The Art and Science of The Game Face

There are many who when they first learn about Self-Regulation, very often think it is about finding “calm” by understanding one’s own stressors and managing one’s own energy levels.  No doubt, it is all about that to a great extent.  There are times however, when one must also ‘up-regulate’ in order to perform to your utmost capabilities.  You may have heard the expression by athletes, who in the hours leading up to a competition, talk about getting their “game-face” on.  Stage performers, actors, and musicians will often have ritualistic tendencies that help them psyche themselves up to perform. In other words, believe it or not, they subject themselves to a sort of “self-induced performance enhancing stress.”  That’s right…. Stress.

Remember, not ALL stress is bad! Stress serves a vital purpose in our lives.  It motivates us.  It energizes us. It even elevates our performance at times.  THAT, is the optimal arousal state that we seek in preparation to perform – the “zone.”

Managing our state of arousal requires a kind mindfulness.  One that attunes us to our internal feelings, as well as our responses to stimuli originating outside our bodies – an interoception, and an exteroception. In doing so, we can modulate our States of Arousal to get into that purple “zone” on the positive/negative stress curve.

First, we need to know that there are four key variables that determine our arousal state.  These variables were identified by Dr. Berry Brazelton (American Pediatrician). They are;

• Awareness level.
• Activity level.
• Energy level.
• Tension level.

Dr. Brazelton noted that we cycle up and down through a hierarchy of arousal states (determined by these levels) at various points of everyday. The six states of arousal in order are: 1) Asleep, 2) Drowsy, 3) Hypo-Aroused, 4) Focused & Alert, 5) Hyper-Aroused, and 6) Flooded or Allostatic Overload.

While there is no definitive point on a graph at which we are primed for optimal performance we know that there is a range.  My own personal instincts and the science tell me it is at the high end of Focused & Alert, just beneath Hyper-Arousal. Most importantly however, the art is in the recognition that those ranges are different for each of us.