#161 Peter Connolly - Lifestyle Awareness, Mental Fitness Consultant and Occupational Therapist

Sleep Eat Perform Repeat

Peter is an OT with a passion for mental and emotional wellbeing. In mid-2021 he launched FITMINDS, a mental skills and lifestyle design program to enhance mental wellbeing and performance. The approach blends mindfulness, Acceptance and Commitment therapy, and OT. He has vast clinical experience, has written for RTE lifestyle and appears relatively in the media.

This episode was brought to you by Hauora - a performance wellbeing growth partner. Hauora aims to educate and impact individual and organisational culture to ignite health, wellbeing, and performance. Find out more at www.HauoraLife.com

Today we speak about what Peter has learned from dog-walking, movement before meditation, his OT career - and the importance of mindfulness. We unpack where to start for people who find adopting a mindfulness practice difficult...how to become mentally fitter. Peter opens up on self talk outside our comfort zone, psychological flexibility, mental muscle training, his ambitions for work in sport...and how we can help teach our children the value of meditation and mindfulness.

We discuss what energises Peters' work, his advice for people suffering from anxiety through the pandemic - and the importance of flexibility, imagination and compassion. There was so much in this - thanks Peter!
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Key Timestamps:

• (3:40) - Peters journey to Occupational Therapy
• (6:20) - Clarifying what you’re aligned with
• (7:48) - Mindfulness to train the mind - it's not easy
• (8:45) - Trying to escape from a particular feeling
• (9:15) - Using movement to improve meditation practice
• (11:49) - Connecting with our senses to become more present
• (13:25) - Getting quick wins with small practices
• (14:56) - Psychological Flexibility - staying connected to what matters
• (16:45) - Imagery as a tool to overcome obstacles
• (20:57) - Being connected to our values as we face uncertainty
• (22:45) - Labeling situations and recognising difficulty
• (25:07) - The Goal-keeper as a guardian of the mind
• (25:53) - Self-talk and moving to the edge of our comfort zone
• (26:10) - DNAV as a Self-talk tool
• (28:56) - Reconnecting with our relationships and communities
• (31:26) - Mental fitness for unlocking the performance
• (37:32) - What does high performance mean to you?

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In this episode we discuss: 🗣

• 🧠 Psychological Flexibility
• 😣💬 Self-talk outside our comfort zone
• 💭 The importance of imagination, flexibility, and compassion
• 🚶‍♂️ Using movement as a tool to ingraining a practice of mindfulness
• 🧘‍♂️ Where to start when adopting mindfulness
• 💪 Mental muscle training
• 👨‍⚕️ Being an OT and working to help people over 18 years
• 🌟 What energise’s Peter
• 😥 Advice for people suffering or facing anxiety