0:00:07.834,0:00:09.459
This is kind of nice.

0:00:09.459,0:00:12.722
Because it is incredibly difficult[br]to contain what you want to say

0:00:12.722,0:00:15.467
in 18 minutes, but it's for me anyway.

0:00:15.467,0:00:21.297
So we kind of showed you earlier[br]on what goes wrong under pressure.

0:00:22.357,0:00:27.939
The human brain is constantly getting[br]a signal from all the bodily systems,

0:00:27.939,0:00:30.539
but particularly the heart,[br]the vagus nerve,

0:00:30.539,0:00:33.449
which, as we showed you[br]is sort of erratic and under pressure,

0:00:33.449,0:00:37.640
super chaos causes that DIY lobotomy.

0:00:38.360,0:00:42.274
You're all built that way,[br]and you've all had the experience

0:00:42.274,0:00:44.590
when somebody kind of[br]puts a challenge to you

0:00:44.590,0:00:47.900
and it doesn't really matter[br]as you saw how small that challenge is.

0:00:47.900,0:00:49.547
It can be any type of challenge.

0:00:49.547,0:00:52.958
A challenge to your point of view,[br]a challenge to your ego,

0:00:52.958,0:00:54.637
a challenge to your relationships,

0:00:54.637,0:00:59.288
any type of challenge[br]causes the physiology to go chaotic,

0:00:59.288,0:01:04.564
causes the frontal lobe to be inhibited,[br]and you become suboptimal straight away.

0:01:04.564,0:01:09.406
What's kind of interesting about that[br]is when the brain is inhibited;

0:01:09.406,0:01:11.506
it also inhibits your[br]perceptual awareness,

0:01:11.506,0:01:14.457
so you don't realize it's happened.

0:01:15.487,0:01:18.902
So you can come out of a meeting[br]and think, "Oh, that went well."

0:01:18.902,0:01:22.609
And everyone,s going, "What do you mean[br]it went well? You were rubbish."

0:01:22.609,0:01:26.730
Because your awareness is inhibited,[br]you don't realize how rubbish you were.

0:01:26.730,0:01:28.581
So it's a bit of a catch-22.

0:01:28.581,0:01:33.082
This is the phenomena that underpins[br]lots of different things

0:01:33.082,0:01:36.209
that you've seen and experienced[br]yourself or seen on telly:

0:01:36.209,0:01:40.315
Stage-fright, people get stage fright[br]and can't remember their words;

0:01:40.315,0:01:41.961
Kids go blank in an exam.

0:01:41.961,0:01:44.253
It's the same phenomena.

0:01:46.079,0:01:49.743
Or my personal favorite - Family Fortunes,[br]if you've ever watched that show -

0:01:49.743,0:01:51.273
the two people sit at the front.

0:01:51.273,0:01:53.003
We've asked 100 people on the street

0:01:53.003,0:01:55.113
to name something[br]you put in a jacket potato.

0:01:55.113,0:01:56.303
(Bzz) "Jam!"

0:01:56.303,0:01:58.083
(Laughter)

0:01:58.083,0:01:59.843
It's hysterical.

0:01:59.843,0:02:04.793
When your frontal lobe's inhibited[br]you say anything, and it's really funny.

0:02:04.793,0:02:07.004
Anne Robinson, The Weakest Link,

0:02:07.004,0:02:09.673
she throws you a simple question,[br]then stares at you.

0:02:09.673,0:02:12.154
You blurt out any all sort of rubbish.

0:02:12.154,0:02:17.395
So when you're up with your boss,[br]he might be the nicest boss in the world.

0:02:17.395,0:02:19.834
If you're feeling a little under pressure,

0:02:19.834,0:02:24.615
you suddenly discover[br]you're talking rubbish.

0:02:24.615,0:02:26.556
Sometimes you even have that awareness.

0:02:26.556,0:02:31.534
You almost see yourself coming out[br]with the most ridiculous nonsense.

0:02:32.264,0:02:35.747
You think, "Why is this happening?"[br]It's because you're built that way.

0:02:35.747,0:02:39.875
The human system is built that way[br]is that under pressure,

0:02:39.875,0:02:43.126
physiological chaos, the brain shuts down.

0:02:43.126,0:02:45.695
You're designed that way.

0:02:45.695,0:02:50.237
You think, "Why are we designed that way?"

0:02:50.237,0:02:54.147
And the only reason you have anything[br]in your physiology is survival.

0:02:54.147,0:02:58.027
There are survival advantages[br]to having brain shut down,

0:02:58.027,0:02:59.547
and it goes back 200,000 years.

0:02:59.547,0:03:02.457
So when you were wandering[br]across the prairie,

0:03:02.457,0:03:05.488
and a big grizzly bear comes out[br]from behind the rocks and says,

0:03:05.488,0:03:08.127
"Oh, human being! There's my lunch."

0:03:08.127,0:03:10.337
You don't need clever thinking.

0:03:10.337,0:03:12.298
In fact, if you stood going to be clever,

0:03:12.298,0:03:15.028
"Is that the brown bear,[br]or the lesser-spotted gray bear?"

0:03:15.028,0:03:16.138
(Laughter)

0:03:16.138,0:03:18.368
He will eat you, right?

0:03:18.368,0:03:20.674
So you need brain shut down.

