Attention Climbers

Max Attention at Max Intensity: Burpee Training for Climbers | Max Edwards

Send a question or comment! Welcome back to Attention climbers! Today, we’re diving into a simple, structured system to train your antagonist strength, your explosivity, and your dynamic lower body mobility - and ability to try-hard when you're SUPER uncomfortable. If you struggle to apply maximum effort or mental focus to the wall when it counts, you may benefit from the specific practice of explosive and sustained muscular and cardiovascular intensity without the added altitude, and burpees are a fantastic practice ground. I chat with Max Edwards, philosophy professor at the University of New Hampshire and founder of “The Busy Dad” Burpee Training Program (https://busydadtraining.com/), about the burpee movements, the program itself, and Max's experience of using burpees as attention training and body awareness training under high intensity and the impending sense of muscular failure. The structure: 2 types of burpee movements, 20 minutes as-many-reps-as-possible per workout, 4 workouts a week - 2 x 20 minutes for each movement. (Get 2 weeks off the Busy Dad training app with this link! https://busydadtraining.com/join/?ref=busydadtraining) The movements: 1. The 6 count military-style burpee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eroWyZxZNlA&t=28s 2. The Navy Seal Burpee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqWQkblauo8&t=11s If you struggle to find the time or discipline to train antagonists for climbing - which we ALL have been told endlessly to do (for good reason :D) - then this program is for you - and leaves plenty of climbing time to spare. The best part? There is no pressure for a “minimum requirement” - every single burpee done with intention - counts. Your antagonists will thank you for showing up, whether as part of a focused, meditative climbing warm-up, a "pure" training day, or a post-climb burner to channel your fall-frustration into preventative strength training that communicates "safety", and therefore "try-hard", to your body. We dive deep into interoception at high intensity, moving past superficial "motivational self-talk" to ask: How do we pay loving attention to temporary pain and suffering at the crux? Key Takeaways The Physical Crossover: How Navy Seal burpees build antagonist chest power, core tension, and hand-foot match mobility directly applicable to climbing. Overcoming Movement Panic: Why "thought is the problem" when detached from sensation, and how seemingly "positive" self-talk can trigger panic under effort. Interoception vs. Exteroception: Balancing internal body awareness (burpees) with external spatial awareness (climbing) as attentional antagonists. Attention as Love: Drawing on 20th-century philosophers Simone Weil and Iris Murdoch to study physical discomfort with curiosity and compassion rather than fear.

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Recognize, Regulate, Rehearse, Repeat, Review: Rewire Your Stress Response | JD Tremblay

Send a question or comment! In this episode of Attention Climbers, we sit down with Olympic-level Canadian triathalon coach and values-based life coach JD Tremblay to discuss how to rewire your brain's threat perception and prediction system for better performance and well-being in sports, relationships, and life. JD breaks down his 5 R framework (Recognize, Regulate, Rehearse, Repeat, Review)—a tactical system used to reduce stress responses, manage non-physical pressure, set firm value-based boundaries, and navigate the psychological triggers that hinder performance. Whether you are over-attempting climbs, struggling with social comparison, or trying to cultivate focus under pressure, this conversation will offer you insights to hone your craft. Key Takeaways: Threat Perception & Performance: How the brain may interpret safety, calm, and boundaries as hidden threats, and how everyone perceives threat differently The 5 R Framework: A practical 5-step process to recondition your responses in any high-stress situation, climbing, relationships, or otherwise. Overachieving vs. High Performance: How the former comes from adverse childhood conditioning, and the latter comes from deliberately noticing and resolving triggers using the 5 R framework. Values Over Feelings: How to ground your climbing, relationship and life decisions in core values rather than momentary emotion or comparison. To discover more about JD and his coaching, visit the Hungry Warrior Academy Website: https://hungrywarrioracademy.com/ JD would also personally love your feedback on this episode: https://speakerhub.com/cta/9CwhCG

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Tears, Tantrums, Attention: How to Craft the Ideal Climbing Mindset | Louis Parkinson

