The Strong Mind podcast

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…
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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…
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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,…
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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Episode 20: Mind Games – Allison Vest
In this episode, Hazel speaks with Allison Vest about her struggles and progress with mental training in climbing.
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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.
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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…
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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…
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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.
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Episode 15: Spontaneity – Jeff Charno
In this episode, Hazel speaks with Jeff Charno, the founder and host of "Being & Doing" online conferences.
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Episode 14: Flow Philosophy – Cameron Norsworthy
In this episode, Hazel speaks with Cameron Norsworthy (PhD in Flow and director of the Flow Centre) about flow.
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Episode 13: Understanding Intuition – Lauri Jarvilehto
Hazel speaks with musician, researcher and lecturer in philosophy of mind Lauri Jarvilehto. They talk about what intuition is, creativity and intuition,…
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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…
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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…
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Episode 10: Mike Weeks – Exploring the embodied mind
In this episode Hazel chats to Mike Weeks. Mike is a serial entrepreneur, coach and speaker, specializing in resilience and peak performance…
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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.
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Episode 8: Flight School Special – Busting myths about fear of falling in climbing
In this episode, Hazel and Angus Kille chat about fear of falling.
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Episode 7: Tim Emmett – Which does Tim Emmett find scariest: base jumping or sport climbing?
In this episode Hazel speak with climber, ex-base jumper and all round adventurer Tim Emmett. They talk about Tim's relationship with all…
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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…
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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…
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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.
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Episode 3: Aidan Roberts – Mastery and flow in high level bouldering
This is the first part of a long conversation with Aidan. Aidan is one of the world's best boulderers and recently sent…
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Episode 2: Miguel Lozano – Lessons from the deep
In this episode, Hazel speaks with professional free diver Miguel Lozano.
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Episode 1: Sue Jackson – The relationship between flow, mindfulness and performance
Hazel talks to Sue Jackson about flow, mindfulness and performance and how they all relate. Sue is a psychologist, researcher and mindfulness…
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Fight, flight, freeze
Fight, flight, or freeze is activated by our sympathetic nervous system in response to a stressful situation. The stress caused by the…
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A conversation with flow-state expert Cameron Norsworthy
Cameron Norsworthy from the Flow Centre chats to Hazel Findlay about what flow state is, how to access it and what the…
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