Attention Climbers!

Crystal Ding

*ANNOUNCEMENT A/O JULY 15TH 2026** Vision Training for Climbing Mentorship!  I have 1 opening for an ongoing vision and embodied multisensory visualisation training mentorship for climbers - targeting performance and wellbeing on-and-off the wall in a systemic way, tailored to your lifestyle learning style, and goals. Contact me via podcast mail for an exploratory call where we will dive into whether this is a right fit for you.  N.B.!  1. This is NOT a paid product or a service with a delivery promise. It is a personalised passion-driven journey of learning, experiencing and reflection at no monetary cost, delivered old school style in the name of personal connection. I am seeking resonance and alignment with you if something drives you from deep within to learn the priceless art of perceptual training and if you are keen to take radical, creative ownership of your own perception and performance.  2.  You are responsible and liable for for your own mind, body, experience, learning process and results at all times, and can (and should!) at any time - stop its momentum, speak up, or ignore information - should something not feel right for you. All information I provide is invitation, not instruction. My wish is to impart the basics of what you need to steer your own boat! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall.  My name is Crystal, and welcome to Attention Climbers!All guided meditations are live, improvised sessions that I record in one-go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect.  Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body.  Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!  Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening! 

  1. 1d ago

    🎵 Musical Calf Raises for Climbers: Ankle Mobility and Proprioception

    Send us Fan Mail Can music make your ankles stronger and more mobile in the full range needed for climbing? Join me as we sing to find out It's no wonder that British Olympian and World Series gold medalist Erin "McBeast" McNiece cites training ankle proprioception as a key ingredient of her success. Who knew a few notes could deliver a climbing-imactful foot workout.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *ANNOUNCEMENT A/O JULY 2026** Vision Training for Climbing Mentorship!  I have 1 opening for vision and visualisation training mentorship for climbers - targeting performance and wellbeing on-and-off the wall in a systemic way, tailored to your lifestyle learning style, and goals. Contact me via podcast mail for an exploratory call. We will dive into whether this is a right fit for you, and shape a journey together that equips you with the knowledge, skills, habits, training sessions, and resources to upgrade your nervous system technology and trigger a "cognitive revolution" in your climbing.  N.B.!  1. This is NOT a paid product or a service with a delivery promise. It is a personalised passion-driven journey of learning, experiencing and reflection at no monetary cost, delivered old school style in the name of personal connection. I am seeking resonance and alignment with you if something drives you from deep within to learn the priceless art of perceptual training and if you are keen to take radical, creative ownership of your own perception and performance.  2.  You are responsible and liable for for your own mind, body, experience, learning process and results at all times, and can (and should!) at any time - stop its momentum, speak up, or ignore information - should something not feel right for you. All information I provide is invitation, not instruction. My wish is to impart the basics of what you need to steer your own boat! :D  -------------------------------------------------------------- All guided meditations, meditation demos and experiences, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect.  Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body.  Rest day? Check.  Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check.  Pre-climb tune-in? Check.  Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check.  Post-climb cool down? Check.  Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!    Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

  2. 5d ago

    🌧️ Negative Thoughts Mental Training Demo: "Peripheral Projection Technique"

    Send us Fan Mail *ANNOUNCEMENT A/O JULY 2026** Vision Training for Climbing Mentorship!  I have 1 opening for vision and multisensory embodied visualisation training mentorship for climbers - targeting performance and wellbeing on-and-off the wall in a systemic way, tailored to your lifestyle learning style, and goals. Contact me via podcast mail for an exploratory call. We will dive into whether this is a right fit for you, and shape a journey together that equips you with the knowledge, skills, habits, training sessions, and resources to upgrade your nervous system technology and trigger a "cognitive revolution" in your climbing.  N.B.!  1. This is NOT a paid product or a service with a delivery promise. It is a personalised passion-driven journey of learning, experiencing and reflection at no monetary cost, delivered old school style in the name of personal connection. I am seeking resonance and alignment with you if something drives you from deep within to learn the priceless art of perceptual training and if you are keen to take radical, creative ownership of your own perception and performance.  2.  You are responsible and liable for for your own mind, body, experience, learning process and results at all times, and can (and should!) at any time - stop its momentum, speak up, or ignore information - should something not feel right for you. All information I provide is invitation, not instruction. My wish is to impart the basics of what you need to steer your own boat! :D  -------------------------------------------------------------- In these next few minutes, I reveal my negative thoughts to you whilst anchoring them to my peripheral visual field, creating a state of nervous system balance where fight or flight (sympathetic nervous system activation) both triggered and signaled by negative thinking - is balanced by soft gaze fixation and peripheral awareness - nervous system regulators that trigger a balancing parasympathetic nervous system response. This is a meditation you can replicate literally anywhere safe where you can open your eyes. All guided meditations and meditation demos, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect.  Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body.  Rest day? Check.  Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check.  Pre-climb tune-in? Check.  Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check.  Post-climb cool down? Check.  Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!    Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