Send a question or comment! I interview my climbing coach, Louis Parkinson, former Team GB climber and head of Catalyst Climbing, on how he experiences his own mindset training - so that we can all learn from his insights. We had such a great time recording, and hope you enjoy listening! Get ready for a gripping episode where Louis deep dives into his internal monologue and how he works with it, tells climbing stories where he experienced "crippling nerves" and "tantalizingly close" attempts, and reveals moments of extreme stress and how he coped with them. You'll also hear about Louis' new book on strengthening mindset, and how you can use it to catalyze changes in both climbing and life. What You’ll Learn 1. Rewiring the Climbing Mindset The "Ideal Mindset" Defined: High performance isn't about forced positivity, but achieving a quieter mind focused strictly on movement. The Practice vs. Performance Split: Practice intentional mental awareness so you can trust your instincts under pressure. Treating Mindset Like Movement: Train your attention and intention on the wall with the same diligence you use for physical technique and precision. 2. Managing Nerves, Fear & Frustration Reframe Pre-Climb Nerves: Transform the feeling of "I'm nervous, so I'm not ready" into "This sensation is what being ready feels like" . Eustress vs. Distress: Recognize that pre-climb anxiety can automatically shift into useful, exciting energy once you start moving. Healthy Frustration: "Engaged frustration" ("I almost had it!") keeps climbing fun without threatening your ego. Navigating High-Stress Moments: How the brain operates at different fear levels—from manageable doubts (9/10) to total freeze responses. 3. Nervous System Regulation & Self-Worth Uncoupling Performance from Personal Worth: Tools to play a high-stakes movement game without letting the result define your value as a person. The "Inner Child" & "Animal Training" Metaphors: How responding to your inner monologue with compassion rather than harsh judgment speeds up learning. The Fish Pond Visualization: Learn to step back, observe intense emotions, and "be the pond, not the fish" when things go wrong on or off the wall. 4. Insights from Louis' book, co-authored with psychotherapist Joel Robertson: "Get a Grip" : A Climber's Route to Stronger Mindset and Better Mental Health" Curiosity Over Judgment: How Louis’s book uses real-world analogies (like spilling a cup of coffee) to reveal your underlying psychological patterns. "Get A Grip" is available on Amazon and other book sellers now :D https://www.amazon.com/dp/1839813040?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback

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Belinda "Coach Be" Fuller | Drilling Feelings for Fine-Tuned Climbing Technique

Send a question or comment! We sit down with Belinda Fuller—known and loved in the climbing community as "Coach Be"—who coaches everyone from complete beginners to Team GB athletes. Coach Be unpacks the paradox of structure and freedom in movement. We discuss why a lack of "natural talent" forced her to break down 15 years of complex climbing movement into intuitive, feeling-based foundations that anyone can learn. From micro-cues like tracking your knee over the little toe and "belly button over toes" to using the inside edge flag, Be shares how mastering technique isn't about rigid rules. It's about expanding your movement vocabulary so you can expand your self-expression, freedom and joy on the wall. Here's what you'll hear about! 1. How NOT being a gifted climber lends well to learning climbing and teaching it to self and others 2. Balancing strict curriculum discipline with total movement freedom 3. How to translate complex technique into intuitive bodily "feelings" 4. Unlocking plateaus by training your uncomfortable weaknesses 5. Micro-cues: The power of the inside edge flag and "lock and rock" 6. Supporting Climbing Out of Depression (COOD) Check out COOD (Climbing Out of Depression) at https://cood.org.uk/ to learn more about their free coaching sessions aimed at supporting mental health through climbing. For in-person or remote coaching with Be, see her YouTube collaboration series with Hannah Morris Bouldering, or book on her website at https://www.beclimbing.co.uk. I have personally taken her coachng coaches course and would highly recommend that also!

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Body Awareness Fundamentals for Climbers, Dancers and Humans | Sigrid Vik

Send a question or comment! Body awareness is crucial for learning and performing climbing movement in a state of enjoyment. Yet if we pay attention to our bodies only to make them perform, send or do we make them do, our progression in body awareness as a skill and a source of pleasure - is limited. In this episode, Norwegian jazz and contemporary dancer and activist, Sigrid Vik, shares experiences and tips on how to connect with a sense of joy, "feel the body" and build a relationship with the body when you don't "need" anything from it, so that this baseline skill stays with you in clutch moments on hard climbs, and in hard life situations. We cover: The Horse & Rider Metaphor. How to let the mind direct while allowing the body to naturally experience the movement. Attention as Rest. Why true rest isn't just sitting still, but actively redirecting your focus to internal somatic sensations. Beyond "Being Good". Unlocking playfulness, overcoming fear of unsending, and letting go of performance pressure. Practical Body-Awareness Drills. Simple tactics like fingertip tracing, gaze shifts, and 5-minute micro-rests to reset your nervous system. Move, dance and connect with your body with Sigrid and other lovely movers, if you're in or around Oslo! https://www.klubbtaplass.no/ https://www.instagram.com/ktpvibrations/

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This Attention Shift Unlocks Rest for Climbing and Life Performance | Bunny Love-Schock