0:03:20.674,0:03:23.159
Your thinking has to become[br]very unsophisticated,

0:03:23.159,0:03:25.588
in fact, it has to become binary.

0:03:25.588,0:03:29.359
So you either have fight-flight[br]or play dead. Two choices.

0:03:29.359,0:03:32.339
You either just drop[br]to the ground in a faint,

0:03:32.339,0:03:35.391
or you're prepared to slug it out or run.

0:03:35.391,0:03:36.632
It's binary.

0:03:36.632,0:03:40.171
Anything more sophisticated[br]you don't need, it will kill you.

0:03:40.171,0:03:42.779
So here we are, 200,000 years later,

0:03:42.779,0:03:47.280
we still have the same[br]biological mechanism.

0:03:47.280,0:03:50.277
We've basically got[br]a 200,000-year-old software,

0:03:50.277,0:03:54.045
and we've never had the upgrade, right?

0:03:54.045,0:03:57.127
We don't meet a bear today;[br]we meet each other.

0:03:57.127,0:04:00.566
But in meeting each other,[br]the same phenomenon goes on.

0:04:00.566,0:04:02.336
We showed you how that chaos

0:04:02.336,0:04:07.576
can cause somebody[br]who's even good at math, like Neil is,

0:04:07.576,0:04:12.696
"Uh ... 200 ... Uh ... Shut up,[br]you're putting me off! 200 ... Uh ..."

0:04:13.526,0:04:15.717
It becomes impossible,[br]a simple task like that.

0:04:15.717,0:04:18.496
I can tell you, I did this[br]in the office of the chief exec,

0:04:18.496,0:04:21.537
one of the leading retailers in the UK,

0:04:21.537,0:04:24.627
and his first answer was 298.

0:04:24.627,0:04:26.028
(Laughter)

0:04:26.028,0:04:27.827
And, he went, "Oh. No, that's wrong!"

0:04:27.827,0:04:30.346
He was so embarrassed[br]that he got the first one wrong,

0:04:30.346,0:04:32.076
he couldn't think of the second one.

0:04:32.076,0:04:35.040
It literally sounds like, "Ah ..."[br]a rabbit in the headlights.

0:04:35.040,0:04:36.898
He just couldn't come up with anything.

0:04:36.898,0:04:39.516
So as I said, you're all[br]at the mercy of that.

0:04:39.516,0:04:44.327
The point being, until you've got[br]control of this physiology,

0:04:44.327,0:04:47.980
anybody can make you look like an idiot.

0:04:47.980,0:04:49.597
And what's worse?

0:04:49.597,0:04:52.118
You're doing it to yourself[br]an awful lot of the time.

0:04:52.688,0:04:55.070
Your own anxiety[br]about your own performance

0:04:55.070,0:04:58.550
is actually causing the chaos,[br]so you're lobotomizing yourself.

0:04:58.550,0:05:01.938
A lot of people around you[br]can trigger you into a lobotomy,

0:05:01.938,0:05:04.989
but most of the time,[br]you're just lobotomizing yourself.

0:05:05.629,0:05:10.530
So until you've got control[br]of that absolutely, fundamental basic -

0:05:10.530,0:05:13.570
you might be brilliant one day,[br]you might be poor,

0:05:13.570,0:05:16.511
and who knows what's going[br]to show up that day.

0:05:16.511,0:05:20.063
So right about fundamental,[br]the cleverness of your thinking,

0:05:20.063,0:05:24.141
or your ability to read[br]the line on a golf putt,

0:05:24.141,0:05:26.291
or your ability to come up[br]with a great idea,

0:05:26.291,0:05:29.983
or how to innovate that sales process,[br]or any of that stuff.

0:05:29.983,0:05:36.242
The quality of your thought, in fact,[br]the very things that you think,

0:05:36.242,0:05:41.213
and how well you think them[br]is hugely influenced by your biology.

0:05:41.213,0:05:44.032
I'll give a couple of live examples,[br]then get Neil back up,

0:05:44.032,0:05:46.392
and we'll show you[br]how to control your physiology.

0:05:47.532,0:05:50.063
So if you haven't yet clocked

0:05:50.063,0:05:53.355
that your biology is controlling[br]your brain function.

0:05:53.355,0:05:56.983
If we held you and locked the doors[br]and filled you up with coffee,

0:05:56.983,0:06:00.094
what happens is your bladder[br]gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

0:06:00.094,0:06:02.593
It starts to send[br]alarm messages to your brain,

0:06:02.593,0:06:05.795
and you're getting one of these pee.

0:06:05.795,0:06:08.026
"I've got to pee ... I've got to pee."

0:06:08.026,0:06:09.704
If you've ever had that experience

0:06:09.704,0:06:13.518
when you can't get out, but[br]your bladder is sending alarm signals,

0:06:13.584,0:06:16.854
and all of that -[br]you haven't got Pampers on -

0:06:16.854,0:06:18.684
(Laughter)

0:06:18.684,0:06:22.470
what you'll discover is you go deaf.

0:06:22.470,0:06:25.096
You ever notice that?[br]You can't hear people.

0:06:25.096,0:06:28.518
You're so internally focused,[br]"My bladder is going to burst..."

0:06:28.518,0:06:29.576
You go deaf.

0:06:29.576,0:06:33.098
You can see people's mouths moving,[br]but you can't hear what they're saying.

