Psychiatrists, mentors, mental coaches… These motivational specialists help champions approach the competition more calmly. But their methods sometimes raise many questions.
Twenty-five second hugs are watched with Pepe Imaz, her “emotional coach”, founder of Nebula Academy Amor & Paz (Love & Peace); Meditation sessions on anti-covid “energy pyramids” in Bosnia with self-proclaimed archaeologist Semir Osmanagić. Magic potions with secret contents, pieces of nanocrystals that are supposed to convert body heat into light… Sensitive to esotericism and a fan of pseudoscience as much as proven alternative methods (yoga, gluten-free diet), tennis player Novak Djokovic surrounds himself by participating regularly. Gurus, according to him, about his unparalleled experience.
Scientifically challenged or at best inconclusive, the practices of these mentors are unnerving to “real” athletes’ mental health and psychological well-being professionals. Long perceived as intruders by an environment that has only faith in the physical and statistical measurement of athletic performance, in addition to being uncomfortable with diseases of the soul…
Source: Le Figaro