Send a question or comment! If you're a climber or a human who overtrains, overworks, and gets stressed at the mere idea of resting - this episode with Bunny Love- Schock is for you. Our conversation draws attention to the following and more: - Microdrills and techniques to get you more comfortable with resting | - Exploring shame around resting despite its importance for performance - A grounding exercise using the skin on our fingers (say what?!) to use during climbing sessions and other stimulating or stressful environments - How to use your attention to place yourself gently in states of rest - A wee pinch of vagus nerve-based stress management neuroscience Bunny's life purpose is to help people befriend their bodies, needs and nervous systems en-route to well-rooted, grounded greatness in their craft or discipline. She is a Neurosomatic performance coach for corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, athletes and creatives. This means she harnesses neuroscientific body-based tools and principles as the foundation of success in any field involving a combination of mental and physical expertise. Bunny's extensive experience includes - serving as an interfaith minister, years as a professional dancer and choreographer, previous Art Director for the city of Surrey, England, and working with a broad range of clients including Adidas and The North Face within the athletic corporate sector. To contact Bunny, visit her website! https://loveschock.com/work-with-me

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Stop Fear of Fear from Ruining Your Climbing | Evan Gregor

Send a question or comment! As climbers, we may have internalized that our fear, negative thoughts, and unpleasant emotions are "bad" or "wrong", in either explicit or subtle ways. This fearful reaction to our own fears most often comes from the positive intention to focus on the climb, what is "objectively true" about ourselves and the climb, and the factors we can control. However, fear or shame of fear itself due to "what it might mean" about us as climbers or humans - can cause us to reflexively turn away from these "negative feelings or thoughts". When we cannot pay attention to negative inner experiences, our mindsets plateau. Our capacity for the self awareness required for improving and enjoying our climbing, as well as our ability to react to fear constructively and flexibly - are limited. In this episode, we explore a different relationship to fear and negativity with NYC-based jazz musician, clinical EFT practitioner and inner work coach Evan Gregor, and introduce the emotional perceptive skill of "allowing" in the context of high pressure environments such as climbing, professional music performance, and more. To learn and experience allowing on your own, see Evan's guided meditation on YouTube: https://youtu.be/PD2uSFLjiII?si=_cLcOUjAgBU1P0Fq

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Why Your Climbing Mindset Fails, and How to Fix it | Evan Gregor

Send a question or comment! We are back with clinical EFT practitioner, inner work coach and professional jazz musician Evan Gregor to dive deeper into how to "allow" fear, negative thoughts and uncomfortable sensations into the climbing (and life) experience, how to avoid shame-plateaus while doing mindset work for climbing, and how to use the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) consisting of a combination of tapping accupressure points on the body, combined with self-monologue - to facilitate a healthier relationship with our emotions for climbing and life. To learn more about Evan's framework for changing emotional patterns through allowing, go to his YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSvtX-iGW9A&list=PLmuEhHf2HdbzeeNVMpuJqJw4jtcDmgOG0

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Childhood Trauma and Climbing Issues | Live 1:1 Coaching Session with Evan Gregor

Send a question or comment! Climbing too much. Resting too little. Under-committing to moves. "Negative mindset" in social settings around other climbers. These sound like issues that we climbers can simply "behave differently" in response to. But for many of us, what if these and others problems negatively impacting climbing performance and enjoyment, are rooted in unprocessed childhood experiences of abandonment, isolation, and fear - where we felt unsupported, unseen and alone? In this special episode, I am back with with clinical EFT practitioner and inner work coach Evan Gregor in a 1:1 childhood trauma processing live session for climbing - which inevitably, ends up having nothing to do with climbing itself. You will hear me raise genuine issues I've struggled with, and we will be pausing for Evan's commentary on how you can integrate this process for yourself - or with a practitioner. To work with Evan or find out more about his work as a clinical Emotional Freedom Technique practitioner and inner work coach, visit https://innerworkcoach.com/

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Welcome to Attention Climbers Season 2!

Send a question or comment! A big thank you to all listeners of Season 1, and welcome back! If this is your first foray into the world of Attention Climbers, welcome!