0:06:33.098,0:06:34.966
Then beads of sweat start to break out,

0:06:34.966,0:06:37.465
you're trying to pee urine out[br]through your forehead.

0:06:37.465,0:06:39.486
(Laughter)

0:06:39.486,0:06:43.337
Literally, your consciousness[br]is completely eradicated.

0:06:43.337,0:06:46.944
So that's the biology disrupting[br]your consciousness.

0:06:46.944,0:06:51.766
Well, I was in a meeting recently[br]with an eight-month-pregnant woman.

0:06:51.766,0:06:53.036
We were chatting away,

0:06:53.036,0:06:57.567
and you saw the baby visibly[br]ripple across, went like that,

0:06:57.567,0:07:00.078
and you could see the ripple[br]go across her abdomen,

0:07:00.078,0:07:02.747
and she was chatting, then ..."Ooh ..."

0:07:02.747,0:07:08.428
For about 20 seconds she was gone,[br]completely kind of left the room, "Oh ..."

0:07:08.428,0:07:11.496
and then she went, "Oh, hello!"

0:07:11.496,0:07:12.498
(Laughter)

0:07:12.498,0:07:13.598
Back in the room again.

0:07:13.598,0:07:16.479
It was like her consciousness[br]disappeared for 20 seconds.

0:07:16.479,0:07:19.818
So these are live examples.

0:07:19.818,0:07:23.869
You think you just think, right?

0:07:23.869,0:07:27.531
But what do you think, [br]and why do you think it?

0:07:27.531,0:07:31.480
I was talking to a senior exec,[br]he was from a government think tank.

0:07:31.480,0:07:34.272
I said, "Oh, government[br]think tank, that's interesting!

0:07:34.272,0:07:36.690
You probably sit around[br]with loads of clever people

0:07:36.690,0:07:38.200
debating the issues of the day

0:07:38.200,0:07:40.860
and trying to come up[br]with some clever answers."

0:07:40.860,0:07:43.800
He said, "Yes, pretty much what we do."

0:07:43.800,0:07:46.230
I said, "Have you ever thought

0:07:46.230,0:07:49.141
about why those answers[br]are not these other answers?

0:07:49.141,0:07:52.651
Have you ever thought[br]about your own thinking?"

0:07:52.651,0:07:54.852
He said, "I never thought about that."

0:07:54.852,0:07:58.611
"Spotted it! You're a think-tank;[br]you've never thought about thinking.

0:07:58.611,0:08:00.311
What's that about?"

0:08:00.311,0:08:02.911
So we just think,

0:08:02.911,0:08:06.332
but we don't realize that what we think[br]and how well we think it,

0:08:06.332,0:08:08.691
is actually influenced by something else.

0:08:08.691,0:08:12.993
Thought is really an emergent[br]property within your system.

0:08:12.993,0:08:14.676
The very things that you think,

0:08:14.676,0:08:18.632
you will think different things[br]if you're happy than if you're depressed.

0:08:18.632,0:08:24.492
And how well you think them[br]will depend a lot on the biology.

0:08:25.452,0:08:28.794
So if you want to step-change thinking,

0:08:28.794,0:08:33.906
if you want to really double or treble[br]the quality of your thinking,

0:08:33.906,0:08:36.303
you can't do it by thinking about it.

0:08:37.563,0:08:39.103
Wouldn't that be nice if I said,

0:08:39.103,0:08:41.574
"Look, I've spotted the problem[br]for you in your life,

0:08:41.574,0:08:43.884
you're not thinking smart enough.

0:08:43.884,0:08:45.904
So I want you to go away[br]over the weekend,

0:08:45.904,0:08:50.345
come back 25 percent smarter[br]on Monday morning, alright?"

0:08:50.715,0:08:52.205
That will be nice, wouldn't it?

0:08:52.205,0:08:54.205
"Oh, I haven't thought to do that,

0:08:54.205,0:08:57.256
I'll go away, and I'll think[br]about my thinking over the weekend,

0:08:57.256,0:09:00.004
25 percent better[br]on Monday, here I am!"

0:09:00.004,0:09:01.206
It doesn't work that way.

0:09:01.206,0:09:04.295
That's what Einstein said,[br]"We can not solve our problems

0:09:04.295,0:09:09.376
with the same level of thinking[br]that created them."

0:09:09.376,0:09:13.216
You don't get a new level of thinking[br]just by thinking about it.

0:09:13.216,0:09:17.987
You've got to change the context[br]in which thoughts emerge.

0:09:20.217,0:09:24.096
It's the context,[br]in human terms, is the biology.

0:09:24.096,0:09:27.468
What is the biological context[br]from which thought emerges?

0:09:27.468,0:09:31.159
What is the emotional state[br]from which thought emerges?

0:09:31.159,0:09:35.112
You change that context,[br]the biological and emotional context,

0:09:35.112,0:09:37.577
and you can change[br]the quality of the thought,

0:09:37.577,0:09:40.177
and the actual thought itself.

0:09:40.177,0:09:42.277
That is the source.

0:09:43.157,0:09:44.648
I suggest we get Chris back up

0:09:44.648,0:09:47.748
and I'll show you how Chris can learn[br]with no training before,

0:09:47.748,0:09:49.439
how to control his physiology.

0:09:49.439,0:09:52.739
You do not need to be - sorry, Neil -[br]a yogic master.

