Title: “Get to the Heart of the Matter by Harnessing the Power of the Zone for Peak Performance”
Date/Time: February 10, 2012, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Presenter: Sara G. Gilman, MS, MFT
Description: With any performance or sport anxiety, fear, anger, pain or frustration can bring on coordination-killing, speed-slowing and mind-blanking forces. Surprisingly, the secret of controlling emotion lies in…the heart! Messages from the heart determine what your brain tells your body to do, whether that leads to effective performance or giving up. The key is learning to shift from the destructive and jagged heart rhythms brought on by the agitated stress response in pressured endeavors to the productive, smooth rhythms created by positive emotions. Smooth and even heart-rate patterns produce the calmness, clarity, and coordination associated with peak performance.
The heart provides a unique point from which anyone can regulate their reaction patterns and, ultimately, assert emotional control. You’ll find it both self-empowering and self-transforming. It gives you access to an internal source of power and intelligence. The heart is so powerful—generating 60 times the electrical amplitude of the brain—that it can draw your brain, nervous system, and emotions into its coherent rhythms and allow you to unlock more of your own innate intelligence.
In this lecture, Gilman will introduce the concept of heart rate coherence, outline the treatment of athletes and other top performers with an integrated approach, and discuss specific cases of clients who have broken through barriers to attain peak performance.
Trained in EMDR, neuro-linguistic programming, brainspotting, hypnosis, guided imagery, and HeartMath technology, Sara utilizes an integrated approach to coaching performers. Athletes, musicians, students, sales representatives, teachers, and health care providers will all benefit from this valuable information.
Bio: Sara G. Gilman, MS, MFT is a licensed psychotherapist with a private practice and consulting business in Encinitas, CA., specializing in working with athletes and other top performers. Sara lectures nationally on the topic of mental fitness for peak performance. She is certified in EMDR, is the past president (2010) of the EMDR International Association Board of Directors and is a fellow with the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. Gilman is enrolled in the PsyD program at California Southern University. Learn more about Gilman and her work at www.SaraGilman.com.
CalSouthern Learners wishing to earn extra credits for viewing the lecture, please enter your questions and comments in the comment section below. Thank you!
I enjoyed the presentation this morning, thank you for your insights!
Miller 87500 Harnessing the Power of the Zone for Peak Performance by S. Gilman
My question is…is this similar to “runners high”? Endorphins or other neurotransmitters released producing a euphoria and happiness and an effortless feeling while exerting self at an optimal level?
or is it similar to an altered state of consciousness?
What are the biochemistry changes that occur once an individual is in the “zone” or heart rate coherence state?
Thank you,
Nancy Miller
This was an informative lecture, thank you.
My question is that this technique sounds similar to grounding and a mindfulness approach. I am wondering if this technique has been used with people with Borderline Personality Disorder and if it has shown to be beneficial with people with severe histories of emotional disregulation?
This was a great presentation thank you, my question would be, Do you feel that the same approach and applications of the tools utilized in this spectrum can be used with Panic Attacks as well? This would be interesting to know if the two would be coorelated or similar in some way.
Maria
Class: Psy 87500
Thanks for sharing. This is indeed a very interesting topic, especially when the speaker shares about how the hearts send messages to the brain. In the Chinese character the meaning of ‘Psychology’ actually refers to the ‘heart ‘ 心理’. The meaning of the word ‘心’ is translated as ‘heart’ in the English context. But the word ‘Psychology’ in the western meaning refers to the study of the mind. As a Chinese, when I think of the word ‘psychology’ in English I would connect as a reference to the mind, but when I think the word ‘psychology’ in the Chinese character, instantly I would thought of the word as the ‘heart’. Maybe during the Chinese ancient time, they have already concluded that the heart and mind works as one, and there is not any separation between the mind and the heart.
Question: can the heart rate coherence teaching be taught in combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy?