“There’s just something so calming about carving down a mountain that I can’t really describe.”— Alex Wasser

Since the age of 5, Alex Wasser has been passionate about snowboarding, joining a snowboard racing team at the age of 9 and honing her skills in competition for nearly a decade. Through her time with the team, she found community, discipline, self esteem, and a rich appreciation for her sport. Snowboarding also provided Alex with an incredible source of peace and satisfaction.

But her passion for snowboarding soon proved to be in conflict with her passion for academics — a conflict that was heightened by Alex’s tendency toward toxic perfectionism.

This episode of the Living Jewishly Podcasts is an episode of What’s In Your Toolbox?, a podcast about mental health and the tools that help us to cope and heal. In this episode, Alex and host Bobby K explore the hazards of perfectionist notions, how her mental health challenges have influenced her career, and the importance of speaking out and being authentic.

“A lot of my perfectionism stemmed in anxiety and depression. I really felt that until I addressed that as an issue, anything I tried to pursue was going to have this underlying perfectionist notion.”— Alex Wasser

This‌ ‌episode discusses:‌ ‌

• The link between anxiety and perfectionism, and why perfectionism must be dealt with in order to successfully pursue one’s path
• How Alex uses social media as a tool for raising awareness and providing needed nuance when it comes to mental health
• What an intensive dialectical behaviour therapy program looks like — and how it can improve your thinking and relationships

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Highlights:‌ ‌

00:53 Introduction

02:50 Alex Wasser & Irish Lake

03:37 Snowboarding

05:05 Dealing with perfectionism

06:44 Discovering a diagnosis

08:17 Social media as a tool

09:57 Alex’s accomplishments & goals

10:46 CBT, DBT & the 3 Ps

13:50 A.A.S.T.

16:44 What’s in Alex’s toolbox?

18:11 Laughing Like Crazy program

19:12 Positive energy & negative energy

21:01 Comedy as a tool

23:51 Alex’s advice

27:56 Coming up on What’s in Your Toolbox? & snowboarding facts

Links:‌ ‌

Laughing Like Crazy

https://mooddisorders.ca/program/laughing-like-crazy

No Magic Bullet

http://nomagicbullet.org

To get in contact or learn more about Living Jewishly:

Visit‌ ‌our ‌website: https://livingjewishly.org

Follow us on Instagram: @living.jewishly

Watch us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO2YEegjapKpQeXG6zh6tzw

or send us an email at hello@livingjewishly.org.

Shalom!