Bodies Speak Body Language: Ashley Cranney on Stress, Performance, and Being Biologically Respectful Mental Training Lab

In today’s episode we’re joined by Dr. Ashley Cranney. Ashley is a licensed professional counselor and certified mental performance consultant, employed at West Virginia University as Assistant Professor of Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology. She has been consulting with athletes and performers for nearly fifteen years, sharing her passion for performance enhancement with anyone who will listen. One of the many things that makes Ashley so great is that she’s worked with a wide variety of top performers across sport, dance, first responder, and military contexts. Another superpower that Ashley has is her ability to name complex concepts with clarity and simplicity, which really shines through in our talk here as she gets right to the heart of stress and performance.
I’ll be honest… we really only scratched the surface when it comes to what Ashely can offer, and I hope we’ll have a round 2 soon. This time around, we dive into the stress cycle, and specifically the six concrete behaviors you can use to help complete the stress cycle. Ashley also spends time talking about how the sport environment is designed, if we’re mindful of some of the pitfalls, to be biologically respectful. This one’s packed with specific tools we can use, and pairs really well with past episodes we’ve had on embodiment and presence. It was amazing having a rockstar like Ashley share so much in a potent window of time here, and I know you’re going to get something good out of this one… time to jump right in.