went to. Head case. Yeah, it's it's, uh, my nickname. When I came in my first year, I redshirted. Uh, was Jitter Pig. Oh, my gosh. The guitar part, because I was just like. Go go go go. Go. I'm like, my feet would never settle. And you need to be settled in order to react. Well, yeah. Back there. And so I was all over the place. The pig part was because I spilt on myself a lot. So that had nothing to do with like, you know, and mental, but. Oh yeah. Oh my gosh. Okay. So I have to point this out. Five five is very small for volleyball. Like I'm, I'm five eight. And of course when you looked at the roster they always put me as five nine. Of course. Five, seven and three quarters. I'm not. Not even close, but whatever. Uh, but to be that, that short for volleyball and a back row specialist, you had no choice but to be fast. Mhm. Why the jitters though? What was the thing about moving constantly, moving your feet like I can see constantly moving your upper body. But if we're constantly like letting our heels pop up off the floor. Yeah. You pointed it out already. You can't get to the ball nearly as fast. Yeah. You know, looking back at the time, I didn't know this. I was trying to, uh, you know, pump myself up before games. I was listening to, like, this type of music. And looking back now, it was like, this is the type of music I needed, you know, like, to really ground, and you probably know to, like, I was so afraid of making a mistake. I was so afraid of, you know, getting yelled at, getting pulled, letting my team down, all of those things that I was like, constantly kind of in fight or flight, like I was in. I was not in the parasympathetic nervous system where you can access flow state. I was like zeroed in on this, like tiger chasing me. And this tiger was just the ball on the other side of the net. And so I was like, my eyes were all over the place. I wasn't, you know, I wasn't settled. I just didn't have the tools at that time to, like, find that flow and to realize I could, like, actually do better if I was calmer. Okay. Okay. So the music that I listened to, uh, as a pitcher especially, and as a basketball player, not so much volleyball, volleyball. So I also played volleyball. It volleyball was not the sport where we were like, rock on. But do you remember jock jams? Do I remember jock jams? Yes. Yeah. So that was that was my basketball music. And then for softball as a pitcher, I was listening to heavy dark metal like Nine Inch Nails. Ooh. Mhm. Mhm. And I had the same problem I didn't realize at the time. And this is, this is where becoming a Yogi really helps. At the time I was, I was, I was deep dark angry. Mhm. Softball and basketball player I was more of a football player on the basketball court. Volleyball I played all the way around. I was a middle hitter and then back row specialist as well. So not a lot of middles play back row. That's pretty amazing. No exactly. That's why I bring that up. Yeah. But I had I was also for softball. I was hot corner. So third baseman and a shortstop as well as a pitcher. So my range was there. I could easily get to those bat corners just like we were just talking about. But the music. Brought me down and and I was this. I was the same as you. I was constantly like, bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce, to get to where I was going to go. And I did the same thing in softball and, you know, as much as I could in basketball, but I was a post in basketball. I'm a tiny post for basketball. Yeah, I was a I was a linebacker, so they loved me in the middle. Exactly, exactly. Okay, so Jeter pig. I'm like, I have to use that now. Uh, so you were Jeter pig freshman, freshman year or first year that you played. So you redshirted the first year. First year that you played, you guys went to nationals. You were the Jeter pig sophomore year. Did we move out of Jeter pig mode? You know, I didn't hear that nickname again until my senior year. All my past teammates brought signs for my senior night, and I was like, oh my gosh, I totally forgot about that. So I think on, you know, people looking in. I definitely look like I was getting better. You know, I definitely improved my, my, uh, junior and senior year. What's that? Your skills got better, my. Skills got better. And I don't know if people knew how. In my head I really was, you know? And at the time, I didn't really either, because, like, my stats were there. But looking back now, I'm like, whoa, if I just knew what I knew, which is always the case. If I just knew what I know now, back then, like it would have been night and day. You know. It's 2020 always, um, going into so I played Division one softball and then switch to Division two and going from Division one. So those coaches definitely labeled me as head case and to the point that it was, um, I was getting abused mentally, emotionally and physically by the coaches. So I switched schools to a Division two school and they quickly found out I was a headcase. And they were very proactive at trying to help me figure out how to solve this head case issue. And I was getting closer to finally having prefrontal cortex fully engaged. I was right around 24 or 25 years old, when we finally have the chooser on board. And and the rest of the team, of course, was, you know, 18 to 21. And the coaches were always like, you know, don't be asking Amanda to go get you alcohol. Hey. I don't like drinking. So that