0:09:52.739,0:09:54.018
(Laughter)

0:09:54.018,0:09:56.070
Neil: What happens to short term memory?

0:09:56.070,0:09:58.540
(Laughter)

0:10:00.020,0:10:01.099
Here we go.

0:10:01.099,0:10:03.460
Which ear are we on? Neil: This one.

0:10:04.770,0:10:08.569
If you just hold that,[br]change chair around a bit if you like.

0:10:08.569,0:10:11.481
Turn your chair around,[br]so you can see the screen more easily.

0:10:11.481,0:10:15.790
So exactly as before,[br]is he still alive? Yeah.

0:10:15.790,0:10:17.671
So we'll start recording.

0:10:17.671,0:10:20.321
So again, just picking up each heartbeat,

0:10:20.321,0:10:23.232
the software is measuring the distance[br]between each heart beat

0:10:23.232,0:10:24.717
and calculating his heart rate.

0:10:24.717,0:10:27.111
Because he walked up the stage[br]out of the audience,

0:10:27.111,0:10:29.111
he's going about 90 miles an hour.

0:10:29.111,0:10:31.311
Just the excitement[br]about being the front here.

0:10:31.311,0:10:33.791
So if you want to control your physiology,

0:10:33.791,0:10:36.663
this isn't years and years[br]and months and months of practice.

0:10:36.663,0:10:39.751
You don't have to be a yogic master[br]to control your physiology.

0:10:39.751,0:10:42.512
You just have to know exactly[br]what to do, right?

0:10:42.512,0:10:46.204
So we're now going to show[br]Chris, sorry, Neil exactly what to do.

0:10:46.204,0:10:47.474
(Laughter)

0:10:47.474,0:10:48.782
Mental block.

0:10:48.782,0:10:51.042
Over here is a breath pacer,

0:10:51.042,0:10:54.413
so when that goes up, I want you[br]to breathe in ... (Inhales)

0:10:54.413,0:10:58.594
when that goes down, I want you[br]to breathe out. (Exhales)

0:10:58.594,0:11:02.029
At the bottom, there's a hold.[br]So wait for it. Don't go too soon, ready?

0:11:02.031,0:11:04.614
(Inhales)

0:11:04.614,0:11:10.464
And a long, slow ... (Exhales) Okay?

0:11:10.464,0:11:11.925
Wait for it.

0:11:11.925,0:11:16.075
(Inhales) A long, slow ... (Exhales)

0:11:16.075,0:11:18.174
You can follow this[br]in the room, if you want,

0:11:18.174,0:11:20.626
just breathe in this rhythmic fashion.

0:11:20.626,0:11:22.435
It's a nice rhythmic breathing.

0:11:22.435,0:11:27.741
So a long breath in,[br]and a long, slow breath out.

0:11:27.741,0:11:31.756
I'll leave Neil to do that,[br]and I'll carry on talking to you guys.

0:11:31.756,0:11:35.567
So of all the things that you can do[br]to get your physiology under control,

0:11:35.567,0:11:37.657
there are many things.

0:11:38.547,0:11:42.967
But the start point is to do something[br]that you can get conscious control over,

0:11:42.967,0:11:45.587
and you can get conscious control[br]over your breathing.

0:11:45.587,0:11:51.747
Now, there are 12 different aspects[br]of your breath that you can regulate.

0:11:51.747,0:11:53.267
12 different aspects.

0:11:53.267,0:11:54.967
So when you go to classes,

0:11:54.967,0:12:01.207
whether it's singing, sports,[br]fighter pilots, all sorts of things,

0:12:01.207,0:12:04.949
they'll talk to you about breathing[br]and breath practice.

0:12:04.949,0:12:06.889
Yoga, you know.

0:12:06.889,0:12:09.030
But what are they teaching you?

0:12:09.030,0:12:10.766
For example,[br]there's a yogic practice

0:12:10.766,0:12:13.298
where they teach you[br]alternate nostril breathing.

0:12:13.298,0:12:14.908
That's kind of interesting,

0:12:14.908,0:12:20.158
but in my view, that's number nine[br]on the list of priorities, of the 12.

0:12:20.158,0:12:26.170
The single most important thing is rhythm,[br]which is what this is training.

0:12:26.170,0:12:31.300
So we've seen that this measures[br]the level of coherence in Neil's system.

0:12:31.300,0:12:33.950
When he's in complete chaos,[br]he's down here in the red.

0:12:33.950,0:12:37.291
And just with a bit of guidance,[br]in less than or about a minute,

0:12:37.291,0:12:40.260
he's up and into the coherent green.

0:12:40.260,0:12:42.270
He is the yogic master.

0:12:42.270,0:12:43.989
(Laughter)

0:12:43.989,0:12:47.690
Neil brackets Yoda, right?

0:12:49.780,0:12:52.882
So you can see the physiology[br]has changed from this erratic

0:12:52.882,0:12:56.343
to this coherent waveform[br]in less than a minute,

0:12:56.343,0:12:58.349
when you know what to do.

0:12:58.349,0:13:01.061
So of all the things[br]in your breathing that you can do -

0:13:01.061,0:13:05.561
if you start to control[br]the rhythm of the breath,

0:13:05.561,0:13:08.642
that will start to change[br]the physiology, just as you've seen.

0:13:08.642,0:13:10.602
And you'll start to become more coherent.

