The word “peak” has made a roaring entrance into the lexicon of English slang over the last few years, especially here on the internet. Sensibly employed to mean “the best” or “the most,” nowadays you’ll hear it used to describe anything but the mise-en-scene of an arthouse film to the flavor of a baseball or music performance. It is amazingly effective as slang because its meaning is irreducible – there are no degrees of being the very best – and therefore largely immune to having its meaning diluted by overuse like “awesome” or rendered quaint by culture like “the bees’ knees.”
It’s also a word you may have encountered several times on our website, as a bound two-word phrase touting the potential benefits of the sound training practiced at our office: peak performance. What you might not know is that “peak performance” has been a term of art in psychology and medicine for around a century now, over the years becoming the subject of intensive and fruitful research. In fact, no less an authority than the APA Dictionary in Psychology institutionally recognizes peak performance as “a performance of a task at the optimum level of an individual’s physical abilities, mental capabilities or both.” Researchers over the years have qualified it additionally in many ways, noting its relation to “a high degree of automaticity and effortlessness;” “optimal functioning;” “concentration, self-esteem, resilience, commitment, use of vivid imagery, and being relaxed and ready.”
Much like the slang meaning of “peak” however, you surely understand the meaning of peak performance intuitively: the very best you can do, the very most you are capable of when all of your inner resources are at your disposal. No matter who we are or what we do, all of the most important things we do in our lives are ultimately done in pursuit of this goal.
Peak Performance of Your Own
Of course, there are innumerable things that interfere with one’s ability to attain peak performance. Decades of research has shown that different forms of training and conditioning are often required in order for one to access their full potential, both bodily and cognitively. When you imagine sound training, such as the advanced sound training applications of Dr.Tomatis’ approach in use at the Sacarin Center, your first thought is surely of peak performance from the point of view of a musician. And it’s worth mentioning that no less an authority than Sting has touted its benefits. But when we remember some of those scientific descriptors from above – “optimal functioning,” “concentration,” “resilience” – we can understand that the desire for peak performance can be understood by anyone, from developing athletes to injured engineers, high-powered performers or struggling high school students. Every single person has the potential to perform at their peak, and every person has it in them to muster their resources and achieve it.
A Sound Approach to Peak Performance
Peak performance depends on optimal functioning, and optimal functioning is a factor of ease of communication within the brain. To improve communication within the brain is to improve the functioning of the brain, thereby making peak performance more attainable to the individual.
The sound training techniques developed by Dr. Alfred Tomatis, and today practiced in their most advanced applications by Dr. Liliana Sacarin, are focused specifically on this aspect of the brain’s functionality. By targeting the brain’s communication network with focused stimulation (in the form of sound), the brain can be habituated to access its own resources more effectively, decoding information and responding more efficiently, bring the individual closer to that ideal of “automaticity and effortlessness.” Best of all, the training’s focus on intrinsic mental control leaves the individual with independent access to the resources they need to attain peak performance – because they are their own, simply optimized for effective use.
If you are striving for peak performance in your own life, career or other pursuit, and are curious about how sound training can help you attain it, reach out to Dr. Sacarin for a 30 min free consultation. To learn more about our approach please follow the link: Peak Performance – Liliana Sacarin – Seattle, WA
