Performance Improvement

Peak Performance, or optimal performance, is the art and science of altering one's mental and physical state at will to most effectively meet the challenges of the moment.

Recognising that mental preparation is critical to achieving success, many athletes and artists use biofeedback as an aid to mental training. Biofeedback helps build key skills of peak performance:

• the ability to rapidly achieve a state of inner calm
• the ability to effectively focus the mind on the task at hand, and to flexibly switch focus in response to changing circumstances
• an intuitive sense of control - the ability to trust the body to do what it knows how to do, without interference from conscious doubts and worries.

Biofeedback and neurofeedback can help athletes and sports enthusiasts at all levels of ability. For instance the Italian national football team benefited from neurofeedback before the 2006 World Cup, which they went on to win. Musicians and artists can also benefit, both in terms of controlling performance anxiety and in contacting creative inspiration. Others use biofeedback simply to concentrate better at work, or improve the quality of their sleep.