0:13:10.602,0:13:15.233
So his frontal lobes will work better now[br]than at the beginning of this trace,

0:13:15.233,0:13:19.233
when his physiology was erratic,[br]you all see the difference?

0:13:19.233,0:13:22.064
Even though the average[br]heart rate is about the same,

0:13:22.064,0:13:24.644
during that period and during this period.

0:13:24.644,0:13:28.574
The heart rate is the same,[br]but the pattern is different.

0:13:28.574,0:13:30.824
So when you change that pattern,

0:13:30.824,0:13:32.934
you're basically sending[br]better quality fuel

0:13:32.934,0:13:36.975
from the heart to the brain,[br]the brain is going to work better.

0:13:36.975,0:13:38.504
And when the brain works better,

0:13:38.504,0:13:40.702
you're more perceptive,[br]you're more insightful,

0:13:40.702,0:13:45.095
you're more clear thinking,[br]you can understand how to problem-solve.

0:13:45.095,0:13:46.637
So I saw the other speakers say,

0:13:46.637,0:13:50.267
you have to figure out when things[br]go wrong, what I'm going to do about this?

0:13:50.267,0:13:51.285
If brains inhibited,

0:13:51.285,0:13:54.165
you probably won't come up[br]with the idea or the right answer.

0:13:54.165,0:13:58.228
But if you've got your brain switched on,[br]you've got a much better chance.

0:13:58.228,0:14:00.306
Does that all make sense?

0:14:00.306,0:14:03.326
So when you hear people say to you,

0:14:03.326,0:14:07.866
"Oh yeah, before that big presentation,[br]take a few deep breaths."

0:14:07.866,0:14:10.376
I'd say, "Don't bother."

0:14:10.376,0:14:12.045
Because a few deep breaths

0:14:12.045,0:14:14.857
isn't actually going to alter[br]your brain function that much.

0:14:14.857,0:14:18.807
By the way, when they say deep,[br]what they actually mean is large.

0:14:18.807,0:14:21.495
Large volume breath is what they mean.

0:14:21.495,0:14:24.927
Because depth is the area[br]where the air in the lungs is going.

0:14:24.927,0:14:27.477
What they mean is a few big breaths.

0:14:27.477,0:14:29.201
But even volume

0:14:29.201,0:14:32.537
is only about number five or six[br]on the batting order.

0:14:32.537,0:14:35.958
The number one priority is rhythm.

0:14:37.048,0:14:41.637
Take a few rhythmic breaths,[br]that will start to change your physiology.

0:14:41.637,0:14:43.430
So you can put this to the test.

0:14:43.430,0:14:46.430
Next time, before you might[br]have to make a difficult phone call,

0:14:46.430,0:14:49.530
rather than taking a few deep breaths[br]or even a few large breaths,

0:14:49.530,0:14:50.889
take a few rhythmic breasts,

0:14:50.889,0:14:53.971
and rhythm really means[br]a fixed ratio of in-to-out.

0:14:53.971,0:14:57.890
It doesn't matter what that ratio is,[br]so long as it's fixed.

0:14:57.890,0:15:01.081
So this is four seconds in,[br]six seconds out.

0:15:01.081,0:15:04.751
Four, six, four, six, four, six.

0:15:04.751,0:15:08.851
You could do five-five.[br]Five, five, five, five.

0:15:08.851,0:15:10.171
So long as it's fixed.

0:15:10.171,0:15:11.141
What you don't want

0:15:11.141,0:15:16.581
is four, six, five, five, eight,[br]three, three, seven, two, five.

0:15:16.581,0:15:19.182
That's erratic breathing, okay?

0:15:19.182,0:15:21.442
You want a fixed ratio.

0:15:21.442,0:15:25.182
And then, once you've got[br]a rhythmic breath going,

0:15:25.182,0:15:29.013
the second most important[br]thing is smoothness.

0:15:29.013,0:15:31.342
Because you can breathe[br]rhythmically but staccato,

0:15:31.342,0:15:37.353
so you could go (Puffing in and out)

0:15:37.353,0:15:39.403
That's entirely rhythmic,[br]but it's staccato,

0:15:39.403,0:15:45.773
so what you want is smooth,[br]so (Slow inhale and exhale)

0:15:45.773,0:15:50.014
which is a fixed volume per second[br]round the entire cycle.

0:15:50.894,0:15:53.653
Just as we're probably both rowers;[br]my sport was rowing.

0:15:53.653,0:15:54.975
That's what they teach you.

0:15:54.975,0:15:57.424
How are the rowers going[br]to win all the gold medals

0:15:57.424,0:16:00.195
in the Olympics in 147 days?

0:16:00.195,0:16:03.615
Neil: The first ones in 151 days.

0:16:03.615,0:16:05.707
They'll teach you[br]whenever you learn to row,

0:16:05.707,0:16:08.035
blades in the water,[br]blades out the water.

0:16:08.035,0:16:10.805
In, out, in, out. Rhythm, right?

0:16:10.805,0:16:13.665
And then once you've learned[br]that rhythm as a novice oarsman,

0:16:13.665,0:16:16.076
the next thing is once[br]the blades are in the water,

0:16:16.076,0:16:18.785
even smooth pressure through the water.

0:16:18.785,0:16:20.275
All the way through the stroke.

