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Mindset

Performance Psychology

Fear of Falling

Expert Guidance

Episode 30: Rethinking Bravery – Strong Mind Session with Hazel and Angus

Hazel and Angus dive into what it truly means to have a strong mind and be brave in climbing. They unpack common misconceptions around courage, explore the roles of ego, status and vulnerability, and show why a strong mind isn’t just about “being brave.” A thought-provoking conversation that challenges climbers to rethink courage—on and off the wall.

Episode 29: Can You Climb Without Ego? Zen Lessons from Francis Sanzaro

Hazel sits down with climber, philosopher, and author Francis Sanzaro for a deep dive on the ego—what it is, how it shows up in climbing and life, and how Zen philosophy offers tools to loosen its grip.

Episode 28: AMA with Hazel - Climbing, Mindset, Motherhood & More.

In this special AMA (Ask Me Anything) episode, Hazel answers listener-submitted questions covering everything from climbing training, risk, and performance, to motherhood, mindset, and identity.

Episode 27: Big Walls & Bedtime Stories with Leo Houlding

Hazel sits down with Leo and Jess Houlding and their eldest daughter, Freya. They start with Leo’s legendary adventures, expeditions and first ascents, exploring how his mindset and approach to risk have evolved over the years.

Episode 26: Performance Psychology for Climbers: AMA Session with Hazel & Angus

Hazel and Angus sit down with a cup of tea to answer some of our listeners' questions around performance psychology.

Episode 25: Rethinking Masculinity in the Outdoors: Resilience, Vulnerability, Emotional Strength & Fatherhood.

What does it mean to be a man in 2025 - especially in the world of climbing, adventure, and risk? In this episode, we dive into masculinity, vulnerability, emotions, mental health and fatherhood with Aldo Kane and Matt Pycroft.

Episode 24: The Cost of Winning: Shauna Coxsey opens up about mindset, mental health, motherhood & her time at the top.

Shauna Coxsey is one of the most decorated climbers of her generation, but this conversation goes far beyond competition results.

Episode 23: What does it take to flash El Cap? Babsi & Jacopo talk pressure, expectation, motivation, fear, failure & flow.

In this episode, Hazel sits down with Barbara Zangler (Babsi) and Jacopo Larcher to learn more about their ascent of Freerider on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley.

“Good” emotions, “Bad” emotions, and everything in between

Different approaches to emotional regulation (emotional reconstruction) in climbing

Fear of Other People’s Opinions

This article reflects on fear of other people's opinions and how that impacts our climbing.

Heartmind, Technique, Body: applying an integrated martial arts pedagogy to climbing

In this article, we examine several mindset-related concepts taken from the Zen philosophy of Japanese martial arts and consider their application to climbing.

Episode 22: From Childhood to Motherhood - Emily Harrington

In this episode, Hazel speaks with Emily Harrington about her life as a professional climber from when she was a kid competing to now as a mother herself.

Episode 21: Social Risk and Self-Trust with Africa Brooke

In this episode, Hazel speaks with Africa Brooke. Africa is a consultant, coach, strategist, and speaker with a unique focus: tackling self-sabotage and self-censorship.

Episode 20: Mind Games - Allison Vest

In this episode, Hazel speaks with Allison Vest about her struggles and progress with mental training in climbing.

Episode 19: Performance Hacks Bonus Episode

In this bonus episode, Angus Kille interviews Hazel about how to leverage mental training for performance and their upcoming course Performance Hacks.

Episode 18: Breathing - Science and Tradition

In this episode, we talk a lot about breath! We look at the physical and mental benefits from 2 different perspectives with 2 experts in the field.

Performance Hacks - FAQS

We've laid out in this article some of the common questions we've received about Performance Hacks which is now available all year round.

Episode 17: Working With The Mind - Lor Sabourin

Lor Sabourin is a professional climber, mental training coach, and Training Leader for the Warrior’s Way, an organization that uses climbing-based mental training to optimize performance and improve mental health. Lor’s work is trauma-informed and they have just finished a Masters's degree in mental health counselling with an emphasis on somatic therapy and adventure-based counselling.

