Optimal Performance Training
Optimizing Performance: Executives, Students, Athletes
Training to improve:
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Attention
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Stress Management
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Anxiety (social or performance related)
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Learning difficulties
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Organization
Clients in this program are mainly company executives, entrepreneurs, University/College students and elite athletes. Women and men from many different walks of life have benefited from the program usually moving on to more rewarding careers, or higher positions within their companies. A person who feels that they are not realizing their full potential and wants to excel is a candidate.
Program Goal:
Graduates from the "TOPS" program (Tools for an Optimal Performance State) are capable of self regulation. They can turn on an ideal performance state. The athlete learns a calm, relaxed and focused state, free of emotional distractions such as anxiety, anger and frustration. The executive is capable of being relaxed, alert, calm, aware and reflective while focusing, creating and applying appropriate strategies in a flexible manner to accomplish the task at hand.
The optimal Performance program combines Neurofeedback, Biofeedback and Metacognitive Strategies:
Neurofeedback:
involves the immediate feedback of information about your brain waves. These reflect different "mental states" : attention, concentration, creativity, problem solving, awareness, reflection, meditation, impulsiveness, emotional ability, depression, over-arousal and under-arousal.
Biofeedback:
involves feedback of information concerning physiological states which reflect alertness, tension and anxiety.
Neurofeedback training works by reading your EEG (brainwave patterns) and letting you know when you are in the zone of an optimal mental state. See the example Sailboat Race Training Screen below:
When a client is working on the sailboat race screen they will have a small EEG sensor on the top of their head and one on each ear to measure brainwave activity. The EEG sensor picks up brainwave patterns associated with being calm, focused and relaxed. On this screen, the green boat will win the race when the client is successful at maintaining focus, feeling calm and clearing their mind of ruminations/worries.
At the bottom of the screen you can see a graph of the client’s breathing and heart rate. The client is doing heart rate variability training to achieve a maximum change in heart rate. This type of training helps with stress management.
Metacognition:
in simplest terms is "thinking about thinking". It refers to executive thinking skills that monitor your cognition. It involves being conscious of how you learn and remember things.
***Combining these three items (neurofeedback, biofeedback, and metacognition) leads to fast efficient learning and a calm, reflective, organized approach to work. This program allows the graduate to work efficiently and effectively using flexible problem solving approaches.**
Equipment:
The Institute for the Study of Optimal Performance States and the Associated Biofeedback Institute of Toronto have a range of neurofeedback instruments. This allows for individualization of programs to meet the unique needs of each client. The Centre also has the most modern biofeedback equipment for the monitoring of: Respiration, Heart Rate, Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA), Pulse Volume, Peripheral Skin Temperature, Muscle Tension, and Electrodermal Responses. This enables the client to gain kinesthetic awareness and psychophysiological control which are essential for optimal performance. Advice and materials concerning nutrition are available
Origins of the Institute:
The Institute developed from the successful work of the ADD Centre in improving concentration in clients ranging in age from 6 to 63. The addition of sophisticated state-of-the-art biofeedback equipment allowed for the movement from remediation of difficulties with attention span to a broader focus on the optimization of performance.
The first step in getting started with neurofeedback is to book an initial assessment. Please see the link below for more details.