0:16:20.275,0:16:22.236
You don't want to put a blade in a water,

0:16:22.236,0:16:25.556
pull really hard, let it drift a bit,[br]and pull really hard at the end,

0:16:25.556,0:16:27.776
because boat goes "Uh..." like that.

0:16:27.776,0:16:29.927
In, even pressure.

0:16:29.927,0:16:31.947
And the same with Chris Hoy[br]on the bicycle.

0:16:31.947,0:16:34.737
If you look at the metrics[br]that is done around Chris Hoy -

0:16:34.737,0:16:36.851
I don't know if you realize this -

0:16:36.851,0:16:40.417
novice cyclist thinks[br]it's just about the kick down,

0:16:40.417,0:16:44.407
but, then it's the drag and it's the lift,[br]and actually, it's a circle.

0:16:44.407,0:16:47.648
So if you look at the metrics on that,[br]they've got to go circular,

0:16:47.648,0:16:51.428
and get as much pressure evenly[br]applied around the whole cycle.

0:16:51.428,0:16:53.729
So you'll see the Olympic cyclist

0:16:53.729,0:16:58.569
will have a smooth, and even force[br]all the way around the loop,

0:16:58.569,0:17:01.029
and those are the guys[br]that win the gold medal.

0:17:01.029,0:17:03.429
So it's smoothness through it.

0:17:03.429,0:17:05.379
So exactly as we've got here

0:17:05.379,0:17:11.570
is if we can (Exhales erratically) [br]then (Inhales erratically)

0:17:11.570,0:17:14.100
So you might have rhythm,[br]but have you got smoothness?

0:17:14.100,0:17:17.111
As you get smoothness better,[br]it becomes more and more coherent.

0:17:17.111,0:17:19.142
So rhythm and smoothness exactly

0:17:19.142,0:17:21.440
as you would cycle,[br]exactly as you would row,

0:17:21.440,0:17:25.079
gives you the most powerful effect.

0:17:25.079,0:17:26.530
Does that all make sense?

0:17:26.530,0:17:29.150
So one other thing,[br]if we got time, we probably have.

0:17:29.150,0:17:31.730
I'm just yapping because[br]we don't have lunch till one.

0:17:31.730,0:17:34.362
I might as well tell you something.

0:17:37.662,0:17:39.470
The third most important thing

0:17:39.470,0:17:43.262
is the location of your attention[br]while you're breathing.

0:17:45.062,0:17:46.862
What we say is ...

0:17:46.862,0:17:51.636
People teach you abdominal breathing -[br]breathe through the belly and all of that.

0:17:52.676,0:17:56.917
Breathe through the center of your chest,[br]through the heart area if you will.

0:17:58.207,0:18:01.552
Three reasons why we say[br]breathe through here not through there.

0:18:01.552,0:18:05.033
Or don't imagine you're sucking[br]the air up through the soles of your feet.

0:18:05.033,0:18:07.523
It's coming in through[br]the crown chakra, or whatever.

0:18:07.523,0:18:08.723
You do any of that stuff.

0:18:08.723,0:18:10.883
Where is your attention[br]when you're breathing?

0:18:10.883,0:18:13.073
Put your attention[br]to the center of your chest.

0:18:13.073,0:18:16.994
Three reasons why you put your attention[br]on the center of your chest is number one:

0:18:16.994,0:18:22.984
The heart generates more electrical power[br]than any other part of your system.

0:18:22.984,0:18:26.144
So even though there are billions[br]of nerve cells up here,

0:18:26.144,0:18:28.264
and only a couple hundred[br]thousand down here,

0:18:28.264,0:18:30.954
the power output of your heart[br]is three and a half watts,

0:18:30.954,0:18:33.835
which is the way greater[br]than the power output of your brain

0:18:33.835,0:18:35.525
Because what happens in your brain,

0:18:35.525,0:18:39.020
the electrical charges are going[br]all different directions, it all cancels.

0:18:39.020,0:18:41.555
But here you've got something[br]called "auto coherence."

0:18:41.555,0:18:44.318
The heart has to synchronize[br]in order for it to pump.

0:18:44.318,0:18:45.534
So electrically speaking,

0:18:45.534,0:18:49.002
the heart generates 50 times[br]more electrical output than the brain.

0:18:49.002,0:18:51.125
If you want to record[br]somebody's brain waves,

0:18:51.125,0:18:53.696
you have to put a clip[br]on their ear, like Neil's here,

0:18:53.696,0:18:57.006
pick up the heartbeat,[br]mathematically remove the heart beat,

0:18:57.006,0:18:58.694
because the heart beat is this big,

0:18:58.694,0:19:02.156
and the brain beat[br]or brain wave is only that big.

0:19:02.156,0:19:04.867
The heart's wave[br]more powerful electromagnetically;

0:19:04.867,0:19:10.347
the heart generates 5,000 times[br]more energy than the brain.

0:19:10.347,0:19:14.304
So it starts to, forgive the pun,[br]turn on its head.

0:19:14.304,0:19:17.238
Hang on, what's controlling what here?

0:19:17.238,0:19:21.277
We've got to start to look more broadly[br]in terms of the human system as a system.

0:19:21.277,0:19:24.108
We're so brain dominant, brain-centric.

0:19:24.108,0:19:26.178
So if you put your attention in the heart,

0:19:26.178,0:19:30.448
you're putting your attention[br]where the primary source of power is here.