wasn't something that I was like, yes, I will, you know. Um. But also in that development of my prefrontal cortex, I also finally got to that point where I could understand when I was in my head and that fight, flight, constant state of fight flight and worried about losing my position or any of those things I got. I got to the point kind of where you get in your 40s where you're just like, yeah, whatever. Yes, whatever. So at that point, I feel like that was where I could finally drop in and discover, okay, the music that I need is way more chill. Xavier Rudd, my all time favorite artist. Became my. Walkout song and the girls who were on the bench. I love this, so I'm out warming up and I'm seeing them do this piece signs up, waving back and forth because my music was that kind of grounded, calm place that I, I finally discovered I needed to be in. Wow. Good for you. That's amazing to set yourself up like that. Right? And now I know way more about why that worked for me. Of course, to have the awareness I think, is the is a really essential like first step that really gets overlooked, I think. And the and the mindset and mental performance space. You know, I see a lot of the times it's like, put your head down and get it done or think positively. And sure, there's a time for all of that and you really need to like, build the awareness of where things start to kind of go off the rails. Or like, do you have the awareness of that year in your head in this moment, or that you're feeling some sort of way? Because until you have that, you won't know what it is to change it. So it doesn't matter if you have the tools, if you don't have the you know, if you don't build that self-awareness relationship with yourself. I definitely and this is a mental note for me, I want to go back to that point that you made about having emotions and being able to process them quickly. As athletes, we don't have a choice. But first we got to find out when did you become a Yogi? Um. Uh, I didn't really start practicing yoga. You know, I attribute it to I think it was 2016 is really when I dove in, I did a little bit in sports. Mainly I focused on asana as a way of like, uh, stretching. You know, it was just. The. Movement, physical poses. Uh, but really, I dove in to what yoga can do. When I did a ten day silent meditation retreat in 2016. And yeah, I'll tell you, I went kind of, um, blind. I was working for a tech company at the time, and so the CEO was really rad. And, you know, had we had kombucha on tap and, like, healthy organic snacks. And so he's like, hey, you know, anybody who wants to come to this retreat gets a paid flight, paid time in Hawaii, you know? And so I was like, uh, yeah, I want to go to Hawaii for free. And I hadn't really meditated too much at that time. So I was like, I'm just gonna figure it out. And this retreat was amazing and profound. And it was ten days of of being fully silent, meaning no reading, no writing, no electronics. You know, it was with other people. But we were to live as if we lived alone. So no eye contact, no saying thank you for people who, like, gave us lunch and food and we meditated, you know, and practiced yoga 6 to 7 hours a day for ten days. And that was really my first big aha into what this world of meditation and mindfulness could do. It was some of the highest highs I've ever felt and some of the absolute lowest lows. And my biggest takeaway was that it's not so scary in there. And actually that's where the answers are. You know, I kept looking outside of myself for everything. You know, I've always been big into personal development and stuff, and I'd reach for podcasts and books, and I still do. It's still super fun. Um, but I was like, oh, this place I've been avoiding going to these deep, dark corners of my mind. Like, that's actually where the light is, like, that's where the answers are. Oh my gosh, you dove into the deep end. Yeah. I mean, to. To go from not really ever meditating before understanding what flow state is probably from sports but never meditating to a ten day that's girlfriend. You. Know talk. To athletes about it since and maybe you can relate. I feel like a lot of athletes are like 0 to 100, you know, like it's like I'm either sprinting or I'm resting. And so it just was really on brand for me to just like go. All in And yeah. I love I love that. But at the same time, did you have an aha moment around that very thing while you were there. Around the being 0 to. 100, 100. Yeah. Ooh, I don't remember there. Hmm. I don't remember a big. Aha. Around that moment there was so much my mind was so busy the entire time, you know, and not getting to write anything out, not getting to read, you know, not distracting myself at all. Uh, basically it was learning how to not get attached to the story. So I would have, like some really neat things pop up where I was like, oh, I need to remember that. And then of course I didn't, because that's just like me attaching to needing. To remember it to attach. The story. Yeah. So it was just fully surrendering to okay, well, what's my mind going to show me today? You know, I guess we're just on this roller coaster. Yes. This is where people get really confused about what meditation is. People think that meditation is I have to turn my brain off. Oh, oh. So you just highlighted it's not about turning the brain off. It's about noticing what's going on in there. Becoming the watcher