WHEN YOU THINK of how U.S. Army soldiers train, your mind probably goes to early morning PT (physical training), an endless amount of push-ups, and running as long and as fast as possible. While there’s no denying that physical readiness is essential for an Army soldier, building a strong mind is just as important.
The Army’s Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) system is a battle-tested initiative that combines all essential aspects of physical and non-physical wellbeing to enhance soldier readiness across five domains of health: physical, nutritional, sleep, spiritual, and mental. It is this last one, the mental readiness domain, that arms soldiers with the tools to build the mental strength, awareness, and resilience needed to feel confident and prepared to adapt during difficult situations. “When faced with adversity and challenging environments, soldiers need the ability to respond quickly, maintain focus, adapt plans, and communicate effectively,” says Major Erin Stone, an occupational therapist and H2F mental readiness expert at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, in Virginia. “Mental readiness optimizes soldiers’ mental agility, rapid and appropriate responses, creative problem-solving skills, and cohesive team dynamics so that they can achieve the mission—or, stated another way, have cognitive dominance.”
“When faced with adversity and challenging environments, soldiers need the ability to respond quickly, maintain focus, adapt plans, and communicate effectively.” —Major Erin Stone
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Since its launch in 2020, the H2F system has had a dramatic impact on soldier health and readiness, including fewer injuries, faster rehabilitation, and fewer behavior health profiles—but the benefits of holistic health are not exclusive to the Army, and these proven techniques can be easily incorporated into any wellness routine. Captain Chris Enke, an occupational therapist and H2F mental and sleep readiness lead for 165th Infantry Brigade at Fort Jackson, in South Carolina says, “Just as soldiers must execute relevant skills under pressure, so must everyone else.” Derek Sorenson, a certified mental performance consultant and H2F mental performance expert at the 165th Infantry Brigade shares that, “instead of engaging an enemy or navigating difficult terrain, one may be going into a job interview or caring for a sick family member,” holding difficult conversations, managing disagreements, or recovering from mistakes. Mental readiness skills allow one to focus on the present moment, develop strong self-awareness, and form effective social skills.
“Most importantly, the mental performance skills have a by-product of resilience, which allows one to develop stress tolerance and healthy emotional regulation,” says Stone.
Below are the three techniques rooted in the U.S. Army’s H2F system that you can all use to build your mental strength and resilience:
1. Visualize Your Victories
Visualization meditation can help you practice an activity or an event. “If you have a task coming up that you know will be hard or difficult, mentally rehearse everything about it—including contingencies should things go wrong,” says Stone. “This type of detailed mental rehearsal helps give your nervous system more practice and repetitions so you’re well prepared for the real event.”
For example, if you need to give a speech, close your eyes and imagine the sights, sounds, and even smells in the room where you will deliver it. Then visualize yourself walking up on stage, including the energy, posture, and confidence that you want to exude. Think about what you will say, and how you will recover if you make a mistake. Think through potential audience responses or questions. “Imagine the best-case scenario, and then rehearse it again,” Stone says.
As a bonus, all of this rehearsal and the accomplishment of the real task will boost your overall mental wellbeing. Enke says that “regularly accomplishing moderately challenging things that cause (safe) mental or physical discomfort can enhance the neural circuitry which is responsible for pushing individuals to continually do hard things.”
2. Find Your Performance Zone
Identifying when you should relax or energize can go a long way toward helping you perform at your peak, whatever activity you are tackling. This is known as “performance zone,” and to figure out yours, Stone suggests reflecting on your past performances. Ask yourself the following questions after activities:
- Was your mind/body over-activated or too nervous?
- Were you under-activated or bored?
- Or were you just right, with peak performance and energy to match?
“Then, for whatever your performance zone needs to be, learn cues or words, music, or movements to help get you into the right zone,” she says.
Sorenson also suggests developing “power statements”—personal mantras or short phrases—that you can say to motivate yourself when it is important to perform at your best. “Power statements can increase adrenaline and push individuals through exercise-induced fatigue,” he says, adding that simple exhortations like “You deserve this,” or “Push through this,” are often effective.
3. Schedule Mental Practice
If you don’t have reminders set throughout the day to practice mental readiness—like breathing or reflection exercises—consider this your wake-up call.
The U.S. Army trains its soldiers to breathe in order to relax and reset, which can help downshift the nervous system during stressful situations and focus on the task at hand. “Several breathing styles can be practiced independently,” Sorenson says. “A couple of examples are box breathing—inhaling for four seconds, holding for four seconds, exhaling for four seconds, and holding for four seconds—and the physiological sigh, which is taking two inhales followed by one long, slow exhale.”
“Most importantly, the mental performance skills have a by-product of resilience, which allows one to develop stress tolerance and healthy emotional regulation,” —Major Erin Stone
Enke says that another great daily task for mental awareness and wellbeing is three-to-one feedback journaling. He suggests setting aside a few minutes to give yourself feedback and keep yourself accountable, while staying motivated to reach your goals. “At the end of your workout, practice, or day, write down three things you did well and one thing you can improve upon. Channeling your focus towards your strengths can have mental wellness benefits and help people acquire new skills.”
Get Your Mind (Body and Spirit) Right
Ultimately, the brain governs thoughts and behavior, so the mental readiness domain is inseparable from the others (nutrition, physical, spiritual, and sleep). “Improvements in one domain positively impact the other four,” Enke says. For example, mental strength can assist you in your exercise goals, while at the same time exercise can enhance cognitive processes, such as memory.
“The H2F system focuses on training peak performance, so that whenever it’s ‘game time,’ soldiers can be agile and effective within their tasks,” Enke notes. “When practiced routinely, these H2F domain principles also contribute to improving overall quality of life.”
The Army is committed to helping individuals be all they can be and recently launched its “All You” series of videos with actionable health and fitness advice from Army subject matter experts and trained Soldiers.
Find more health and wellness techniques at the GoArmy channel on YouTube.
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