0:19:30.448,0:19:32.619
So that's the first reason.

0:19:32.619,0:19:33.738
The second reason:

0:19:33.738,0:19:36.178
If you drop your attention[br]and breathe through here,

0:19:36.178,0:19:40.039
it gets you out of the noise in your head,[br]which is where we usually confuse,

0:19:40.039,0:19:43.463
just to drop into the body, and breathe[br]through the center of your chest.

0:19:43.463,0:19:45.999
And the third reason[br]which we're going to get onto

0:19:45.999,0:19:48.179
is actually, we're ultimately going to go

0:19:48.179,0:19:51.389
from controlling that physiology[br]up to the emotional state,

0:19:51.389,0:19:54.580
and show you actually[br]how do you turn on the passion;

0:19:54.580,0:19:56.870
how do you turn[br]on a positive emotional state.

0:19:56.870,0:19:58.920
We know an awful lot[br]about positive emotions

0:19:58.920,0:20:00.920
are experienced[br]in the center of our chest.

0:20:00.920,0:20:04.062
“Hence, I love my son with all my heart.”

0:20:04.062,0:20:07.619
Why do you even say that?[br]Because that's actually where I feel it.

0:20:07.619,0:20:09.881
The awareness might be in our mind,

0:20:09.881,0:20:13.807
but where do we feel the sensation[br]of love? In the center of the chest.

0:20:14.957,0:20:18.903
So where do you clutch the baby?[br]You clutch them to your heart.

0:20:18.903,0:20:21.756
You don't clutch the baby to your knee.

0:20:21.756,0:20:23.712
"I love my son with all my knee."

0:20:23.712,0:20:27.378
We don't say that because we feel it[br]in our knee, we feel it in our chest.

0:20:27.378,0:20:29.423
So the very fact[br]that you put your attention

0:20:29.423,0:20:31.732
on the center of your chest,[br]or in the heart area

0:20:31.732,0:20:35.333
starts to drift you into[br]a slightly more positive state.

0:20:35.333,0:20:37.283
Does that make sense?

0:20:37.283,0:20:40.243
So the last thing I want to -[br]just while Neil's impressing you,

0:20:40.243,0:20:41.777
give you this other bit,

0:20:41.777,0:20:44.433
so in my view, the biggest myth[br]of performance, I think,

0:20:44.433,0:20:47.494
is that it's something[br]to do with adrenaline.

0:20:47.494,0:20:49.404
You'll see this in business or in sport,

0:20:49.404,0:20:52.044
If you're not a bit pumped,[br]you won't perform.

0:20:52.044,0:20:54.042
For that meeting[br]you've got to be psyched,

0:20:54.042,0:20:56.674
that exam you've got[br]to be a bit psyched up.

0:20:56.674,0:21:00.024
You said, "No, no, no, You've got[br]to be relaxed under pressure."

0:21:00.024,0:21:03.534
Now you've got to be psyched;[br]you've got to relax.

0:21:03.534,0:21:07.175
You get both types of advice,[br]neither is true.

0:21:07.175,0:21:12.625
It's not about sympathetic activation,[br]or even parasynthetic activation.

0:21:12.625,0:21:15.756
it's not about how hot the system is[br]or how cold the system is.

0:21:15.756,0:21:19.805
There's another part of your system[br]which really determines your output,

0:21:19.805,0:21:23.916
which is whether you're in[br]a negative emotional state.

0:21:23.916,0:21:25.186
So, if this is adrenaline,

0:21:25.186,0:21:28.005
and this is a chemical[br]called Acetylcholine, ACH,

0:21:28.005,0:21:31.868
negative emotion underpinned[br]by the hormone cortisol;

0:21:31.868,0:21:37.647
or positive emotion underpinned[br]by the anabolic hormones

0:21:37.647,0:21:42.617
like DHEA, Dehydroepiandrosterone,[br]banned substance in the Olympics.

0:21:42.617,0:21:45.108
You get caught taking[br]those tablets, you're out,

0:21:45.108,0:21:46.978
because they're performance enhancers.

0:21:46.978,0:21:49.468
In the States, this is known[br]as the elixir of youth,

0:21:49.468,0:21:50.508
the vitality hormone.

0:21:50.508,0:21:52.428
You can get them on the internet.

0:21:52.428,0:21:53.568
(Laughter)

0:21:53.568,0:21:54.718
DHEA tablets.

0:21:54.718,0:21:57.478
The point is you don't need them.

0:22:01.678,0:22:05.688
So when you heat somebody's system up,[br]you can heat it up negatively.

0:22:05.688,0:22:09.489
Anxiety, anger, frustration.

0:22:09.489,0:22:11.890
Or you can heat it up positively.[br]

0:22:11.890,0:22:18.210
Passion, determination, focus.

0:22:19.400,0:22:24.000
The heart rate over here[br]is 120, but erratic.

0:22:24.000,0:22:28.287
The heart rate is 120[br]over here, but coherent.

0:22:28.287,0:22:30.140
Both of them have the same heart rate,

0:22:30.140,0:22:32.391
both of them have[br]the same amount of adrenaline.

0:22:32.391,0:22:35.681
That will impair your performance;[br]that will enhance your performance.

0:22:35.681,0:22:38.081
Passion is the number one[br]predictor of performance

0:22:38.081,0:22:41.840
across every aspect of life,[br]including health.

