Female athletes of our generation have been told a lot of bullsh*t stories about what we’re supposed to look like; how much we’re supposed to weigh; what we’re supposed to eat (or more often not eat), and what we should or shouldn’t do in sports and training and life. We’ve lived through diet culture, sport diet culture, menopause diet culture. It is really hard to unlearn all those messages, but we owe it to ourselves to try. To liberate ourselves from the old bullsh*t that wasn’t even ours to begin with and rewrite our story in a way that is authentic and true. To help, we sat down with sport psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala, who shares how she helps women find self compassion and radical self acceptance for success and growth in midlife and beyond.

Erin Ayala, PhD, LP, CMPC is a Licensed Psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) offering virtual mental health therapy for athletes aged 14 and above. She provides one-on-one performance coaching, CMPC mentorship, clinical supervision, and group workshops for teams and sport organizations. She supports athletes in injury recovery, managing performance anxiety, depression, pre-competition stress, confidence, and self-criticism. Located in Minnesota, she is licensed to work with athletes in 40 states. You can learn more about Dr. Ayala and her work at www.skadisportpsychology.com

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