Margaret Smith Ph.D.

About

Margaret Smith, Ph.D., RYT-500, TCTSY-F, is the sport psychology provider for Team USA Wheelchair Rugby (www.usawr.org) and has supported USAWR through three Paralympic silver medals and multiple international titles. She's worked with national championship collegiate teams and military adaptive sports, as well as individual elite athletes in a variety of sports. She has a Ph.D. in Social Psychology, is a certified yoga instructor and facilitator of trauma-sensitive yoga and yoga for athletes, and she ran track and cross country for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In addition to her work in sports, Margaret teaches as an adjunct professor for Auburn University's Alabama Prison Arts and Education Program (APAEP) and the U.S. Army's Master Educator Course.

Recent Posts

Flow, In Depth

Making space for awe and the awesome in athletic performance is scary and not easy to write into the training plan.

Why Athletes Need Yoga

Yoga needs nothing but you and your intention to be present with what's here now. And this is the skill elite athletes need most.

The Power of Negative Thinking for Athletic Performance

Every athlete—including the greatest greats—experience oh sh*t moments. One thing that allows for excellence when sh*t happens is dropping the narrative about what sh*t means.

Clicking and Scrolling Our Way to Impaired Performance

If somebody told you they had a pill you could take that would distract you from stress but also impair aspects of your athletic performance, would you take it?

The Nervous System of a Sports Parent

Sport invites heightened states of activation, and so does parenting. Put them together, and there’s a lot of stimuli playing on your nervous system. Here are some possible resets.

Do You Want to Be Enough?

It can be good to be "not enough," neurologically speaking. Our senses open when we're aware that we don't have adequate information.

The Social Neurobiology of Excellence

For a medal-worthy performance, prioritize teammates and building a felt-sense of trust.

Your Mind Is All Over Your Body

Bottom-up or body-up processing is crucial for elite performers, and is part of "mental training" and "mental performance" enhancement.

Stress Is Not a Bad Word

Athletes can benefit from a nuanced understanding of the autonomic nervous system and the physiology of how the body actually responds to stress.

Strategies to Use When You're Stuck on a Plane

The next time you're on a plane, try these body-based practices that can provide relief when you’re “stuck” in tight spaces.