A Brain-Based Peak
Performance Model Using
Meditation, EMDR & Cardio
Imagery & Rehearsal
J. Patrick Gannon, PhD
Peak Performance Systems
San Francisco www.PeakPerformance101.com

Background To Study
 Clinical practice working with performance issues over 10 years
 Personal experience as college athlete, tennis coach, public speaker, trainer
 Developing knowledge in neuroscience, exercise physiology, meditation, state dependent learning, dissociation

Exploratory Study of Small
Sample of Performers
 Singers
 Musicians
 Public Speakers (2)
 Job Seekers (2)

Purpose of Study
 Test 3 brain-based peak performance tools on various performance measures
 Can we “imprint” new learning in brain?
 Can we bypass old neural circuits that hold anxiety and “install” new circuits?
 Can we install elements of Flow state?
 Can we “BrainScript” new performance routines that redefines peak performance training?

Traditional Sport/Performance
Psychology Tools
 Relaxation
 Goal Setting
 Visualization/Imagery
 Self-Talk
 Concentration/Focus

Limitations of Traditional Peak
Performance Training
 Creative arts performers (not athletes) often overlook performance skills in lieu of practicing their craft
 Research suggests only half benefit from psychological skill training when used.
Why?
 Training is not “state dependent”--skills learned in non-performance situations do not always “cross over” into performance
 Hypothesis: Performance anxiety blocks execution of newly learned skills

Performance Anxiety
 Anxiety includes trait anxiety
(personality) plus state anxiety
(situational) which interacts to create intensity of performance anxiety
 PA is biggest barrier to peak performance
 PA has a “long tail” - back to childhood trauma and past performance failures
 Must be clinically treated first using
EMDR, before peak performance scripts can be installed

Performance Stress Triggers
Hardwired Survival States
 PA triggers/consequence of hardwired selfpreservation instincts such as “fight/flight” response
 Evolutionary psychology has identified three other survival states: freeze, fright and faint.
 Sequence: Freeze, Flight, Fight, Fright, Faint
 Is there a sixth “F”?
 Flow?

Study of British Conservatory
Students (Gruzelier, Egner &
Vernon, 2003-06)
 Random assignment, coaches’ blind ratings of performance following one of six interventions: three brain states (alpha/theta, sensory-motor response and Beta1), exercise, mental skills or Alexander Technique
 Results: only alpha/theta brain state training using neurofeedback showed significant performance improvement

Aerobic/Cardio Exercise
 Aerobic exercise enhances neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity in hippocampus responsible for learning and memory
 Exercise produces and releases neurotransmitters affecting mood, attention, perception, motivation and arousal
 Exercise stimulates blood flow in brain and release of BDNF which stimulates cell growth
 Neurons that “fire together, wire together”

Impact of Exercise On Anxiety
Reduction
 Exercise acts as analgesic (pain relieving) and sedative (anti-anxiety)
 Exercise reduces physical symptoms of anxiety
 Exercise offers sense of mastery and control over challenging situations especially when combined with imagery and goal setting

Three Brain-Based Tools for
Peak Performance
 Meditation/Neurofeedback
 Eye Movement Desensitization and
Reprocessing (EMDR)
 Cardio Imagery and Rehearsal (CIR)

Meditation/Neurofeedback
 Promotes relaxation response, focused attention (concentration), mental discipline and reduces distractability
 Builds resistance to stress
 Promotes non-judgmental acceptance of self
 Limitations of meditation and neurofeedback

EMDR
 Clinical technique for PTSD, anxiety disorders, past trauma and performance anxiety
 Used effectively with athletes, musicians, singers, public speakers, business and sales personnel
 Triggers REM brain state allowing rapid information processing capability
 Used for clearing past trauma and installing new behavioral scripts for peak performance

Cardio Imagery & Rehearsal
(CIR)
 Combines aerobic exercise concurrent with mental imagery of performance
 Repeated mental rehearsal of performance routines while exercising “primes” the brain to learn new performance scripts
 Repeated rehearsal activates “imprinting” of new scripts which aids memorization and performance skills
 Replaces anxiety scripts with mastery scripts

Method
 Six session training model provided
 Introduction/Assessment
 Training in MM, EMDR, CIR with focus on past performance problems/trauma
 EMDR installation of performance scripts
 Review and re-installation using EMDR
 Review CIR with pre-performance plan
 Follow-up assessment

Findings
 Reduced Performance Anxiety
 Improved concentration, focus, mental clarity
 High engagement with Content
 Good execution of the performance plan
 Low level of self-consciousness
 Ease of experience applying skills
 Internal/External Feedback positive

Discussion
 BrainScripting: Proposing A New Theory of
Peak Performance Based on Neuroscience
 Applied Neurogenesis & Neuroplasticity
 Create new neural pathways supporting peak performance using EMDR to install performance scripts and Cardio
Imagery and Rehearsal as a “driver” of new skill learning and neural cell growth
 Training in interhemispheric coherence-balancing right and left brains using three brain-based techniques
 Use meditation and neurofeedback to evoke alpha/theta brainwave on demand
 Install Flow states using EMDR

Workshop Promo
 Performance clinic for anyone wanting to reduce performance anxiety or install performance scripts
 Fill out self-assessment first (hand out)
 Visit website: www.PeakPerformance101.com
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