Welcome!"Just another day at the office." was originally written for classical musicians as an aid in preparing for auditions and other solo performances. However, the information in this article can be applied to anyone in a 'high-pressure' performance situation! Introduction Throughout the course of your performing life, opportunities to audition for jobs or perform in solo recitals don't usually come along too often.If you're an active job-seeker, you may have the chance to attend four or five auditions per year.As a student, you might perform one or two sixty-minute solo recitals per year.And as a full-time professional orchestral musician or choral singer, solo performances may be very few and far between indeed.Auditions and other solo performances are 'under the spotlight' events, and are often experienced by many performers with high levels of performance arousal. ."Performance arousal? What's that?".You've no doubt heard of or even experienced feelings of anxiety before and at times during performances.This anxiety, or performance anxiety as it is commonly referred to, is the negative form of performance arousal.Performance anxiety can affect you negatively in performing situations.Excitement on the other hand, or the feeling of looking forward to a performance, is the positive form of performance arousal, and can have a positive effect on your ability to perform.But this is only true if the level of excitement you experience is appropriate for your particular performing situation.In other words if the level of excitement you experience is inappropriate (i.E.Too much or too little) for your performing situation, then this excitement will have a negative effect on your ability to perform. So in short, the term "performance arousal" describes the excitement or anxiety you may feel before and at times during performances.Performance arousal can be particularly strong in 'under the spotlight' events, or other performing situations that you perceive as 'high-pressure'."Ok.So how much positive performance arousal (excitement) do I need to get the best results?".As a classical musician or singer performing in a recital or audition situation, high levels of excitement may make you feel like you are out of control.Likewise, performance anxiety can also make you feel out of control, and in addition may be accompanied by unpleasant physical sensations such as muscular tension, hyperventilation, sweaty palms, nausea, and so on.So, in traditional recital or audition situations, a moderately low level of positive performance arousal (excitement) will in most cases allow you to achieve your best possible results."That sounds like it should work in theory.But how do I actually make it happen?".In this article you'll be shown the simple yet powerful technique of Intense Positive Visualisation .This technique has been specifically designed to help you obtain an ideal state of mind for your performing situations, regardless of your field of performance.Using Intense Positive Visualisation, you can achieve better results in auditions, and see how other 'high-pressure' performance situations may be perceived as easy, comfortable, and dare I say, even a joy to experience! .Familiarity.To begin with, let's take a situation quite apart from a musical one.Let's imagine for a minute that you are an office worker beginning your first day at a new job.As with a recital or audition, this is a situation that can put you in the stressful position of not knowing exactly what will happen throughout the course of the experience.You might have a certain amount of information, but there are still many variables and details that are either unfamiliar, or completely unknown.You are also quite naturally aware that the outcome of the actual event is significant, especially given the importance placed on first impressions.What are some of the physical and mental responses that you might experience before and/or during your 'ever-important' first day at the office? Perhaps you might have sweaty palms, shallow breathing, a churning stomach, or possibly mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety.However, after experiencing your new environment for a few days, you begin to perceive being at the office as no big deal.When this happens, the heightened excitement or anxiety (performance arousal) you experienced on your first day starts to disappear.Now, compare the number of times you've heard of the phrase "I'm starting my new job today.Wish me luck!" with the phrase "It's my 30th day at the office today.Wish me luck!" and not to mention "It's my 2,623rd day at the office today.Wish me luck!" It starts to sound ridiculous, doesn't it? So therefore, and this really is the crux of the matter, what is the difference between the ever so slightly ridiculous sounding 2,623rd day at the office and the 1st day at the office? The answer is familiarity! And it is a special sort of familiarity that helps us feel at ease, calm, confident and in control.This sort of familiarity can be referred to as positive conditioning. .Riding the Roller Coaster.To explain positive conditioning in plain English, picture this.You are at a theme park and are very nervous or anxious about riding that big, scary roller coaster for the first time.Even thinking about taking the plunge starts you off on a serious emotional roller coaster! "Should I? Shouldn't I? I don't really want to after all.But I do want to try it, and all my friends are doing it.I can do it.I can't do it.It might be fun!? But what happens if we crash? Maybe I should have just stayed in bed this morning!".Eventually you decide to board the roller coaster, and experience the ride.Riding the roller coaster turns out to be a positive experience - you survived and even enjoyed it in some weird way! This makes your brain suddenly say "Hey! That wasn't so bad after all!" The next time you think about riding the roller coaster, you are perhaps only a little nervous or anxious.You make the decision to ride the roller coaster again, and again it turns out to be a positive experience - you even had your eyes open this time! Your brain now says to