Hey athletes! Do you ever feel pressured by a coach to keep playing through pain, compete when you're exhausted, or repeatedly attempt a skill that scares you? As someone who struggled with people pleasing, setting healthy boundaries used to be a VERY stressful topic. I didn’t want to seem difficult or offend anyone. After leaving the athletic world and venturing
into the medical field I've learned the hard way how vital emotional intelligence is for upholding your personal boundaries while still being coachable.
Historically, it appears that when an athlete experiences an injury, regardless of their level of performance, the attention is automatically focused on the physical and visible aspect of the injury. It appears that little attention is paid to the psychological experience encompassing student-athletes internal thoughts and feelings. Tracey (2003) pointed out that when recovering from an injury, both men and women collegiate student-athletes experience various emotions, such as anxiety, fear, confusion, and even anger.
There is a trust you have to have in your timing, managing your pace is important to one's success. At times it can be hard to hold on to that trust as you watch others around you making moves, but utmost belief in your own plan is where it is at.
On April 14th, The Rex Project released Karelle's story of her experience with abuse.Karelle Edwards-Perry, a former professional hurdler and co-owner of Embrace Your Pace, speaks out about her experience with abuse in track and field, why she stayed, how she recognized the abuse, and what stepping away from the sport she dedicated years of work to looked like.
On February 27th, Karelle hosted a live broadcast of the U Sports Conversation with student-athletes to examine the intersection between race and sports within the black community. You can rewatch the entire conversation here!
As a former collegiate athlete, I’ve struggled with allowing myself to live in the moment and oftentimes planned ahead....I felt like I was going through a period of uncertainty, questioning everything, and soul-searching for my next journey.
Here you will find the story of Karelle Edwards-Perry, a pro athlete, Oiselle sponsored hurdler, athlete model, and all around fantastic human. While podium moments are familiar terrain, we've seen that it's the sharing of the full story that makes the biggest difference -- as we all search for ways to rise to life's challenges. You can read about Karelle's experiences in the blog.
Haute Volée hurdler and mental health therapist Karelle Edwards confronts the disconnect between "toughen up" style athlete coaching and mental health maximization.
