Let's meet Gayelene
Meet the R4R Runners #102
Welcome to the 102nd edition of the Meet the R4R Runners.
This week, we meet Gayelene Clews, former Performance Psychologist for the Raiders, Broncos, Rabbitohs, Bulldogs, Wallabies, Cricket NSW and Australian Olympic team.
Gayelene was asked to do the Rag by our very own
who’s a client of hers. Along with gaining some insights from Gayelene, Benny was keen for her to be in the Rag to remind people that it’s not weak to ask for help, or see a psychologist.So without further ado, let’s meet Gayelene!
What’s your name?
Gayelene Clews
Where are you from and what do you do?
Psychologist (live and work in Yarraluma)
What's your favourite thing about Canberra?
Love Canberra’s open green spaces and the intelligent and compassionate people who live in this amazing city.
How did you hear about R4R? When did you first attend? And what’s your favourite thing about it?
Heard about R4R through Ben and I have referred a lot of people to the program because I know how incredibly important exercise and sport are to mental health and well-being.
R4R has a goal of a suicide free ACT. What do you think it needs to do to make progress towards that?
I have helped Olympic and World champion athletes achieve success while managing depression, anxiety, bipolar, ADHD etc, and I published Wired to Play: The Metacognitive Athlete because I knew there was ignorance and incorrect information out there on mental health. A lot of extremely successful people have mental health challenges. It isn’t the mental health challenge that is the problem, but the failure to get help and manage it, that is problematic. Etc. So you’ll need to address that.
When you look back on the hardest moment/s in your life, is there anything you wish you could have told yourself?
I struggled with depression as a result of burnout, at the end of my triathlon career. I was ranked number one in the world in women’s Olympic distance triathlon while I was the only mother on the professional circuit. I wished someone was around then, to tell me what was happening to me, so that I did not prematurely retire because I felt there was no other pathway. It did, however, lead to me deciding to pursue sports psychology as a profession, to understand this space better. I just needed time to recover, but I forfeited my best athletic years.
What does resilience mean to you?
Resilience is the ability to bounce back in the face of adversity. To take action, when all you want to do is crawl up in a ball and disappear. To face fear and push through the discomfort of it, when the comfortable thing to do is nothing at all. Resilience isn’t defined by the person you are, but the actions you choose to take and some choices are better than others. It is choosing not to be stuck, it is being prepared to fail and to learn from it, to be vulnerable and open to change. To drag yourself out the door when you don’t want to go, to take that first step towards asking for help and letting people walk alongside you. To surround yourself with people who will support and encourage you and cut loose those who do not. It is hard, grinding and at times thankless but it is movement, movement towards change and hope.
Thanks, Gayelene!
Only 5 spots for our City 2 Surf road trip left!
After going on sale last week, there’s only 5 spots left on our 3rd City 2 Surf Road Trip!
Click the button below for more info and to book your spot.
Yoga for Resilience - 6:15am Friday
After a successful debut of Yoga for Resilience, we’re doing it again this Friday at 6:15am.
The run is still on. But if you’d like to slow things down, give Yoga a go!
Run for the Forest
Massive congrats to everyone who ran and volunteered at the inaugural
event last Saturday!From all reports the day was a massive success, as 30 runners ran 30kms to raise awareness of logging in the Tallanganda State Forest, home to the endangered Greater Glider.
Well done Courtney for organising! We can’t wait to see what you’ve got planned for next year’s race!