Champion gymnast Simone Biles, 26, makes her return to competition for the first time in a couple of years after leaving the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 to focus on her mental health.
Biles' return to competition shows she hasn't missed a beat despite her mental health struggles. She says she is still receiving therapy.
Like Biles, focusing on good emotional and mental health has benefits for cancer patients too.
Positive psychology is a practice psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman promotes. She says it focuses on encouraging feelings of positivity among patients and finding what brings a sense of vitality to their lives.
Positive feelings can go a long way when people are facing a health challenge like a cancer diagnosis.
Overcoming an extraordinary mental health challenge, Champion gymnast Simone Biles, 26, is back to doing what made her a household name winning gymnastics competitions. The Olympian made her return to competition for the first time since stepping away in 2021 to focus on issues her mental health in the wake of abuse from one of her trainers.
Biles shocked the world during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when she chose to step back from competition. However, the A-list gymnast appeared to have not missed a beat during the Core Hydration Classic over the weekend. Biles scored 14.0 on the uneven bars, 14.8 on the balance beam, 14.9 in the floor exercise, and 15.4 in the vault CNN reports.
"Tears of joy as I make this comeback, surrounded by the love you've shown!" Biles wrote in an Instagram post.
Her husband, NFL star Jonathan Owens, commented on his wife's post saying, "So damn proud of you baby. Makes my day seeing you so happy and back doing what you love, and having FUN!!! I love you so much."
Biles and Owens tied the knot this past Spring in a beautiful beachside wedding surrounded by family and friends.
Supporters of the record-setting Olympian also chimed in on her return.
"We just can't get over Simone Biles return to elite competition and her replica leotard," an Instagram user wrote.
Biles' ability to return despite her mental health struggles is a remarkable feat. Biles faced a very public ordeal when USA Gymnastics physician Larry Nassar was accused and then convicted of sexually abusing young girls and women under his care. Biles admitted in 2018, she was one of the people he sexually assaulted.
Simone Biles stepped away from Olympic competition to focus on her mental health. (Photo: Instagram/SimoneBiles)
She then shared her public struggles with "twisties." According to the Associated Press, "the phrase, 'the twisties'… [describes] an athlete's sudden loss of air awareness during a routine."
Although she's back and appears as good as ever, she said during a recent interview she's continuing to work on herself and receiving therapy.
Managing Your Mental Health
Psychiatrist Dr. Samantha Boardman suggests people working on their mental health to practice positive psychology. Positive psychology focuses on encouraging feelings of positivity among patients and finding what brings a sense of vitality to their lives.
WATCH: Managing your mental health amid a health challenge.
Dr. Boardman explains them as "pathways to embrace your everyday resilience." In other words, these are tools people who may be struggling with mental health issues can embrace to help maintain a certain sense of positivity. And those positive feelings can go a long way when people are facing a health challenge like a cancer diagnosis.
According to Dr. Boardman, these three wellsprings of vitality are:
Connecting. This involves how you're connecting with others and having meaningful interactions. It involves being a good listener and being engaged with the people around you who you care about.
Contribution. How are you adding value to the people around you? Are you helping them in ways that feel meaningful to them? This entails contributing/engaging with others in a meaningful way.
Feeling challenged. Being "positively challenged" could involve learning something new (perhaps by taking a new class or reading an interesting book) and expanding your mind in some way.
"Those are the cores of vitality, and the core pathways to enhance your everyday resilience," Dr. Boardman said.