you "Hey! That was actually kinda fun! I want to do it again!" And so the next time you think about riding the roller coaster, you are looking forward to it, because you know it will be a fun, enjoyable experience! This is basically how positive conditioning works. However, what if your experiences are negative? For example, what happens if the first time you ride the roller coaster you get stuck at the top of the ride and are forced to dangle upside-down for 6 hours because of a technical problem? If this happens, your brain is probably going to say to you the next time you think about riding a roller coaster, "Oi! Remember that last roller coaster experience?? It was horrible! I don't ever want to go through that again - get me outta here!" This is negative conditioning in action. ."The Routine" - Part 1.So, how do we ensure your brain tells you that auditions, recitals, and other 'high-pressure' performing situations are easy and fun? How do you achieve positive conditioning when you only get one shot at something??? We'll answer these questions very soon! But for now, it's back to the office! After 30 days at the office, you know the routine. .* Wake up with the alarm clock, hit the 'snooze' button, and sleep for an extra 10 minutes * Get out of bed when the alarm rings for the second time * Eat breakfast * Have a shower and get dressed * Brush teeth * Shoes on * Leave the house after locking the door * Walk to the bus stop.Aim to arrive there in time to get on the number 85 bus that you know always leaves 2 or 3 minutes earlier than it's supposed to * Board the bus * Get off the bus at the appropriate stop * Walk up to the building and in through the main entrance ."The Routine" - Part 2 A.* Greet the receptionist * Sign in * Walk up the stairs, bidding a fellow colleague a good day on the way * Greet the other office workers as you pass them on your way to your desk * Arrive at your desk, sit down, and start the day's work * Lunch break for 45 minutes * Work through to the late afternoon * When it's time to leave, walk back down the stairs, out of the office, and out of the building All of these small but necessary actions are completed each day as part of your routine.Thinking back to your first day at the office, you didn't have this routine - your first day was completely unfamiliar! This is the reason why you may have been feeling anxious or even over-excited (high performance arousal level), and the reason why you asked your partner, flatmate, friends, or family to "wish you luck." .Now, if it feels like we have wandered from the path of an 'under the spotlight' performance situation, read the bullet points in "The Routine" - Part 1 again, and then skip directly to "The Routine" - Part 2 B below. ."The Routine" - Part 2 B.* Walk around to the stage door of the venue * Greet the receptionist at the desk * Sign in * Walk up the stairs and along the corridor to warm-up room marked 'Soloist 1' * Take out your instrument, and begin your warm-up routine * After some time, your accompanist enters the warm-up room * With 15 minutes until your audition is scheduled to start, you rehearse entries and certain problem passages * The stage manager knocks on the door, and asks if you are both ready * You follow the stage manager to the wings in the off-stage area * You walk confidently on stage, with your accompanist following closely behind * You acknowledge the audition jury * You begin the audition calmly, and confidently * The performance begins, and continues in the most musical way you can possibly imagine * You finish the last audition piece, acknowledge the jury, and finally walk off stage.So, if you're a performer, and get the chance to be 'at the office' for 30 days (performing in recitals or auditions every day for 30 days) you can get to know the routine, and become quite comfortable and familiar with it.But wait a second! You might be thinking. "Ok, but the office worker has the opportunity to learn the routine and get familiar with it as they are in reality at the office every weekday.I'm not doing a recital or audition everyday.I only get one shot at this!" .What?You're right! You're not performing in a recital or audition everyday, but you should be! "What? Auditions and recitals don't come along everyday!" In reality, no they don't! But in your mind, you can perform auditions and recitals as often as you wish! ."What do you mean?!? How does this work?".By using specially designed visualisation techniques, you can use your mind to rehearse any 'one-shot' performance as many times as you wish! Therefore, you can become familiar with your 'one-shot' performing situation, well before it even happens! So, if you practise visualisation techniques, when you walk into your performing situation in reality, you're just like the office worker going to work on their 30th or even 2,623rd day at the office! In other words, you can feel, calm, confident, and in control in any performance situation! .The Proof."But wait just another second! Surely there is a vast difference between experiencing an event in reality and experiencing the same event in your imagination? After all, the office worker actually is at the office every day, and if I use visualisation, I'm only going to imagine myself being at 'the office'.Can this really be the same thing?" The short answer to this question is YES! According to many studies on visualisation in the field of sports psychology, the subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between actually experiencing an event, and simply imagining an event in vivid detail! .Look at this example..One study on visualisation in sports psychology involved the members of three basketball teams of approximately equal skill level, practising shooting '3-pointers', for a period of 30 days.One of the teams practised neither physically on the court, nor in their minds during the duration of the study.Their improvement at the end of the study was not surprisingly 0%.Another team practised physically - that is, on the basketball court - for a period of one hour each day.After 30 days, their improvement was measured at 24%.The