Podcast Episodes

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.

With co-hosts Sarah Bowen Shea and Coach Liz Waterstraat, the guest, Erin Ayala, Ph.D., a sport psychologist and endurance athlete, talks about pushing through burnout and reframing negative self-talk. The trio talk about: 

-how to become friends with your inner critic; 

-creating your own mental toolkit; 

-using humor or sarcasm to tame mental monkeys; 

-the importance of staying in the moment during a race; and,

-the three key ingredients in motivation + self-compassion. 

In this episode of the Femme Cyclist podcast, we're diving deep into the mental side of cycling with sport psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala. In our chat, Erin shares invaluable insights on some of the biggest challenges we face as cyclists, from that pesky habit of comparing ourselves to others to finding the motivation to train.

We also tackle the topic of burnout and how to strike a bike-life balance, so that cycling remains a source of joy, not stress. Erin's down-to-earth advice will help you set realistic goals, get up the courage to sign up for that race, and keep pushing forward even when things get tough.

If you've ever struggled with self-doubt, felt overwhelmed by juggling it all, or simply needed a little extra motivation to get out the door, this episode is for you.

Ever wondered how mental resilience can transform your athletic performance? Join us in an inspiring conversation with Erin, a dedicated sports psychologist, as she shares her unique journey from traditional psychology to the specialized world of sports psychology. Learn about Erin's academic path, her personal battles with self-care and body image, and how running and endurance sports became a turning point in her life.

My guest on this week's show is the amazing Dr Erin Ayala who shares her personal and professional experience to go deeper into the mental side of endurance running.

Erin is a Licensed Psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant and founder of Skadi Sport Psychology. She is an ironman triathlete and has recently come back to running, training for an ultramarathon.

Today, we talk about self doubt and self criticism, visualisation, stress and how to prepare for success and failure.

We sit down with Dr. Erin Ayala, Licensed Psychologist and Certified Mental Performance Consultant, to talk about the mental side of injury and injury recovery in athletes. Our discussion includes:

-How Dr. Erin got into the field of counseling and sport psychology and her current research and projects

-Her athletic background and current athletic pursuits

-Types of injury in athletes and what areas of athlete are impacted

-The roles of nutrition ad sleep in injury rehab

-Building self-awareness with the ingredients of self-compassion and mental toughness

-Competing with an injury and how to consider the risks

When you imagine a high-performance athlete, what qualities do they possess? Determination perhaps? Grit? Tenacity? According to today’s guest, self-compassion is actually the key to success.

This week Sara chats with Sport Psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala. Beginning as a professor of psychology, Erin now takes on clients in all realms of sport – from triathletes to golfers, to rock climbers.

Erin shares some key takeaways from the athletes she’s worked with, highlighting the importance of self-compassion and a growth mindset.

Erin and Sara discuss how levels of arousal can alter our ability to perform as we move from rational to emotional thinking and even gives some insight into Feisty Media’s latest project!

This week Kathryn and Kristi sit down with Sport Psychologist, Researcher and Cyclist Dr. Erin Ayala. Erin shares her experience researching mansplaining and how to identify microaggressions in the cycling community.

Erin also discusses her experience with realigning herself with brands who are inline with her values, staying humble and creating lasting change

Erin founded an endurance cycling team, Stamina Racing Collective. Stamina Racing Collective provides a space to diversify the pipeline of Femme/Trans/Women (FTW) cycling riders.

How do the stories we tell ourselves impact our self-image, our performance, and even the enjoyment we derive from sport? And what if those stories aren’t serving us? How can we change them?

Erin Ayala, licensed sport psychologist, certified mental performance consultant, and elite cyclist and I explore these questions and so much more in this week’s episode of Real Fit.

Sport Psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala gets real on mental health challenges athletes face during COVID-19. Listen in as Dr. Ayala shares her tips and advice on how to “bend and not break” during these challenging times. Dr. Ayala works with many adolescent athletes to help them identify goals, increase motivation, and overcome barriers to peak performance.

Is it burnout or depression, and how do you identify it and manage it? In this interview, I sit down with Dr. Erin Ayala (she/her), a licensed psychologist, performance consultant, and researcher, as we go in-depth on what burnout is, and how you can come out it.

Erin blends clinical and research expertise in her work with athletes from various sports backgrounds, but especially in cycling. She’s a cyclist and the owner of Skadi Sport Psychology, which is based out of Minnesota but she’s able to practice in many states across the United States. Give this episode a listen if you think you may be experiencing burnout, and want to know how to recover from it!

Are you feeling some post-race or post-season blues? Perhaps you’ve come off of a big event or a long season and you feel…well…sad, a little lost, rudderless.

Feisty Media has teamed up with the Vinfast IRONMAN for this education session on how to handle the post-race blues, a normal occurrence among endurance athletes.

Host Sara Gross welcomes an expert panel to discuss:

Signs of the post-race blues

Why this happens after a major event

Suggestions on how to honor your body and mind in this transition period

How to discern if you need outside help

Activities to consider during the off-season

Going into the new year with a fresh batch of Mojo!

Erin is a Licensed Psychologist, a certified Mental Performance Consultant and is listed as a licensed mental health provider on the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Mental Health Registry.

What I love about Erin’s perspective is that it’s holistic: she recognises that daily life, health and athletic performance are intertwined and inseparable from one another.

When she’s not at work, Erin is also an endurance athlete (having completed 9 marathons and 1 Ironman) and these days is focused on life as an elite cyclist.

On top of that, she recently co-founded a cycling team called Stamina Racing Collective which prioritises people who would traditionally struggle to find a home in cycling (especially, black, indigenous, people of colour and non-binary and trans athletes)

In this conversation, we discuss the power of values, the difficult decisions she had made based on those values and her surprising definition of self-care.

This podcast will resonate with anybody who has crossed a finish line—and unexpectedly fel sad, listless or empty in the days following.

Dimity talks to Jodi Edmonds, who ran her first marathon in October and was surprised by the post-race blues she felt after her very successful race, and Dr. Erin Alaya, a Licensed Psychologist who specializes in health and sport psychology.

The trio candidly discuss:

—How typical—and total normal—it is to feel the post-race blues;

—How your personal values come into play when you lose the focus and structure of training;

—What you can do to prepare for them before you cross your finish line;

—And when it makes sense to call in a professional to help you through them.

ADHD in Endurance Sports, Burn Out and Depression with Erin Ayala Sport Psychologist

Are you someone who plays sport and would like to get better or are you an aspiring athlete who is chasing the dream? In this episode of me and my health up, we’ll be examining a new approach to athlete wellness with Dr. Erin Ayala. The purpose of this podcast is to enhance and enlighten your well being and today we’ll be chatting with sport psychologist Dr. Erin Ayala.