Amy Saltzman

MD, mindfulness coach, ex-gymnast. Fiercely protecting athletes from abuse. Helping people experience health/joy/ flow. Author A Still Quiet Place for Athletes.

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

Thank you @OfficialTHSADA and @tylerisd !!
ADs can take simple steps to not only protect athletes from grooming and abuse, but also ensure athletes have a healthy positive sporting experience and develop habits of excellence that will last a life time

[THSADA @OfficialTHSADA]

"We’ve got to do a better job of policing ourselves morally and ethically."

@TylerISD Superintendent Dr. Marty Crawford emphasizes the critical role athletic directors play in maintaining accountability, communication, and high standards in student-adult relationships. 🛡️🏫

Session: A Superintendent's Viewpoint of the Athletic Directorship: Gatekeepers of a School Systems Front Porch - TAAC 605 presented by @TeamBrockUSA

#THSADA26

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@CoachFrese How refreshing!!

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

Boost Your Team's Performance by Filling Emotional Tanks | Psychology Today https://t.co/RkFXee88t5

#stillquietplace #findflow #teamwork

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@BlakeMycoskie Mindfulness and Self-Compassion help athletes and business leaders find flow on the court and in life. If you want to learn these skills check out my book and courses. 🎾👟😎

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@1gamesetmatch @TranslateMom True mid-match coaching is PDQ: positive, direct, quick. Specific executable adjustments, tactics, encouragement. Berating, vague comments, statements about an opponents previous stats vs. present moment play risk putting the athlete into fight or flight, and inhibiting play

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@Don_K_Williams Agree!! Just curious if you want to offer any clarification re how athletes are valued, lest your post mistakenly be mistakenly interpreted to be about NIL $ and playing time :)

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

This story epitomizes covert emotional abuse/ coercive control & institutional complicity. To ensure player safety the independant investigation must be conducted by a professional with relevant expertise
@dartmouth @thedartmouth @dartmouthsports
https://t.co/cVZyuYd3dh

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

I cover this in the chapter for parents in my book A Still Quiet Place for Athletes: Mindfulness Skills for Achieving Peak Performance and Finding Flow in Sports and in Life. Remembering this & practicing mindfulness, helps parents support vs. pressure their children

[Anthony Bradley @drantbradley]

It’s really quite morally irresponsible that youth sports coaches don’t make this clear to parents and players.

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

each person, especially victims of trauma, must determine if, when & how they wish to forgive. If you or someone else pressures you to forgive, it may minimize the harm you experienced and minimizing is a form of retraumatization.

See article
https://t.co/aiIsvyxDY8

[Diane Langberg, PhD @DianeLangberg]

It misrepresents God when we tell victims of atrocious, life-changing abuse to simply forgive and forget. Forgiveness of any wrong, let alone a life-shattering one, is never a “just do it” task.

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@JamesPurchin Paying attention to your breath is only one aspect of the mindfulness skills practiced by the Warriors. If you want to offer your players elite level mindfulness skills to achieve peak performance and find flow check out my book or schedule a zoom course

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@hyvaily Please have them get in touch with me if they would like a free initial consult.

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

Congratulations!! It a hard won victory for a war that should never have had to fought.
I applaud your fierce advocacy.
@athletes_empwrd
#stopabuse #protectathletes #spotaspider

[Amelia C (she/her) 🇨🇦🇺🇦 @ameliagrace1989]

A moment to reflect: 4 years ago, athlete survivors began coming forward en masse and abuse. Our open letter was rapidly signed by 400+ gymnasts. But we never imagined we’d get here: a multimillion dollar national report calling for a complete overhaul of the CAN sport system. 1/

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@MBurtwrites If you are a parent who is truly committed to protecting your children from abuse, and want to empower them to spot and stop the subtle behaviors of grooming and blatant behaviors of overt emotional, physical and sexual abuse please check out my spot a spider videos.

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

The behaviors described suggest covert emotional abuse & institutional complicity. The concerns should be investigated by an INDEPENDENT trauma sensitive professional.
The abusers & enablers should be fired.
And the athletes should receive academic, athletic & theraputic support

[Gymnastics Now @Gymnastics_Now]

Full letter. Can also be read here: https://t.co/ioZgONXCjc

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@carolineoprice My alma matter :)

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

Athletes you can start developing your inner game, your self-compassion, your honesty, your resilience now.

check out my book and courses.

#stillquietplace #findflow

[Apolo Anton Ohno @ApoloOhno]

Ilia Malinin: 15 consecutive wins. The only human to land a quad Axel. So much hype and the spotlight was bright.

