Muddy Stilettos


<p>Somewhere between the Pilates classes, protein obsession and collective fixation with hitting 10,000 steps, physical fitness has quietly become a full-time lifestyle. But while we’re tracking our sleep, stretching our hip flexors and panic-buying magnesium sprays at 11pm, most of us are doing absolutely nothing to train the thing running the whole show: our minds.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1300" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160935.843.jpg" alt="Maya Raichoora" class="wp-image-139454" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160935.843.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160935.843-462x600.jpg 462w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160935.843-769x1000.jpg 769w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<p>Which is where Maya Raichoora comes in. The visualisation expert works with everyone from Wimbledon stars and Premiership football teams to global brands including <a href="https://www.nike.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Nike</a>, <a href="https://about.meta.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Meta</a> and <a href="https://www.lego.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">LEGO</a>, helping high performers train their brains like elite athletes train their bodies. After overcoming a brutal health battle as a teenager, Maya has spent the last decade mastering the mental fitness techniques she now teaches others, from building confidence and handling pressure to quietening self-doubt and anxiety. We sat down with her to discuss why your brain deserves just as much attention as your body.</p>



<div style="height:100px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-re-nike-s-first-ever-mental-fitness-trainer-how-did-that-happen">You’re Nike’s first-ever mental fitness trainer. How did that happen?</h3>



<p>A few years ago I became obsessed with the idea of building the&nbsp;<em>Nike of mental fitness</em>. I thought: if anyone has turned physical fitness into a movement, it’s Nike. So I started emailing anyone I could find on LinkedIn. Most ignored me. I even went into Nike Town in London about seven times asking to speak to a manager because I thought, if you want something badly enough, why be embarrassed about going for it?</p>



<p>Eventually, I did an event with them and they said: “Why haven’t we done this before?” That’s how I became Nike’s mental fitness trainer. Now I work with athletes, runners, footballers and teams, as well as Nike’s internal staff and wider community. People know how to train their bodies, but most have no idea how to train their minds.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-route-into-this-started-with-your-own-health-battle-what-happened">Your route into this started with your own health battle. What happened?</h3>



<p>I was diagnosed young with ulcerative colitis, an incurable inflammatory bowel disease, and mine was really aggressive. It completely took over my life. One day in hospital, a nurse asked me: “If you weren’t here, where would you be?”</p>



<p>For the first time, I started imagining myself healthy again, walking without pain, living normally. It felt unfamiliar, but it gave me hope. That was the beginning of visualisation for me.</p>



<p>I became obsessed with understanding the mind. I read books, listened to podcasts, learnt from teachers and practised every single day. It’s now been about 10 years. I’m symptom-free, off medication, and I still use visualisation daily.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-the-difference-between-mental-health-and-mental-fitness">What’s the difference between mental health and mental fitness?</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160658.495.jpg" alt="Maya Raichoora, the Nike mental fitness coach" class="wp-image-139452" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160658.495.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160658.495-600x400.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T160658.495-1000x667.jpg 1000w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<p>Mental health is your state of being. If you’ve got a mind, you’ve got mental health, just like having a body means you’ve got physical health. Mental fitness is what you actively do about it. It’s the training: meditation, visualisation, breathwork, self-talk.</p>



<p>I also think it’s important to separate mental illness from mental weakness. Mental illness is when your mental health has become so bad you need professional support. Mental weakness is human. You’re stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted, heartbroken. Mental fitness is about building the tools to handle those moments better.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-compare-mental-fitness-to-physical-fitness-a-lot-why">You compare mental fitness to physical fitness a lot. Why?</h3>



<p>Because it suddenly makes sense to people. Consistency matters. People do one meditation class and think they’re fixed, but you don’t get abs overnight and you don’t become mentally fit overnight either. It’s reps. Tiny habits repeated consistently change your brain over time.</p>



<p>There’s mental cardio too, actually using your brain instead of passively consuming all day. Are you learning? Reading? Asking questions? Challenging yourself? Adults often stop doing that.</p>



<p>Rest matters just as much. Sleep doesn’t automatically equal recovery. You can sleep eight hours and still wake up mentally exhausted because your brain never switched off properly. Sometimes mental rest is silence, nature or simply putting your phone down.</p>



<p>And then there’s mental diet, which I think is one of the biggest issues right now. We consume content constantly, social media, news, comparison, negativity, and then wonder why we feel anxious. Your brain mirrors what you repeatedly feed it.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-visualisation-is-your-big-thing-how-does-it-actually-work">Visualisation is your big thing. How does it actually work?</h3>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1300" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T171917.604.jpg" alt="Maya Raichoora - Nike's mental fitness coach" class="wp-image-139464" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T171917.604.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T171917.604-462x600.jpg 462w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Untitled-design-2026-05-15T171917.604-769x1000.jpg 769w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-"> </h3>