  3. Jul 13

    🎯 Sharpen Climbing Senses at Home: 12 Minute Meditation🐈 Optional!

    Send us Fan Mail Today, I am back broadcasting to you guys with 🐈 Oskar. This time, we are lounging together facing one another on our balcony couch. Oskar serves as my muse throughout this meditation, and I welcome you to involve a furry friend too. If you don't have one - simply replacing the pet-invitation, with any meaningful object, will do.  Let's sharpen our awareness of five systems in our bodies and brains that work tirelessly to help you perform at your limit on the wall: central vision, peripheral vision, the vestibular system, proprioception, and kinaesthesia. As you rest your body and intensify your attention in a relaxed state, you finally give these unsung heroes the opportunity to work at THEIR limit too!  All meditations, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect.  Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body.  Rest day? Check.  Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check.  Pre-climb tune-in? Check.  Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check.  Post-climb cool down? Check.  Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!    Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

  4. Jul 10

    💡Mindset Issues Stemming from Climbing Culture, And How To Solve Them

    Send us Fan Mail My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers. This episode may pique some heated discussion, and I'd love to hear from you if you either resonate or disagree!  Nearly every climber wanting to improve - struggles with "mindset issues" - some form of negativity or inner resistance arising from their experience or perception of their climbing experience, ability or learning curve.  That said, mindset issues are unlikely to be a personal failure or shortcoming.  I assert that the following 10 aspects of climbing culture may systemically lead to our collective experience of mindset challenges, and suggest interventions - most are painfully simple - but not necessarily easy. I love climbing and don't want to "change" or "fix" these aspects - instead, I wish to shed light on them so we as climbers can individually respond.  1. Climbing is primarily seen as a "sport".  2. Climbing primarily values "ascension". 3. There is no concept of "dismounting" in climbing, so "falling" is constructed as separate from the "climb".  4. Modern sport climbing and gym culture overexposes us to "concentric" upward movement and underexposes us to "eccentric" downward movement.  5. The ratio of deliberate practice to level of skill is low in climbing compared to other disciplines.  6. A graded system of routes and boulders outside our control makes it challenging to establish and train from our own internal sense of what needs improvement  7. Language used in climbing contexts describe external rather than internal phenomena, whereas climbing is experienced from within.  8. Popular conceptions of "climbing" exclude those with injuries, illnesses, or those otherwise unable to perform at their best, from "real climbing".  9. Social performativity of bravery and risk taking (see (2)) triggers overvaluing of others' opinions compared to one's own climbing experience.  10. The obsession with regular observable improvement works against our ability to work on our deepest cruxes.  Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere. Rest day? Check.  Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check.  Pre-climb tune-in? Check.  Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check.  Post-climb cool down? Check.  Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!    Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

  5. Jul 9

    🐈 Catnap Pet Meditation: Rest Day Guided Meditation for Climbers

    Send us Fan Mail Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall.  My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers.  Whispered whilst crouching at the dining room table and staring at adorably sleeping little Oskar 😽 - this rest-day guided meditation is for you AND your animal friend - cat, dog, hamster, plush or otherwise.  Do not be fooled by its soft, innocent, lazy label! This experience activates the parasympathetic "rest and digest" system that helps you recover for your next hard session, connect with yourself and your furry loved one, and importantly - strengthens visual and body awareness skills that help you make crisper contact with climbs.  Remember - your body is a symphony of systems - and some systems can only be trained at their limit if you are NOT at your physical or psychological limit. :)  All meditations, including this one, are live, improvised sessions that I record in a single "flash" go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect.  Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body.  Rest day? Check.  Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check.  Pre-climb tune-in? Check.  Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check.  Post-climb cool down? Check.  Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!    Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