But tonight at the moment that mattered most:

8th place

His words: "It was definitely mental."

That's honesty & ownership. And it takes a hell of a lot of courage to say that than to make excuses.

Every Olympics, the "destined" champion faces THIS moment. A decade of prep. One performance. The body is ready - but did anyone prepare the mind for THAT pressure?

The inner game is still the most underutilized edge in sport.

Ilia is only 21. He'll be back & he will face the fire once again. I was cheering for him tonight, and I’ll be there when he comes back again.

[Olena Rohoza @OlenaRohoza]

🇮🇹 The speech that all of Italy heard. And that the world must hear.
In a country that will host the Olympic Games, Italian Senator and Vice President of the Human Rights Commission Filippo Sensi took the floor and said what should have been said out loud long ago.
He called it a disgrace that the International Olympic Committee disqualified Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych.
Not for doping.
Not for violating fair play.
But for… memory.
For a helmet bearing the faces of Ukrainian athletes — his friends, colleagues, champions — killed by Russia.
The IOC stated that the helmet “did not comply with regulations.”
And then Sensi asked a question that brought silence to the chamber:
Does aggressive war comply with regulations?
Is there a separate technical protocol for it?
The correct angle of a missile strike?
The permissible size of a crater?
An athlete prepares for the Olympics for years.
A Ukrainian athlete trains between air raid sirens, in shelters, under news of the dead.
He overcomes fear, exhaustion, and loss.
And he steps to the start line not only for a medal — but for the right to exist.
And he is suspended… for remembering.
Because memory is the most dangerous substance. It is hard to add to a prohibited list. But apparently, someone would very much like to.
The senator named names. Just a few among more than 650 Ukrainian athletes killed by Russia:
▪️ Yevhenii Malyshev, 19, biathlete — killed in Kharkiv.
▪️ Mariia Lebid, 15 — missile strike in Dnipro.
▪️ Dmytro Sharpar, 25, figure skater — killed in Bakhmut.
▪️ Volodymyr Androsiuk, 22, track and field athlete — also Bakhmut.
▪️ Daria Kurdel, 20 — missile strike in Kharkiv.
▪️ Alina Perehutova, 14 — standing in line for water with her mother in Mariupol.
▪️ Maksym Halinichev, 22, boxer — killed defending Luhansk region.
▪️ Viktoriia Ivashko, 9, judoka — missile strike in Kyiv.
▪️ Kateryna Diachenko, 11, gymnast — airstrike on Mariupol.
▪️ Karina Bakur, 17, world kickboxing champion — shielded her father with her body.
These were the faces Heraskevych wanted to carry with him to the start line.
So that they would “compete” alongside him.
So that their dream would not die with them.
And for that, he was punished.
Because it turns out that the faces of murdered athletes violate regulations.
But their absence on the track does not.
In his speech, Sensi said the most important thing:
The Olympic Committee did not lose an athlete.
It lost its most valuable medal — its conscience.
Sport without memory is just a show.
Sport without humanity is just decoration.
Sport that fears truth is not about peace.
The Olympic movement was born from the ideals of honor, dignity, and unity.
Yet today Ukrainian athletes must prove not only their strength — but their right to remember their fallen.
And if memory becomes a violation of regulations — then the problem is not the helmet.
The world must hear this.
Because silence is also a position.
And indifference is also a choice.
Memory cannot be disqualified.
And conscience cannot be added to a prohibited list.
🇺🇦 We remember every one of them.
And we will not allow their names to be erased.

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

Thank you @MikaelaShiffrin!! Demonstrating habits of excellence-- commitment, vulnerability, resilience, perseverance, gratitude, grace and compassion for yourself and others.

#stillquietplace #findingflow

[Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷️ @MikaelaShiffrin]

Olympic Reflections Incoming⬇️

Over the past few days, some incredible things have happened…just to name a few:
•I had a really productive slalom training session, working through some of the variables I found challenging during team combined (always learning 🥴)
…cont. below

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

@cbrennansports Thank you @cbrennansports for holding abusive spiders accountable & repeatedly inviting others to do the same.
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. Archbishop Desmond Tutu
#spotaspider #stopabuse #protectathletes

[Amy Saltzman @SpotSpiders]

Honored to be speaking at @TEDxPortland about protecting children from grooming and abuse.
Thrilled to be sharing the stage with some awesome humans.
Speakers, Performers, Schedule, and Tickets:
https://t.co/aryvUS1xLW

#tedxportland #homecoming14