<p>Your brain struggles to tell the difference between vividly imagining something and actually doing it. If you imagine biting into a lemon, your mouth starts watering even though there’s no lemon there. Your brain and body still react. Most people already visualise every day, they just visualise worst-case scenarios. <em>What if I mess up? What if they judge me?</em> Visualisation is about intentionally choosing better mental images instead.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-do-athletes-use-it">How do athletes use it? </h3>



<p>Everything from handling pressure and improving performance to building confidence and quietening negative self-talk. One of my favourite techniques is character work: how does the person you want to become actually behave? How do they carry themselves? Respond under pressure? Otherwise, most of us are just repeating the same patterns on autopilot.</p>



<p>And yes, visualisation has helped people achieve faster race times, Grand Slam wins and medals, but honestly, the best part is watching someone become a version of themselves they’re genuinely proud of.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-and-the-rest-of-us">And the rest of us? </h3>



<p>Public speaking is a great example because so many people fear it. If your brain has never experienced something before, it has no evidence you can do it, which is why we panic. So rehearse it mentally. Visualise the room, the audience, your body language, your voice. Practise it in your mind until it starts to feel familiar.</p>



<p>I also use something called negative visualisation. If someone’s terrified of going blank on stage, we visualise that happening too, and then visualise them recovering calmly. That’s how resilience builds. Your brain learns: even if something goes wrong, I can handle it.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-can-beginners-do-it-without-feeling-ridiculous">How can beginners do it without feeling ridiculous?</h3>



<p>Start small. Ask yourself: how do I want to show up today? More confident? Calmer? More patient? Then visualise one moment, maybe a difficult meeting, a presentation or surviving the school run without losing your mind. See yourself handling it well. And don’t overcomplicate it. You do not need to meditate on a mountain for an hour. Six to 10 minutes a few times a week is brilliant. Sometimes athletes do visualisations that are only 30 seconds long because consistency matters more than length.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-should-we-be-teaching-this-in-schools">Should we be teaching this in schools?</h3>



<p>Absolutely. We teach children PE because we understand the importance of looking after our bodies, but very few children are taught how to manage their minds. Mindset, resilience and self-belief are life skills too. And honestly, they’re often what gives people the edge later on.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-one-mental-fitness-habit-everyone-should-try-today">One mental fitness habit everyone should try today?</h3>



<p>Go a whole day without complaining. No “I’m exhausted”, no “the weather’s awful”, no “my coffee’s gone cold”. Most people don’t realise how often they reinforce negativity through tiny comments like that. And secondly, sit in silence for 10 minutes. No phone, no podcast, no stimulation. Most people find it really uncomfortable because that’s when the thoughts show up, but learning to sit with your mind instead of constantly distracting yourself is powerful.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-your-non-negotiable">Your non-negotiable? </h3>



<p>Visualisation. Every single day. Even if it’s only 30 seconds. Consistency changes your brain over time.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-and-one-thing-you-visualised-that-still-blows-your-mind">And one thing you visualised that still blows your mind?</h3>



<p>Getting better, definitely. After being so ill for so many years, that still feels huge to me. And then Nike. I visualised working with them long before it happened. Now I’m visualising bringing mental fitness to the high street in a much bigger way and making it part of everyday life. Maybe a studio concept, maybe something bigger. Watch this space.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="1474" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/shopping-copy.jpg" alt="Visualise by Maya Raichoora" class="wp-image-139468" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/shopping-copy.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/shopping-copy-407x600.jpg 407w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/shopping-copy-678x1000.jpg 678w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



<ul>
<li><em>Maya’s book,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.waterstones.com/book/visualise/maya-raichoora//9781846048524?sv1=affiliate&amp;sv_campaign_id=626889&amp;awc=3787_1778863598_7625b6da1aceda8dd12daf92db4deb2b&amp;utm_source=626889&amp;utm_medium=affiliate&amp;utm_campaign=adstrong" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Visualise</a>, is out now — and if you’ve suddenly got the urge to start mentally training like an Olympian (or at the very least survive the school run with more inner peace), you can find out more <a href="https://mayaraichoora.com/">here</a>.</em></li>
</ul>



<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>



<div style="height:100px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-curious-for-more">Curious for more? </h2>



<ul>
<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/national/how-to-sleep-better-2026/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to sleep better in 2026 (and why it’s the ultimate in self care)</a></li>



<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/national/best-supplements-for-women-to-take-at-every-age/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Health 101: The best supplements to take at every age</a></li>



<li><a href="https://muddystilettos.co.uk/wellbeing/how-to-put-yourself-first-in-2026-8-practical-tips/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">How to finally put yourself first in 2026 – 8 practical tips</a></li>
</ul>


Train your brain: How to feel sharper, calmer and more confident

You may also like