Dr. Margie Serrato speaks at the March 17 meeting of the Kiwanis Club. Courtesy photo

BY BROOKE DAVIS
Kiwanis Club

At their March 17 meeting, the Kiwanis Club of Los Alamos heard a presentation from Dr. Margie Serrato, a personal and executive coach, on a program she has developed called Mental Fitness. Serrato holds a PhD in cultural anthropology and trained at the Co-Active Training Institute in San Rafael, California.

She defined Mental Fitness as “a person’s capacity to respond to life’s challenges with a positive rather than negative mindset”. This can impact a person’s overall wellness, promote healthy relationships and achieve peak performance.

The program focuses on strengthening three core “muscles”. The first is the saboteur interceptor, which identifies and redirects one’s inner judge that agitates every situation and motivates through negative emotions, causing fear, stress, anger and guilt. Next is sage, the techniques of which tap into positive emotions such as empathy, curiosity, creativity, passion and purpose. The sage perspective that “every outcome or circumstance can be turned into a gift or opportunity” can be employed to calm emotions down. The third is self-command that utilizes learning how to respond to the challenge and identify the gift or opportunity.

Serrato explained that lasting positive change requires 20% insight and 80% mental “muscle”. She has seen the program work well through her experience with the many groups she has helped.