is my first meditation coach. That was her mantra become the watcher and then become the watcher of the dying ego. Cool. Yes. And when you finally get to a point in your practice that you can just observe what the thoughts are moving through, non-attachment is so easy. But then, of course, we live in society. Yeah. So how did you reintegrate yourself after that particular retreat? Because I'm going to guess that that was probably more daunting than it was diving headlong into a ten day silent retreat. Yeah, there was a the day that we could all talk again. And I remember all of us just, like, didn't really want to, you know. And then coming home, I think I spent one more full day there, uh, where with people who were doing what I was doing. And so it was, like, really gentle. Everyone would just be like, how did you sleep last night? You know, like, very minimal. Only speaking when we had something to say, which is like a whole lesson in its. Own. Right. And yeah, coming back was very jarring. I was like, wow, there's it's so loud in all the ways, you know, like, yes, I'm just taking it in. Like all the senses are just overwhelmed and heightened and, um, it was a lot. I could imagine. Yeah. Did this kind of spur you into what you do now? It did it. It. Yeah. Absolutely did. Good, good. So great. Because yeah, I was like, oh wow. Like everything is really been searching for is just deepening this, you know, relationship with myself and getting silent. And, uh, that led me to, you know, quitting my job and going down to San Diego. And, um, so I had kind of the yoga and meditation piece of it that really blew my mind to open. And then when I was in San Diego, I was diagnosed with narcolepsy, which is, uh, neurological disease. Doctors told me I'd live with it forever. Um, and it was, uh, not a fun couple years there. I was trying to really figure out some ways that I could attack this holistically. You know, uh, narcolepsy, they say, is like a 24 hour disease. For those who don't know, um, it's basically you don't really get deep sleep at night, so you never fully recover. And then during the day, uh, you just need to sleep a lot. Um, so it was totally affecting my life. I was experiencing sensations of, like, depression and anxiety, and I was doing all the things I tried, like a ton of different forms of therapy. I saw a naturopath. I was on, like a bajillion supplements. You know, I tried the all sorts of diets to try to just, like, feel even a little bit better. And I hit my lowest point, or for me, what felt like my lowest point when I just fully detached from everything. And there's like such a clear moment where, uh, my college team does an alumni tournament every year where all my teammates get to come back. They're my, you know, some of my favorite people. So I was back with all of my, like, dear, dear teammates. And I just remember sitting across from a couple of my best friends and they're explaining some big things going on in their life. And I just remember the moment of like, I don't care, you know, like being fully detached from anything happening from my future, from like the people around me was the worst. It was worse than feeling low, you know? Yeah. And so I went back and to San Diego and I went and saw a doctor and I said, I don't care what you put me on, like, I can't do this anymore. And so this doctor said, okay, you know, when you get back, because I had a two week trip planned to go to this, uh, training. He's like, when you get back, we'll put you on, uh, two uppers during the day to keep you awake and then an antidepressant at night to help you sleep. And you'll be on this forever, and you'll feel about 10% better. And I was like, I'll take it. I need to feel better. Then I went away to this training camp. And this one, this training, I was challenged. Day one. From this training, the trainers from stage, uh, offered the idea that, you know, 99% of disease is psychosomatic, meaning it starts in the mind. And I sat there and I was like, you're probably right. You know, narcolepsy is part of the 1%. I was sitting there and I'm like, yeah, those other diseases probably do start in the mind and like, mine's real. Aha. Yeah. And so they keep like saying these things. Right. And I'm just like staking claim and getting all defensive and my walls coming up and I'm like no, my problem is real though. Like my disease is real. And then I had like the biggest aha that I think changed the course of my life. And I realized I could either feel better or I could be right. But in this moment I couldn't have both. And so I decided, let me just try it. You know, worst case, I'm right back where I started. Best case, I don't feel like this. And after that first day, all my symptoms went away Mhm. And they stayed away. And so leaving that trading I was like oh my gosh. Like everybody needs to feel this or know this or know that. You can feel better. Know that you can you know really have control over the things that happen to you, how you feel your future. Uh, so that's and then I just dove in from there. I ended up working with the training company because it was a small team. We went around the US and trained all sorts of people doctors, therapists, sweets, first responders, average folks, coaches, therapists, everyone. And, uh, then I really just dove into coaching because I was like, I want to help with this deep impact. Like, it's so profound. It's