🎵 Musical Calf Raises for Climbers: Ankle Mobility and Proprioception

Send a question or comment! Can music make your ankles stronger and more mobile in the full range needed for climbing? Join me as we sing to find out It's no wonder that British Olympian and World Series gold medalist Erin "McBeast" McNiece cites training ankle proprioception as a key ingredient of her success. Who knew a few notes could deliver a climbing-imactful foot workout. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *ANNOUNCEMENT A/O JULY 2026** Vision Training for Climbing Mentorship! I have 1 opening for vision and visualisation training mentorship for climbers - targeting performance and wellbeing on-and-off the wall in a systemic way, tailored to your lifestyle learning style, and goals. Contact me via podcast mail for an exploratory call. We will dive into whether this is a right fit for you, and shape a journey together that equips you with the knowledge, skills, habits, training sessions, and resources to upgrade your nervous system technology and trigger a "cognitive revolution" in your climbing. N.B.! 1. This is NOT a paid product or a service with a delivery promise. It is a personalised passion-driven journey of learning, experiencing and reflection at no monetary cost, delivered old school style in the name of personal connection. I am seeking resonance and alignment with you if something drives you from deep within to learn the priceless art of perceptual training and if you are keen to take radical, creative ownership of your own perception and performance. 2. You are responsible and liable for for your own mind, body, experience, learning process and results at all times, and can (and should!) at any time - stop its momentum, speak up, or ignore information - should something not feel right for you. All information I provide is invitation, not instruction. My wish is to impart the basics of what you need to steer your own boat! :D -------------------------------------------------------------- All guided meditations, meditation demos and experiences, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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🌧️ Negative Thoughts Mental Training Demo: "Peripheral Projection Technique"

Send a question or comment! *ANNOUNCEMENT A/O JULY 2026** Vision Training for Climbing Mentorship! I have 1 opening for vision and multisensory embodied visualisation training mentorship for climbers - targeting performance and wellbeing on-and-off the wall in a systemic way, tailored to your lifestyle learning style, and goals. Contact me via podcast mail for an exploratory call. We will dive into whether this is a right fit for you, and shape a journey together that equips you with the knowledge, skills, habits, training sessions, and resources to upgrade your nervous system technology and trigger a "cognitive revolution" in your climbing. N.B.! 1. This is NOT a paid product or a service with a delivery promise. It is a personalised passion-driven journey of learning, experiencing and reflection at no monetary cost, delivered old school style in the name of personal connection. I am seeking resonance and alignment with you if something drives you from deep within to learn the priceless art of perceptual training and if you are keen to take radical, creative ownership of your own perception and performance. 2. You are responsible and liable for for your own mind, body, experience, learning process and results at all times, and can (and should!) at any time - stop its momentum, speak up, or ignore information - should something not feel right for you. All information I provide is invitation, not instruction. My wish is to impart the basics of what you need to steer your own boat! :D -------------------------------------------------------------- In these next few minutes, I reveal my negative thoughts to you whilst anchoring them to my peripheral visual field, creating a state of nervous system balance where fight or flight (sympathetic nervous system activation) both triggered and signaled by negative thinking - is balanced by soft gaze fixation and peripheral awareness - nervous system regulators that trigger a balancing parasympathetic nervous system response. This is a meditation you can replicate literally anywhere safe where you can open your eyes. All guided meditations and meditation demos, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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✅ 50 Questions to Ask Before You Give Up

Send a question or comment! My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. There's one thing I enjoy infinitely more than solving problems - asking questions. This episode asks the question: what if giving up too soon on a boulder is NOT a psychological limitation, but rather - a perceptual-cognitive one? Here are 50 questions you can ask yourself when you are repeatedly falling on a hard climb - targeting your capacity to perceive yourself, the climb, and your surroundings clearly - so that you can produce clear thinking from those perceptions to guide your next action. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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🎯 Sharpen Climbing Senses at Home: 12 Minute Meditation🐈 Optional!

Send a question or comment! Today, I am back broadcasting to you guys with 🐈 Oskar. This time, we are lounging together facing one another on our balcony couch. Oskar serves as my muse throughout this meditation, and I welcome you to involve a furry friend too. If you don't have one - simply replacing the pet-invitation, with any meaningful object, will do. Let's sharpen our awareness of five systems in our bodies and brains that work tirelessly to help you perform at your limit on the wall: central vision, peripheral vision, the vestibular system, proprioception, and kinaesthesia. As you rest your body and intensify your attention in a relaxed state, you finally give these unsung heroes the opportunity to work at THEIR limit too! All meditations, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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💡Mindset Issues Stemming from Climbing Culture, And How To Solve Them

