“A Blank Slate”: Preparing for Tokyo 2021 During COVID-19

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (S1) ◽  
pp. S1-1-S1-7
Author(s):  
Nick Wadsworth ◽  
Adam Hargreaves
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Referral Process ◽  
Existential Philosophy ◽  
Strength And Conditioning ◽  
Olympic Athletes ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Blank Slate ◽  
Strength And Conditioning Coach ◽  
Olympic Athlete

This article presents a case study of an applied consultancy experience with WL, an Olympic athlete preparing for Tokyo 2021. WL sought psychological support after decreases in performance and well-being forced them to consider their future as an athlete. COVID-19 and the lockdown of the United Kingdom were highly influential to the consultancy process, providing WL with the opportunity to explore their identity in the absence of sport. WL framed their emergence from the lockdown as a “Blank Slate,” which was a critical moment allowing them to “find themselves on and off the mat.” The sport psychologist’s existential philosophy is presented and discussed in detail. Furthermore, reflections are provided by WL’s strength and conditioning coach about the referral process and by WL themself about the efficacy of the interventions. The importance of supporting both the person and the performer when working with aspiring Olympic athletes is also discussed.

Case Study From the United Kingdom

2020 ◽  
pp. 201-208
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Green Spaces ◽  
The United Kingdom

For most people, well-being is understood and experienced at a local scale. Their community or city is where housing, green spaces, social cohesion, mental health, and many other vital elements of well-being play out in daily life. Local governments and other stakeholders also tend to be the most willing and able to try innovative approaches. Local wins, in turn, inform and inspire action in other areas and often build to national change....

scholarly journals Negotiating stigmatised identities: Enterprising refugee women in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 026624262199703
Author(s):  
Nkechi Adeeko ◽  
Lorna Treanor
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Women Refugees ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Entrepreneurial Activity ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Refugee Women ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Impact

This article critically analyses the complexities of identity work among refugee women entrepreneurs in the United Kingdom. Once labelled as refugees, individuals are homogenised and disadvantaged by association with this stigmatised identity. We explore how women refugees undertake dynamic identity work to recreate themselves as entrepreneurs attempting to ameliorate such stigma. Using case study evidence, we find that claiming an entrepreneurial identity enables the refutation of the stigmatised refugee label and as such, it can be personally enhancing by improving well-being and socio-economic standing. The vestigial negative effects upon access to entrepreneurial resources arising from gendered constraints and a refugee background however, persist. Thus, these refugee entrepreneurs face a double-edged sword; while challenging stigmas through entrepreneurship is potentially liberating, having a refugee background acerbates the impact of enduring structural challenges upon women’s entrepreneurial activity. This has implications for venture potential and relatedly, to the sustainability of fragile entrepreneurial identities among a cohort of vulnerable women.

A Case Study of Factors Influencing Performance in the Practice Environment

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-40
Author(s):  
Steve M. Smith ◽  
Stewart T. Cotterill ◽  
Hazel Brown
Keyword(s):  
Practice Environment ◽  
Case Study Approach ◽  
Strength And Conditioning ◽  
Performance Factors ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Psychological Influences ◽  
Strength And Conditioning Coach ◽  
Inductive Thematic Analysis

Athletes’ practice environment can influence their competitive performance. The influencing performance factors present in practice are understudied, and the aim of this study was to explore these factors. Using a case-study approach, the authors investigated a basketball practice environment to reveal influencing performance factors. Participants were 15 members of a U.K. Elite Academy Basketball League team based in a sixth-form college (equivalent to American high school age) that included 10 players, 2 coaches, 1 strength and conditioning coach, 1 academic teacher, and the head of sport (mean age 21.8 yr). A case-study approach was adopted to collect data from interviews, focus groups, and direct observations to provide a holistic assessment of the practice environment. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, which revealed 6 overarching themes: effort, status, individuality, preparation, team drive, and practice vision. Data analysis exposed several themes of influencing performance factors unreported in previous literature, suggesting that practice environments should be viewed as a stand-alone field of investigative enquiry. The results from this study provide a much-needed foray into the psychological influences of practice and give practitioners the opportunity to reflect on the results against their own practice environments.