so fulfilling to see people go from like, stuck, frustrated, like just frustrated, you know, tired of feeling tired. Tired that they're like, they know they could be doing better and they're not doing it. And frustrated, especially for athletes because they're doing so much, you know, they're such driven folks. They'll like spend extra time doing reps. They'll, you know, add another training day in the gym and to still not see it, uh, like, come to life during games or practices is the most frustrating. Like, you know, it's the most frustrating feeling. And so to be able to help them help themselves, right. Be like, this is something you can do. Here are some tools. And like you can feel better and you will. It's the best. So that that was a ramble. But that was like my origin story. The love. That. I just had this conversation with my ten year old. Everybody has stories and we love to cling to those stories. And those stories are what, what you know, as we get older, we get we'd love to tell stories. This is something I've noticed now that I'm in my 40s, I'm like, okay, have I told you this story? Like, that's. Where I start. Yeah. And it it it's it's part of our makeup. But at the same time, unwinding, unpacking and being able to see those as a story and not of me. I think that's one of the most powerful tools that we can give ourselves. And like you said, coach others through once we know how to do it. Yes, the stories are what get us in trouble, right? Similar in meditation. It's not. The sensation isn't the problem. It's the the meaning that we're giving the sensation. There's this. There's this exercise I'll teach my athletes and we call it first circle. Second circle. The first circle is the facts. Like what happened? Second circle is like the story that we give it. Right. And so helping like we talked about awareness building the awareness of like where are we in the second circle and where is that not serving us? And can we strip it back and be like, okay, what's actually happened? Like without emotion, without this like noggin of ours getting in the way, like what are the facts? Because from there we can like move on from neutrality, right? It's the story that gets us in trouble sometimes. Most times. Most times, yes. Because that's where emotion sits. Facts are logic. Facts are this. This is the truth, and story is embellishment. Story is. And that's where emotion tends to flow in. And generally when we have something horrible going on in our body, we're also attached to that emotion. Mhm. That's the thing that I find the most. And it's it's teaching people how to detach from that emotion so that they can go, oh okay. These are the real, this is the real thing. So I love that. That's something you use. That's a phenomenal tool. Yes. And I, I love that uh I've, I've heard of the circle concept where we've got the facts in the middle and then everything ripples out from there. But I've never heard it as the first circle. Second circle. And that's so much simpler. It's such a practice. You know, my husband and I do it all the time. He'll be like, is that first circle or second circle? And I'm like, ah, you're right. Okay. You know, and it's great to have somebody call us on our staff. Okay. Yes. And especially our partners having partners that are are able to show us and not in a reactive way in a nice, a nice way, which. Is neutral. To. Me. Nice means neutral. Don't give me any emotions behind it. Don't have like don't be snarky about it. Just be like, did you notice this? Yeah. I know. I can't. But my husband is like that, I can't. I am so unbelievably grateful that he is in my life because we both agreed when we got married and this was part of our vows, we are leveling each other up. That's what we're here for. That's great. That's a good agreement to have. Yes. And and remember 11 years later. Yeah. Right. That's the key. That is the key center. Yes. And consistency around around that. Because if it falls away in between, like you say it when you're getting married and then all of a sudden it just rears its ugly head randomly ten years later, you're like, where did that come from? Totally startling. Yeah, startling. Yeah, it. Is. But to have it consistently throughout that's that's been the gift. That's the true gift. Yes. All right. Jeter pig. If my coach watches this, he's gonna really get a kick out of it. I am certain. Of it, I love it, I those kind of those kind of nicknames stick. They totally stick. I didn't I wasn't blessed with any of those kind of nicknames. Everybody just called me by my last name, and now they call me by my last name. And I'm like, hey, it's Smith now. It's not Ritchie. Richie. Yeah. They're sticky. Those last name ones, you know. Yes, yes. And when you get married and it's. Yeah, it's a thing. My best friend still calls me by my maiden name. And I love that because she's, like, the only one. I'm. I'm okay hearing it from. Yeah. Because now I'm like. Hey, my last name is Smith. It's been Smith for 11 years. Yeah. That's sweet right? Yeah. Okay, so some of the other trainings that that I want to highlight that you have done neuro linguistic programming, mental emotional release hypnosis. Yeah. What was what. Was the first one that first that training that you did that unlocked things. Was it neuro linguistic programming or hypnosis? That one was neuro linguistic programming. So that first day was NLP. And then we