Before my first Taekwondo fight and Muay Thai fight I had so much adrenaline and cortisol in the build up to the fights and for some reason it seems to all dump in my legs making them all heavy and unresponsive - not a helpful response when you need to kick to win!

Before my first Chemistry finals I also momentarily forgot the periodic table despite writing it out several times a day in the run up to it.

But as the article states it can be overcome and things like breathing exercises can really drive the needle. The corollary to the mind-body connection is that there is a body-mind connection! Just as the mind can influence the body, the body can influence the mind and performing physical tasks that the body associates with relaxation (breathing exercises, hot spas, forest walks etc) can settle the mind.

The other thing I came across on my journey to overcome performance anxiety for us mere mortal non-Olympians is:

1. Some of the jitteryness is a result of being unaccustomed/intolerant of adrenaline. Doing stressful (but safe) activities can build up your own resilience to stressful situations - this is why I find value in Muay Thai/boxing sparring, there aren't many things more stressful than getting punched in the face

2. Presence of mind can be trained and an easy hack I found that is taught in the military is the 3x3 Grounding Technique [1]

The general theme of sports psychology reminded me of a BBC article [2] that investigated focus in champion tennis players (and other sports) as measured by their eye movement.

[1] https://www.armyresilience.army.mil/ard/r2/Mindfulness.html

[2] https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180627-is-quiet-eye-the...

In the same way that we practice motor skills (which are also mental skills) separately (think of preparatory running exercises as pedagogical tools for sprints) and then integrate them into performance (soccer players train with specific drills for ball control and one- or two-touch passing), we should practice mental skills first in isolation and then integrate them into performance (Dave Alred, the famous coach who was once the kicking coach for Wilkinson, the fly-half for the English national rugby team, wrote about this in his book “The Pressure Principle”).

Similarly, the autogenic training skills we develop must first be developed in isolation and then integrated (but integration begins on day one) into the performance itself. That is, it is not enough to be relaxed in bed, even if this is reflected in “real life,” but relaxation, which does not mean a state of torpor, far from it, must be part of every activity and challenge.