Firstballtolast

  Introduce topic: Mantras and Affirmations Solid definition : Affirmations are positive statements directed towards oneself . A Mantra is an ancient meditative practice that aids in creating an optimal experience. Sakara , translated to the manifestation of thoughts into things, reflects the idea that we are the agents of change in our own lives; we have the ability to live the life we want as the person we want to be. Repeating mantra aids in that manifestation of personal contentment through repetition of focused, conscious desire. Using the term mantra in a tennis sentence:   "As the tennis player faced a challenging match, she repeated her mantra "stay focused, stay calm" to maintain her composure and confidence on the court." Popular Affirmation or Mantra today is Good Vibes Only:     Let's take a 10 question test:  Scale:  1) Never..2) Rarely  3) Sometimes  4) Often 5) Always There are no right answers: Just measuring where ...

To best manage our emotions, you need to consistently check in with ourselves about what we're feeling and address it. Just as we create routines with exercise for our physical bodies, we should do the same for our emotional health.  We consider the day ahead. We only have these 24 hours. That is it. We can't change yesterday, tomorrow is always a day away. So we want to assure right from the beginning that everything we do is directed toward our growth and development with a constant eye on the achievement of our goals Hard to have a good day if we don't have a good morning, so let us start here The Power of Daily Routines Our Morning Rituals TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR ALGORITHM!!!  What you consume becomes you. Watch your media intake!! Morning Rituals give lives shape and boost productivity, making a person more disciplined, which leads to success. Here are some reasons why Morning Rituals are essential to achieve a well-balanced life.  Establishing Consistency and Stru...

Greetings and welcome to my new project, First Ball To Last, A Tennis Mental Health and Wellness Initiative. Mental Health has been in the news a great deal of late. Teenage rates of anxiety, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorders, and self-harm have skyrocketed recently, so much so the Surgeon General of the United States issued a national mental health advisory declaring US teen's declining mental health as the crisis of our time.    In our world of tennis, former world #1 Naomi Osaka had to step away from the game after going public with her mental struggles. Former American tennis star Mardy Fish had a Netflix documentary made about his mid-career anxiety and panic attacks, the mercurial Australian star Nick Kyrgios has  struggled mightily on and off the court with his mental wellness and to a lesser degree, Australian Ash Barty quit tennis as the #1 player in the world, the 2nd time she walked away from our great sport. Someone who trains their whole lives to bec...

"It's easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." Frederick Douglass Recent societal trends in mental health are concerning. Thirty years ago, the risks to children were external; drinking, drugs, smoking, teenage pregnancy. Today, statistics in those areas have dropped dramatically. But a new scourge affects our youth today, with these issues being internal. The mental health conditions of depression, anxiety, mania, self-harming, suicide and suicidal ideation continue to rise at alarming rates, placing today's youth squarely in the midst of a mental health crisis. The tennis world has not been immune from these trends. In 2021, a public conversation began about mental health and the struggles of competition. Mardy Fish's Netflix documentary about his panic disorders, Naomi Osaka's personal struggles with anxiety and depression went very public, and Nick Kyrgios' constant on court meltdowns have the professional tennis world in a quandary....