Episode 16: Mastery and Flow in High Level Bouldering Part 2 - Aidan Roberts

This is the second part of a conversation Hazel had with Aiden Roberts about mastery, flow and motivation in high-level bouldering.

Episode 12: Big Wave Mindset - Sarah Hauser

In this episode, Hazel talks to windsurfer Sarah Hauser. Sarah is one of the world's best windsurfers and has the record for the biggest wave ever windsurfed by a woman. In this conversation, Sarah talks about maximising intrinsic motivation, managing fear, mental management tools, hypnotherapy, and flow state among other interesting areas of psychology.

Episode 11: Adam Ondra – It's all about the psyche

Hazel talks to Adam about what makes a good climber, flow state, his childhood, motivation, mastery, processes, competitions, outcomes, the problem of under-eating in climbing, big goals and much more.

Mindfulness and compassion techniques for regaining composure in climbing

Climb what you can today, not what you think you ‘should’ be able to

Episode 9: Mason Earle – A different kind of mountain

In this episode Hazel talks to former pro-climber Mason Earle about his journey with ME/CFS.

Episode 6: Ross Bentley – Thinking fast

In this episode Hazel speaks with race car coach Ross Bentley about the mind of race car drivers and how he coaches drivers to be at their best.

Episode 5: Emma Wood – Competition, performance and fear

In this episode Hazel and Angus speak with Emma Wood, one of the great minds working in the space of psychology in our community.

Episode 4: Lorraine Huber – The best way to win

In this episode Hazel speaks with free ride world champion Lorraine Huber about her journey to win.

Hazel chats to Aidan Roberts about climbing Alphane 9A

Aidan Roberts recently climbed Alphane, a 9A boulder in Chironico Switzerland. As Aidan has also been doing one-to-one performance coaching with me (Hazel), I caught up with him to hear his reflections on the process of climbing Alphane from a psychological perspective.

Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a widely used term, and it’s often thought of as a positive thing. In fact, for many, it's even thought of as a necessary character trait for someone to be successful. You might even have heard people offer "perfectionism" as a humble-brag answer in response to "What is your greatest weakness?". The reality is quite different and might fly in the face of this common wisdom.

Episode 2: Miguel Lozano – Lessons from the deep

In this episode, Hazel speaks with professional free diver Miguel Lozano.

Can meditation and mindfulness make us better climbers?

Mindfulness and meditation can positively impact our well-being, but can also improve our climbing performance in more ways than one. In this article, we'll explore how meditation and mindfulness might improve our climbing and how you could benefit from having a mindfulness practice.

Visualisation for bold climbing

I’ve enjoyed the process of bold climbing ever since I became a climber. I’ve always been drawn to the psychological challenge, what bold climbing can teach me about myself and [in particular] the headspace required to be calm and in-control in a high-consequence situation.

What are some important types of ‘Mindset’?

In this article, we break down four types of mindset that if applied, can benefit your climbing.

What is Mindset and how can you work on it?

In many cases, mindsets do not change overnight but they shift slowly in one direction. In terms of changing behaviour and thinking patterns, making sure that we are part of the decision-making process and recognising the things that are within our control can be enough to begin the shift to a better mindset.

Why does climbing feel harder when we are scared? And what are affordances?

Given that stress affects our affordances, it’s important that we understand how to manage and train our minds for climbing – for our performance if not for our enjoyment and wellbeing too! This is what mental training is all about.

Why the distinction between rational and irrational fear isn't that helpful

In this blog we discuss why making the distinction between rational and irrational fear or real and perceived risk isn't that helpful.

Magic Line and the psychological challenge of projecting

Hazel talks about her experience projecting the route Magic Line and the mental training she needed not only to succeed but also to enjoy the whole process. If you’re interested in projecting, fear of failure, how to stay present in a process or related ideas you'll enjoy this piece!

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