How Rugby Legend Jonny Wilkinson Overcomes Performance Anxiety

by the Healf Editors

Five years ago, Jonny Wilkinson, one of the most decorated rugby union players of all time who is perhaps most famous for his winning drop goal to win England the 2003 Rugby World Cup, knew something was off. 

His anxiety was overwhelming. He felt panicked, disconnected from his body, and out of balance. The elite athlete knew that he needed to make a change. So, he started asking himself what might help.

What he discovered was life-changing, and it led him to found his own beverage company, One Living, which produces premium vegan kombucha and water kefir with the mission to “take care of our bodies, so our bodies can take care of our mind.” 

Of course, overcoming performance anxiety and other mental stressors is not a one-step process. It's something Wilkinson continues to work on, day in and day out. And last week, Wilkinson came to Healf's London office to share the best mental wellbeing tips and insights that he's learned over the years for managing anxiety, including the tools he uses for nervous system regulation, and how to channel that stress into something productive.

“Health and wellbeing is not for anyone else,” said Wilkinson, who was one of Healf’s first-ever brand ambassadors, "[It's] just for you."

Channel your intensity in the right way

Wilkinson is known for his intensity both on and off the field. It's part of what makes him so successful. Taking care of his mental health wasn't about getting rid of that intensity; it was about channelling and refocusing his intentions around it. 

For Wilkinson, that means making sure that his focus and intentions are both productive and nurturing, rather than destructive. “I'm just as intense now as I was when I was playing, but my energy when I was playing was on this,” Wilkinson said, pointing to the room, “now my energy is on this,” he explained, pointing to himself. 

That intention extends to wellbeing practices too. While Wilkinson certainly did all the “right” things as an elite athlete to help his body perform, he said that he wasn’t shifting the energy around those rituals to make them meaningful. “People are doing ice baths, they're doing everything brilliantly, but it's like an extension of their training. So they train hard, and then they go into an ice bath [with that same intensity],” he said. “You live in this energy, and this energy has consequences. It ages you really fast.”

Put simply: Don't just go through the motions of your health and wellbeing, rushing to get through because you think it's what you're supposed to be doing. Really take time to think about your "why" and refocus your energies on the experience and intentions behind it.

Don't live by others people's expectations and reactions

As a famous athlete, Wilkinson is no stranger to having all eyes on him, and the pressures that brings with it. But in the past few years, he's done a lot of work to change his focus from external to internal.

During his talk at Healf, the famous rugby player recounted a recent story where he was showing some England players a kick. A crowd had gathered. Despite all the hard work he had done over the years to manage and direct his intensity in the right places, he could feel some old feelings of performance anxiety popping up again as the crowd realised who he was and started watching. 

"They're all getting their phones out," Wilkinson said of the crowd that had gathered to watch the practice. "As I hit this ball, I'm like, Oh, this is horrible. I don't even want to look at it when I do. I've missed it by mile."

At that moment, he said that an old part of himself started creeping to the surface, saying to him, "Oh my gosh, these people are going to run off and tell their mates, and they're going to say 'Oh, he was never that good, and you should see him now. He's a mess. He's useless, he's rubbish."

In that moment, he wanted nothing more than to quickly sprint and get another ball to prove himself by kicking it properly. Instead, he made himself sit in the discomfort and reminded himself not to be ruled by other people's reactions. "It's the most courageous thing for me to find my wellness, find my reconnection."

Take time to connect with yourself in nature

Wilkinson has long been a fan of forest walking, which helps him tune back into his body. But it's not just the act of "going into nature" that helps reset and realign your focus. It's essential to shift the way you think about that wellbeing practice if you really want to reap the benefits, explained Wilkinson. The minute you start approaching that wellbeing practice through the lens of ticking off a to-do list, you lose the purpose and intention. 

“When you go into nature, you reconnect to the fact that you are nature,” said Wilkinson. “That's the energy shift, going from ‘I'm here to control and own my life’ to being like ‘I'm here to let life live through me.’ That's the massive shift.”

That nature connection doesn't have to involve a forest walk, necessarily. It could be as simple as a breeze on your face as you drive home from work or a hot shower after a long day, said Wilkinson. Those natural elements, if you're paying attention, can help you reconnect with yourself, said Wilkinson, because they are "giving you your energy back."

Feeding your body with the right nutrients can level-up your mental game

Just as important as mindset is paying attention to how you're nourishing your body. After all, that brain-body connection is very real, and the things we're inputting into our bodies also affect the way our mind functions. No one knows this better than Wilkinson.

He hasn't just brought that philosophy to his brand One Living, Wilkinson truly believes in the power

He's been particularly interested in elemental nutrition. "In yogic traditions, the food is not broken down into vitamins, calories, and all this sort of thing," said Wilkinson. "It's elemental."

Elemental nutrition is an eastern medicinal tradition that divides food into different elements. Think: Wood, Fire, Earth, Water, Metal. These elements can help nourish specific organs, balance your energies (Yin and Yang), and support physical and emotional wellbeing. 

"I went to an enlightened yogi who took one look at me 10 years ago, and went, 'Your mental and physical energies are all over the place.'" To recenter those energies and find himself again, Wilkinson wrested back control of his health. He dialed in on his nutrition, nurtured his mind, and reset his intentions — and it has made all the difference.

This article is for informational purposes only, even if and regardless of whether it features the advice of physicians and medical practitioners. This article is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment and should never be relied upon for specific medical advice. The views expressed in this article are the views of the expert and do not necessarily represent the views of Healf