dove later that week into mental emotional release. And then the following week was hypnosis. So the training I got all of it for. But we started with, you know, NLP, uh, suggestive Languaging persuasive languaging working with the unconscious mind is really the foundation for, you know, all these other ideas. So we had to start there. Um, but even just with that foundational one, that's what had these symptoms go away. You know, it's really profound because what neuro linguistic programming is, if we look at it, neuro, the mind, linguistic language. Right. So you're working with the language of the mind and specifically the unconscious mind, which is really the one driving the ship. Like consciously we can want something. And this is what I see with athletes, often consciously, they'll have a goal. But is there something unconsciously that's preventing the behavior that it takes to get to the goal? Like maybe you see this with your folks too, where they're like, you know, I'm going to start, I'm going to get up at 5 a.m., I'm going to do this, like intricate morning routine. I'm going to get in an extra training session, and then 5 a.m. rolls around and they're like, snooze, snooze until 630. Snooze until seven. Right? And it's because there's something at the unconscious level, whether it's a belief that I'll never be good enough anyway, or a fear of failing if they really try, or any number of things that they've picked up along the way. That's in the lodged and stuck in the unconscious, that's affecting our conscious behavior and our ability to, like, really reach that potential and reach our goals. And so that's what we do with NLP. Mental emotional release hypnosis is really like, get to that unconscious mind and clear up whatever needs to be cleared up so that consciously, you can wake up at 5 a.m. if you want to. Like if that's what it takes to reach your goals. You're like, of course I can do this because there's nothing there preventing you. I love that. That so. Are. Learning Turning that sound and rhythmic speech go straight through your filter into your subconscious. Made me change the music I listened to and the cadence I carry when I speak. Mhm. Because if we're talking in rhymes, whatever's coming through in that rhyme is going to go straight into your subconscious. When you do NLP and mental release, mental emotional release technique, are we bringing it to the conscious mind or are we just changing the subconscious? Good question. So with NLP, with neuro linguistic programming, it doesn't necessarily need to come to the conscious mind. You're just kind of like tweaking. You know, I like to think of our unconscious as, uh, like our cute little toddler selves, and they're trying so hard, like they're trying the best they can. Yeah, but you can just. Like, redirect and reframe them, right? Like you can use all this, like ninja language to where at the unconscious level, they're like, oh yeah, I guess I hadn't thought about it that way, you know? And the toddler is like, sure, I'll go to bed at eight. I love going to bed at eight. You know, when they were like trying to go to bed at ten and they're just so cute. You just want to like. Yeah. So you language ninja. So that's more of that, uh, process is it's, uh, I use NLP just pretty much throughout the entire sessions because it's just conversational mental, emotional release is a guided process that works with, uh, going to the root cause of issues. So and again, it's all unconscious. So where maybe traditional therapy would say, okay, you know, was there another time that you felt afraid? And they're like, you know, now that I think about it, I was afraid when I was, I don't know, eight or something. The unconscious mind goes back to these things that you're not even like, fully aware of what happened, and it allows you to let go through this guided process. Uh, working with what's called your timeline, um, because we all experience time a little differently, you know, so you go back. It does feel kind of hypnotic, you know, it feels the guided process when you're in it. It does have some parallels to hypnosis. Um, but the reason why it works so quickly and so well is that it goes to the root, you know, maybe not eight. Maybe you were like three and you're unconscious mind. Just hold on to it. And you don't even really know what happened. But that's what's causing this thing today. You know, it's not really this thing. It's like what happened way back. Yep. Yeah. And then hypnosis is really lovely and it's more passive, right? You can just kind of sit there and your unconscious mind gets to just follow the the post hypnotic suggestions and the rhythm of the voice and you kind of get lost, but you also are aware of what's happening. You know, it's really we give, uh, hypnosis recordings to our athletes just as like, hey, if you need like a little ten, 15 minute break during the day, just pop in those headphones and, like, you know, it's a really great passive way to to see the change, too. Yeah. You've got me thinking about yoga nidra and how, yes, I am such a fan of Yoga Nidra. One of my favorite teachers, Jeremy Wolff here in Denver. He he his voice is magic. And and the process that you go through, it always starts the same. You remember that part and then poof, you're gone. And ah. The magic that happens with that. So with yoga nidra, 15 minutes equals three hours of sleep with hypnosis. Is