Cognitive and mindset coaching steps in to help you LEVEL UP! In competition, in lessons, at school, business and in our general lives, pressure is inevitable. How we cope with it, is what matters. How do we learn to channel it, and not crumble under it. In the perspective of a high performer, it is a tool of pure precision. Cognitive and mindset coaching can help you shift pressure into performance.
The world we live in values a mentality of speed, performance and hustle. This has resulted in a huge disconnect from ourselves. Often when I ask clients what they are feeling in their bodies they are unable to conceptualise their feelings or the bodily sensations that are attached to these.We override what our bodies are telling us. A huge part of leveling up and stepping into performance, means becoming more intentional and aware of what is happening in “our world” and our bodies. We become reactive, anxious, and out of sync—functioning, but not fully feeling. When we become more aware, we develop an essential skill of emotional intelligence, which kick-starts our journey into unlocking our potential in the arena.
Cognitive and mindset coaching invites us to return to ourselves with focused awareness and intention. Through practices that reconnect mind and body, we begin to notice what’s happening internally in real time. We stop reacting and start responding with clarity and strategy. When we are in this space, pressure becomes fuel. Instead of coping, we step into a space where we can truly lead, compete, and thrive.
When we do not know how to channel pressure and it becomes overwhelming, the brain shifts into a survival state. Our brain stops thinking clearly and starts reacting emotionally. We may forget our track, overcorrect, or grip and chase unnecessarily—all because our cognitive control has been overridden by stress signals.
This neurological shift can be the difference between a winning round and a total unravel. Reaction replaces intention. All riders are vulnerable to this if they don’t have mental tools in place. Without awareness and regulation, pressure moves from a tool for peak performance to a trapdoor into fight, flight, or freeze.
Why does pressure get to us? At its core, it’s because we care deeply. We careabout our goals, our performance, our potential. Pressure comes from the desire to succeed colliding with the fear that we might not. Sometimes underneath that ambition is often a quiet, nagging doubt.
When we feel pressure, the brain perceives a potential loss—not just of success, but of self-worth, identity, or control. Why would we want to experience this if we could avoid it? Pressure isn’t just about the moment we are in, but it’s also about the meaning we’ve attached to it. And if we don’t consciously shift our mindset, fear ends up unraveling us instead of fueling our performance
Mindset coaching teaches you how to interpret pressure not as threat, but as activation. Let’s do this!
You will learn to:
Having the right cognitive tools gives you the perfect competitive edge. Channel the pressure into your inner game face!
In cognitive coaching sessions, focused on leveling up, means that we will work with thought patterns, language, and emotional habits that either sharpen your edge—or dull it. Through coaching, you learn to:
Lets move out of the space of thriving means we have to hustle. To thrive and level up we need to act with more awareness and intention
We can bring ourselves back to our bodies, and being intentional by developing tools such as
This article was written by Lara Ellwood of Insight Equine.
Insight Equine offers mindset coaching for riders of all levels, helping individuals gain self-awareness, build confidence, and develop emotional resilience—both in and out of the saddle. Sessions are facilitated by Lara Ellwood, a trained therapist and lifelong horsewoman.
To book or find out more, contact Lara at tiscounselling@gmail.com, call +27 76 149 5830, or follow on Instagram @the.insight.studio.
