Walking and breathing – if we’re able-bodied, we all know how to do that, right? Well, maybe we do but have you ever thought about how you can harness the power of these simple, subconscious actions to empower yourself and improve your performance?
It’s a simple and effective tool. John Grinder, co-founder of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) introduced a model called the Chain of Excellence, which enables people to improve their performance in pretty much any activity, from sport to creative arts to public speaking.
At the bottom of this chain is your performance, the thing you want to achieve excellence in. And the idea is that to perform tasks at a higher level, you can make positive shifts in the things that come higher up in this chain, namely your state, your physiology and your breathing.
Breathing
↓
Physiology
↓
State
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Performance
The main concept is that your performance in any activity is determined by how powerful and resourceful a state you are in. Your ‘state’ is the totality of your physical wellbeing, your inner dialogue, your emotions and beliefs at that time. We’ve all had the experience of doing something you might do regularly, like speaking up at a meeting – and if you’re in a good ‘state’ then this comes naturally and easily but if you’re in a low state, you find it a struggle to participate fully.
The key principle is that in order to up your performance, you need to put yourself in a more resourceful state.
One way to do that is to dive into memories of when you’ve been in great states previously and tap into that energy. Another way to do it is to go up the levels in the Chain of Excellence and adjust your physiology and breathing.
If you radically improve your physiology, your state will also improve which will also positively impact your performance. The powerful effect of your body language on how you feel can be noticed really easily: slump over in your chair, look down, take a yawn – and now try to feel energised and motivated. It’s not happening. But when you stand up tall, move smoothly, hold your head up high and relax, this will naturally put you in a more powerful, confident state.
And then comes the top level of the Chain of Excellence: breathing. This is a really amazing tool, as has been recognised over many centuries and many cultures, key as it is to yoga and numerous martial arts. When you breathe slowly and deeply this helps you relax. One technique is inhaling for the count of 3 and exhaling for the count of 6, several times over. This helps to fully empty your lungs of any stale air and engages your parasympathetic nervous system to bring you a sense of calm.
And slow deep breathing naturally changes your physiology and cascades down to changing your state and performance too.
A great exercise you can do comes from NLP New Code and is called Walking with Grace and Power. If you have a big meeting or other event you need to perform well in, take a walk to get there – and walk intentionally with grace and power. Elongate your strides, have your head up, shoulders back and take purposeful, relaxed strides while focusing on your breathing, making each breath slow, full and deep. And notice how empowered and calm this makes you feel.
So anytime you need to be powerful and focused, go for a walk. And make it a walk with grace and power. Let me know how you get on with this tip.
With best wishes,
Sarah Cookson
Personal development and team building