it the same? It's you know, I actually haven't found a study that equates it like that. I know that your brain wavelength, uh, drops into similar, uh, yes. At certain times, like in yoga nidra there, it hits a few different wavelengths depending on where you are in the process. And hypnosis kind of the idea is that you're like, you're just dropped and you're just. Kind of like. In it, you know? And so there are times that there are parallels. The first time my yoga teacher took me through yoga nidra, I was like, this feels like hypnosis. Like this feels so trance y, you know? And it kind of works. Additionally on like a spiritual, you know, level two, it kind of has that, that, uh, depth to it to I'm with you. It does feel so similar. Yeah. It's the best and I love it. I, I do it personally a couple times a week and we give some stuff to our athletes because, um, they really like it on long travel days. Do you remember long bus rides? I think our longest was like 12 hours. And at the end, you're just kind of like rode buzzy, you know, because you've been driving. And so they'll do it at the end of long travel days to like, get present to their new location or in between doubleday's, you know, right there to like, like you said, get that rest in such a short amount of time. It's it's a really, pardon the pun, but slept on technique. You know, it's amazing. It is. It really is. And I, I love that we get to bring it to light here on the episode because people don't know about these techniques. I'm certain they've heard of hypnosis. Yoga nidra is one of those that not many people have heard of. Unless you're a Yogi and you've tapped into all the things and gone down the rabbit hole, because that one's kind of down in the rabbit hole. It's pretty. Down there. I mean, I'm very happy that, um, it's getting a broader reach to do, you know, Andrew Huberman, he wrote. So he started rebranding Yoga Nidra as non sleep depressed. Have you seen that? Oh my gosh I love this. Yeah. And so somebody asked him he's like they're like hey yeah. Non sleep depressed that you keep talking about. Really sounds a lot like yoga nidra. And he's like you know it is. It is the same. But he knew that like unless you're kind of into that like yeah to me yoga woo woo anymore. But like some people yoga is a little out there where yoga nidra might not reach a ton of people. But if a neuroscientist rebrands it as non sleep depressed like so many people are happy to do it now, you know, make sure rebrand you know whatever it. However it can help people right. Whatever it takes. Oh my gosh I love that. Okay I'm gonna have to. Go check. A podcast out because I love his podcast and see if he's talking about it. I, I'm definitely searching on that because all that hits me in the feels. That's a good one. Thank you. Great. I'll send you a link. Yes, please. Thank you. And I'll include it in the show notes so you guys can listen to it too. Ah. Okay. Renee. Where can people find you on the internet so that they can learn more amazing things like we have talked about today? Yeah. Our website, Athletic mental performance. Com has all the different ways that you can work with us. We also have a blog on there. Uh, or just good old Instagram. Uh could be a way. And then LinkedIn. So we're kind of on all the platforms, we, uh, pieced together different content across all of them so we can really run that reach and, you know, scream it from the rooftops. No doubt. And hopefully this podcast episode grabs somebody's attention and they come and find you. Just one is my goal every single time. Yes. We change one person's lives. We've done our. Job. Absolutely. I seriously loved this conversation. I want to have another one because I definitely want to dive deeper into how you work with your athletes. What ages do you work with? For athletes? We work with. Quite a broad range. Uh, we started with college and professional athletes, and then we have some youngins in our life. So we've recently gotten to work with like, 12 year olds and 16 year olds just because of our nieces and nephews. And, um, that's been like a really beautiful, different level of like, heart fulfillment working with kiddos. Uh, and I will say, the majority of our programs, though, are geared more towards that elite level of college or professional. I love that, and. We've definitely got some of those listeners on here have had several guests that are at that elite level. So they're going to find it. They're going to find you. And I will love to reconnect with you and have episode. Two with Renee Yomtob. Oh, thanks, Amanda. I'm sure we could geek out even more. Yes, absolutely. Oh my gosh. Diving deeper into all of the things that, you know yeah, we could definitely geek out. So I thank you again. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening. To spirit of an athlete podcast. If you're struggling with your own gut issues and want more direction, you can get an initial body scan from Amanda at Body Whisper Healing Comm. In 20 minutes, you can find out what's wrong. Get clarity. Map the path forward. You get on track to get back in your game. If this episode hits the spot, please let us know by rating, reviewing, and sharing it with a friend. Subscribe now to hear more inspiring stories from other female college athletes who overcame their health issues. Want more Amanda? Get inspired by finding more at Body Whisper healing.com.