Strength Training and Sport Psychology

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Whitney G. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Strength Training ◽  
Sport Psychology ◽  
Injury Risk ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Psychological Skills ◽  
Strength And Conditioning ◽  
Life Lessons ◽  
Strength And Conditioning Coach

Strength training sessions are developed and overseen by strength and conditioning coaches, whose primary responsibilities are to maximize individuals’ athletic performance and minimize their injury risk. As the majority of education and certification for being a strength and conditioning coach focuses on physiology and physiological adaptations, biomechanics, and related scientific areas of study, there has been less emphasis on coaching behaviors, motivational techniques, pedagogical approaches, or psychological skills. These are important areas because to accomplish both long-term and short-term training goals, strength and conditioning coaches should use and train their athletes in the use of these techniques. Motivation of training session participants is essential to being an effective strength and conditioning coach. Coaches motivate their athletes through their behaviors, design and organization of the training sessions, teaching techniques, role modeling, relationships with the athletes, and the psychological skills they incorporate within and outside of the training sessions. Coaches also often teach athletes about psychological skills not to motivate the athlete but to assist the athlete in their performance, mental health, or general well-being. Some of these psychological skills are so ingrained in the strength and conditioning discipline that coaches do not recognize or categorize them as psychological skills. Because of the relationship built between strength coach and athlete, the strength and conditioning coach often provides informal knowledge of advice on topics regarding general life lessons or skills that can actually be categorized under psychological skills. However, the lack of formal education and training in sport psychology techniques also means that strength and conditioning coaches do not take full advantage of many behaviors, motivational techniques, and other psychological skills. These areas remain an area for further professional development and research within the strength and conditioning field.

SenCity – Evaluating Users’ Experiences of Intelligent Lighting for Well-Being in Smart Cities

2018 ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Henrika Pihlajaniemi ◽  
Anna Luusua ◽  
Eveliina Juntunen
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evaluation Methods ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
System Data

This paper presents the evaluation of usersХ experiences in three intelligent lighting pilots in Finland. Two of the case studies are related to the use of intelligent lighting in different kinds of traffic areas, having emphasis on aspects of visibility, traffic and movement safety, and sense of security. The last case study presents a more complex view to the experience of intelligent lighting in smart city contexts. The evaluation methods, tailored to each pilot context, include questionnaires, an urban dashboard, in-situ interviews and observations, evaluation probes, and system data analyses. The applicability of the selected and tested methods is discussed reflecting the process and achieved results.

Chakras and Endocrine Glands

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-25
Author(s):  
Andrea Jain
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Scientific Discourse ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Endocrine Glands ◽  
Subtle Body ◽  
Modern Yoga ◽  
Unique System ◽  
Late Twentieth ◽  
Late Twentieth Century

This paper is an exploration of preksha dhyana as a case study of modern yoga. Preksha is a system of yoga and meditation introduced by Acarya Mahaprajna of the Jain Svetambara Terapanth in the late twentieth century. I argue that preksha is an attempt to join the newly emerging transnational yoga market whereby yoga has become a practice oriented around the attainment of physical health and psychological well-being. I will evaluate the ways in which Mahaprajna appropriates scientific discourse and in so doing constructs a new and unique system of Jain modern yoga. In particular, I evaluate the appropriation of physical and meditative techniques from ancient yoga systems in addition to the explanation of yoga metaphysics by means of biomedical discourse. I will demonstrate how, in Mahaprajna’s preksha system, the metaphysical subtle body becomes somaticized. In other words, Mahaprajna uses the bio-medical understanding of physiology to locate and identify the functions of metaphysical subtle body parts and processes in the physiological body.

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