Send a question or comment! My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. This episode may pique some heated discussion, and I'd love to hear from you if you either resonate or disagree! Nearly every climber wanting to improve - struggles with "mindset issues" - some form of negativity or inner resistance arising from their experience or perception of their climbing experience, ability or learning curve. That said, mindset issues are unlikely to be a personal failure or shortcoming. I assert that the following 10 aspects of climbing culture may systemically lead to our collective experience of mindset challenges, and suggest interventions - most are painfully simple - but not necessarily easy. I love climbing and don't want to "change" or "fix" these aspects - instead, I wish to shed light on them so we as climbers can individually respond. 1. Climbing is primarily seen as a "sport". 2. Climbing primarily values "ascension". 3. There is no concept of "dismounting" in climbing, so "falling" is constructed as separate from the "climb". 4. Modern sport climbing and gym culture overexposes us to "concentric" upward movement and underexposes us to "eccentric" downward movement. 5. The ratio of deliberate practice to level of skill is low in climbing compared to other disciplines. 6. A graded system of routes and boulders outside our control makes it challenging to establish and train from our own internal sense of what needs improvement 7. Language used in climbing contexts describe external rather than internal phenomena, whereas climbing is experienced from within. 8. Popular conceptions of "climbing" exclude those with injuries, illnesses, or those otherwise unable to perform at their best, from "real climbing". 9. Social performativity of bravery and risk taking (see (2)) triggers overvaluing of others' opinions compared to one's own climbing experience. 10. The obsession with regular observable improvement works against our ability to work on our deepest cruxes. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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🐈 Catnap Pet Meditation: Rest Day Guided Meditation for Climbers

Send a question or comment! Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall. My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. Whispered whilst crouching at the dining room table and staring at adorably sleeping little Oskar 😽 - this rest-day guided meditation is for you AND your animal friend - cat, dog, hamster, plush or otherwise. Do not be fooled by its soft, innocent, lazy label! This experience activates the parasympathetic "rest and digest" system that helps you recover for your next hard session, connect with yourself and your furry loved one, and importantly - strengthens visual and body awareness skills that help you make crisper contact with climbs. Remember - your body is a symphony of systems - and some systems can only be trained at their limit if you are NOT at your physical or psychological limit. :) All meditations, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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⚠️ Head Acceleration Intolerance - The Invisible Crux that Climbing Plateaus Reveal

Send a question or comment! Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall. My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. Today's episode is both philosophical and practical. We dive into a common long-term plateau generator: choosing lock off strength gains over dynamic movement to gain a short term send, leading to underexposure to head / center of mass acceleration, leading to increased perception of fear, reduced commitment and reduced sends at higher grades. Of course - there's something simple you can do about it, and I'm psyched to share an example that you can creatively improvise on yourself! Good news - it does NOT involve giving up our beloved upper body strength training, but rather - responding to strength gains intelligently! Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening! Want more? Check out www.attentionclimbers.com to train your presence, awareness, and multisensory perception to climb harder with less perceived effort.

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📿 The "Fall Necklace" Drill: Craft Focus and Intelligence While Falling

Send a question or comment! Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall. My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. I'm excited to share and demonstrate an off-the-wall version of the "Fall Necklace Drill", one of my favourite mental training drills! You'll need your favourite stuffed animal to help you out with falling - whilst you play "judge"! (Live demonstration starts after 4:00). Your mission? Gain access to climbing intelligence at the very moment you are most stressed on the wall. The habit of sharper focus on the details of unique falling attempts - is best sharpened off-the-wall. You first train your brain to spot differences between attempts by "externalising" the fall outside your own experience. Then, you activate the habit in your own on the wall experience. The more you pay attention to focused information from your falls, the less you will be distracted by fear, and the more precise you attempts will be come. Read more about the "fall necklace" concept here! https://www.attentionclimbers.com/attentiontraining/comparison-is-the-key-to-joy-incentivising-fall-comparison-to-maximise-focus. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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💔 "Fear of Falling" as "Fear of Loss": Hone the Art of Processing Grief to Strengthen Climbing Mindset

Send a question or comment! My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. Today, we depart from our recent run of mind-training meditations - to address a crucial topic: the experience of grief and loss in climbing and in life. I assert that intentionally leaning into and exploring our experience of grief and loss from falling off the climbs we love - allows for a safe, effective "microdosing" of the same emotions that life will dish out in far greater and more chaotic fashion. Alongside traditional climbing "mindset training" that encourages us to stay positive and focused at all times, "grief training" during our climbing session asks that we attend ourselves in the moments where we lose positivity and focus as our nervous systems process the real feeling of loss as we fall off boulders and routes, or miss out on learning about moves we love. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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🔥 2 Minute Plank with Guided Visuosomatic Finger Scan

Send a question or comment! Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall. My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. This is a medium to high intensity 2 minute body scan meditation in elbow plank position (from 1:00) where we focus alternating bilateral attention on each of our fingers, focusing our gaze and our body sensation on one finger at a time. Fine motor focus shifting under increasing discomfort? Hello - climbing in a nutshell! All meditations, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body. Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK! Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need. As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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