  6. Jul 8

    ⚠️ Head Acceleration Intolerance - The Invisible Crux that Climbing Plateaus Reveal

    Send us Fan Mail Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall.  My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers.  Today's episode is both philosophical and practical. We dive into a common long-term plateau generator: choosing lock off strength gains over dynamic movement to gain a short term send, leading to underexposure to head / center of mass acceleration, leading to increased perception of fear, reduced commitment and reduced sends at higher grades.  Of course - there's something simple you can do about it, and I'm psyched to share an example that you can creatively improvise on yourself! Good news - it does NOT involve giving up our beloved upper body strength training, but rather - responding to strength gains intelligently!  Rest day? Check.  Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check.  Pre-climb tune-in? Check.  Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check.  Post-climb cool down? Check.  Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!    Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!  Want more? Check out www.attentionclimbers.com to train your presence, awareness, and multisensory perception to climb harder with less perceived effort.

  7. Jul 6

    📿 The "Fall Necklace" Drill: Craft Focus and Intelligence While Falling

    Send us Fan Mail Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall.  My name is Crystal, and welcome back to Attention Climbers.  I'm excited to share and demonstrate an off-the-wall version of the "Fall Necklace Drill", one of my favourite mental training drills! You'll need your favourite stuffed animal to help you out with falling - whilst you play "judge"! (Live demonstration starts after 4:00).  Your mission? Gain access to climbing intelligence at the very moment you are most stressed on the wall. The habit of sharper focus on the details of unique falling attempts - is best sharpened off-the-wall. You first train your brain to spot differences between attempts by "externalising" the fall outside your own experience. Then, you activate the habit in your own on the wall experience. The more you pay attention to focused information from your falls, the less you will be distracted by fear, and the more precise you attempts will be come.  Read more about the "fall necklace" concept here!  https://www.attentionclimbers.com/attentiontraining/comparison-is-the-key-to-joy-incentivising-fall-comparison-to-maximise-focus. Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere. Rest day? Check.  Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check.  Pre-climb tune-in? Check.  Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check.  Post-climb cool down? Check.  Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!    Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!

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*ANNOUNCEMENT A/O JULY 15TH 2026** Vision Training for Climbing Mentorship!  I have 1 opening for an ongoing vision and embodied multisensory visualisation training mentorship for climbers - targeting performance and wellbeing on-and-off the wall in a systemic way, tailored to your lifestyle learning style, and goals. Contact me via podcast mail for an exploratory call where we will dive into whether this is a right fit for you.  N.B.!  1. This is NOT a paid product or a service with a delivery promise. It is a personalised passion-driven journey of learning, experiencing and reflection at no monetary cost, delivered old school style in the name of personal connection. I am seeking resonance and alignment with you if something drives you from deep within to learn the priceless art of perceptual training and if you are keen to take radical, creative ownership of your own perception and performance.  2.  You are responsible and liable for for your own mind, body, experience, learning process and results at all times, and can (and should!) at any time - stop its momentum, speak up, or ignore information - should something not feel right for you. All information I provide is invitation, not instruction. My wish is to impart the basics of what you need to steer your own boat! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Sharpen your senses. Peak your perception. Build climbing instinct and adaptability off the wall from the inside out, so that you can climb your hardest on the wall.  My name is Crystal, and welcome to Attention Climbers!All guided meditations are live, improvised sessions that I record in one-go and participate in myself. Each episode emerges in a unique moment where I need a relaxed but active meditation for immediate stress reduction, AND wanted to ingrain rock-solid climbing instincts. This is where climbing performance and mind-body health - intersect.  Designed for any climber, at any point on your journey, to listen to and follow along with anytime and anywhere you feel safe to relax and be in your body.  Rest day? Check. Injured but want to still be climbing"? Check. Pre-climb tune-in? Check. Mid-session rest-and mental reset? Check. Post-climb cool down? Check. Stressy, messy, pressy life moments where you'd rather be climbing? CHECK!  Having a body, a mind, and an attentive state of presence - are all you need.  As always, climb well, be well, and thanks for listening!