0:22:41.840,0:22:44.409
If you're passionate[br]about something, you do it better.

0:22:44.409,0:22:46.181
It predicts all types of performance.

0:22:46.181,0:22:50.443
Simply, when you cool the system down,[br]relaxation is not necessarily valuable.

0:22:50.443,0:22:53.422
In fact, I've given lectures[br]to some of my medical colleagues,

0:22:53.422,0:22:57.132
entitled, "Relaxation can kill you."

0:22:58.632,0:23:01.412
Sometimes lecture titles[br]can pull the crowd in.

0:23:01.412,0:23:04.653
And it can, because[br]you can be relaxed and negative.

0:23:04.653,0:23:10.672
So apathy, boredom,[br]detachment, indifference,

0:23:10.672,0:23:12.654
all those kinds of things.[br]

0:23:12.654,0:23:17.774
The heart rate is erratic, averaging 50.

0:23:18.644,0:23:20.844
Now you can be relaxed,[br]and it can be positive.

0:23:20.844,0:23:26.537
So things like contentment, curiosity,[br]equanimity, those kinds of things -

0:23:27.587,0:23:31.854
heart rate coherent, and 50.

0:23:31.854,0:23:35.465
So it doesn't really matter[br]whether the heart rate is 50 or 120.

0:23:35.465,0:23:40.025
What matters is, am I on the left,[br]or am I on the right?

0:23:40.025,0:23:42.855
And so, the secret really ...

0:23:42.855,0:23:48.526
If you map most organizations,[br]you'll see a rightward skew,

0:23:49.076,0:23:52.136
people are rightward skewed over here.

0:23:52.136,0:23:55.016
If you don't believe me,[br]go stand next to the coffee machine,

0:23:55.016,0:23:56.686
and you will hear the negative hum.

0:23:56.686,0:23:58.496
(Humming)

0:23:58.496,0:24:00.896
"Do you know what so and so[br]said to me yesterday?"

0:24:00.896,0:24:03.798
" That's outrageous!"

0:24:04.008,0:24:06.217
And then you bump[br]into somebody else over here,

0:24:06.217,0:24:07.727
full of the joys of spring,

0:24:07.727,0:24:10.747
What’s up with you?[br]How dare you be that cheerful?

0:24:10.747,0:24:13.391
You don't realize it's shit - the economy.

0:24:13.391,0:24:16.366
(Laughter)

0:24:17.516,0:24:21.488
They're trying to drag you[br]back over to here, back to "reality."

0:24:22.688,0:24:24.172
So as a leader, you really ...

0:24:24.172,0:24:26.477
And a large part of the work[br]we do with folks

0:24:26.477,0:24:29.788
is get them over here,[br]and you live your life over here,

0:24:29.788,0:24:36.169
so somebody references Csikszentmihalyi[br]in the zone or the state of flow

0:24:36.169,0:24:39.719
is about being over here.

0:24:39.719,0:24:43.349
And how controllable[br]is our emotional performance,

0:24:43.349,0:24:47.000
we've got Neil's point,[br]can we live our life over here?

0:24:47.000,0:24:50.279
Now, as you've seen most people[br]haven't got control of their behavior.

0:24:50.279,0:24:52.652
Let alone their thinking;[br]let alone their feeling;

0:24:52.652,0:24:55.220
let alone their emotional physiology.

0:24:55.220,0:24:57.099
So how do you live your life over here?

0:24:57.099,0:24:59.920
That's where the training comes in,[br]and we've shown in Neil

0:24:59.920,0:25:04.930
that when we've taught him[br]how to regulate his physiology,

0:25:04.930,0:25:06.609
that's the start point.

0:25:06.609,0:25:11.390
The regulation of the physiology[br]would get you to the midpoint.

0:25:11.390,0:25:15.393
You at least get to the midpoint[br]with regulating your physiology.

0:25:15.393,0:25:19.720
So you'll get to this point[br]just through breathing.

0:25:19.720,0:25:24.861
If you learn to breathe properly,[br]you'll at least get to the midpoint.

0:25:24.861,0:25:25.940
How you get over here

0:25:25.940,0:25:29.043
is you've got to learn to regulate[br]what emotional state you're in.

0:25:29.043,0:25:31.242
Now, most people have got[br]no control over that.

0:25:31.242,0:25:34.302
Their emotional state is dependent[br]on everything outside of them,

0:25:34.302,0:25:36.732
not on what's going on the inside.

0:25:36.732,0:25:38.033
So you've got to learn

0:25:38.033,0:25:41.062
how to train yourself to stay[br]on this side of the thing,

0:25:41.062,0:25:44.753
but if you take nothing away,[br]at least you get yourself to the midpoint

0:25:44.753,0:25:48.183
by learning how to breathe properly.

0:25:48.183,0:25:52.173
So to help you remember that,[br]think of "BREATH" as an acronym:

0:25:52.173,0:25:55.274
"B" stands for breath,[br]"R" stands for rhythmically,

0:25:55.274,0:26:00.544
"E" stands for evenly,[br]And Through the Heart Every day.

0:26:00.544,0:26:03.934
So if you breathe rhythmically,[br]evenly, and through the heart every day,

0:26:03.934,0:26:06.660
you'll at least get to the midpoint.

0:26:06.660,0:26:07.955
OK. Thank you.

0:26:07.955,0:26:10.785
(Applause)