SharpBrains

Just a quick note to summarize a number of conversations we have been having at a number of holiday parties.

In short, who may benefit from a biofeedback-based stress management program? anyone, no matter the age (after 6-years-old) who wants a more measurable way to manage stress and anxiety and perform at peak levels. Our Head Coach, a clinical psychologist, literally mentioned yesterday that this tool is one of the most useful he has ever seen.

We have seen some specific groups benefit the most, such as students and school staff, traders and golfers:

A- Students, teachers and school administrators: Technology & Learning magazine, widely read among school administrators, published last month a good article on it. Read Take a Deep Breath: Biofeedback software is helping students calm down for better test performance.

A quote: "Look for the techniques to catch on in more schools. Lagozzino (the school principal profiled in the article) is looking to train more of his students. "When I first heard about this, I thought, okay, this is a little too far out there for me," he says. "I didn't think you could control any of your own physiology and that it would have any impact on your thinking. [But] it really does."

B- Traders: Brett Steenbarger, the renowned expert in Trader Performance and author of the blog TraderFeed: Exploiting the edge from historical market patterns, among many things, posted a kind note, saying: "This is the first biofeedback application that I'm aware of that is uniquely marketed to traders. I've used biofeedback to monitor my body's level of arousal during trading and have found it to be quite useful."

C- Golfers: Lynn Marriott and Pia Nilsson, Voted Top 50 Teachers 2003-2004, Golf Digest, say that "Effective management of the emotions in your golf game will not only lower your scores, but is guaranteed to increase your enjoyment of the game.". We just talked to Lydia Covalesky-Siipola, a high school girl's varsity golf coach and former physics teacher, who was introduced to the program at Pia Nilsson's golf clinic and is an enthusiastic user.

An example of how the program works:

Emotional self-regulation and biofeedback: Freeze-Framer

Learn about the Freeze-Framer program.