third team did not practise physically at all but was told to mentally visualise the game for one hour each day.At the end of the thirty day period, their improvement was a remarkable 23%. What was the reason for this? The sports scientists concluded that the subconscious mind cannot differentiate between what is real and what is imagined.Therefore, since the subconscious mind has a large influence on how you perform, positively conditioning your subconscious mind using Intense Positive Visualisation can have a huge effect on your success as a performer! Find out how to practise Intense Positive Visualisation in the next section! .Intense Positive Visualisation.Visualisation techniques can help you positively condition yourself to achieve an ideal state of mind, helping you to gain optimal results in your performing situations. In short, when visualising, you train your mind by entering a relaxed state and imagining the exact results you would like to achieve.By regularly practising visualisation techniques, you can condition yourself for success! In the book Performing in The Zone, three different types of visualisation techniques are explained..* Snap Shot * Intense Positive Visualisation * The 5 Sense Visualisation Method .Here in "Just Another Day at the Office." you're going to see exactly how the simple yet powerful technique of Intense Positive Visualisation can help you in your performing situations! Read on! .Different points of view .Intense Positive Visualisation can be carried out in the 1st person or 3rd person perspective.Using the 1st person perspective, you put yourself in the centre of the visualisation.For example, if you are a concert pianist, you would imagine yourself performing on stage from your own eyes, seeing your hands and the piano keyboard in front of you, taking in the experience as if you were actually carrying it out in reality.In the 3rd person perspective, you would see yourself from a distance, possibly from a seat in the audience, the back of the room, or even a position up in the ceiling somewhere above, behind, or beside you.Some performers find a 1st person visualisation to be more powerful and real, whereas others may find a 3rd person visualisation to be most effective.Experiment using both viewpoints, and discover which one works best for you. .Intense Positive Visualisation explained.To practise Intense Positive Visualisation, you will need to be undisturbed for a period of anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, depending on the length of the performance you are about to visualise.Intense Positive Visualisation is best carried out lying down on your back with your hands resting gently on your solar-plexus.You may choose to lie flat on the floor or on a yoga mattress.Lying down on a bed can be an acceptable alternative, and is at times preferable if practising this exercise just before sleeping.It's important to keep the body at a comfortable temperature throughout the duration of the visualisation, and therefore covering yourself with a blanket might be necessary.To begin Intense Positive Visualisation, gently close your eyes, and lightly touch your tongue to the front part of the roof of your mouth, just behind the teeth.This is a Qi Gong technique which forms an 'energy bridge' to allow freer flow of energy in the human energy system.Try to keep the root of your tongue relaxed at all times.If you have trouble with this, simply let your tongue sit in its natural position and come back to this Qi Gong energy bridge technique at a later stage.Whilst in a horizontal position, allow the floor to take your weight.Feel your limbs becoming heavier the more relaxed they feel.Trust the floor - it will hold you.Give in to the support from underneath.Trust, relax, and let go.Breathe gently through your nose.Allow your body to breathe as it needs to.The next section is designed to help you understand how Intense Positive Visualisation works.It is an example of one possible visualisation, taken from the perspective of a musician giving a recital, requiring a performance arousal level of +1 before the performance, +2 for the majority of the recital, and +3 for the climax of the concert.After reading the following example and understanding the process of Intense Positive Visualisation, you can then create your own personal visualisation to meet your specific needs.When creating your visualisation, remember to visualise events exactly as you want them to be. .Start of Intense Positive Visualisation example..You begin by imagining yourself at home, taking your performance clothes out of the wardrobe.You check to see that everything is in order with your clothes and your performance shoes.You put your performance clothes and shoes in a suit bag, pick up your instrument case, check to see if you have your keys and wallet, and leave the house, locking the door behind you.You walk down the stairs and out on to the street in a relaxed pace.Arriving at the metro (underground train/'tube') station, you use your ticket to pass the barrier, and board your train.It's going to be a great show.Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.Getting off at the right stop, you stroll towards the recital hall, taking in the scenery on the way.Perhaps a seagull is calling in the distance? How do the trees look? Are there other people out walking? You take out your Cue Card and slowly read over your key words.Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.You arrive at the venue and greet the receptionist on the way in.After signing in, you head to your warm up room where your accompanist is already waiting for you.You ask your accompanist for 15 minutes by yourself so that you can prepare yourself and warm up.You unpack your instrument, and begin your warm up routine.It feels fantastic to start warming up.You know your accompanist is going help you put on a great show.You know that the venue has a warm acoustic.Your performance clothes are ironed and your shoes polished.You are ready.You are about to share part of yourself with some people who want to hear you - they want to be touched by you.It's going to be a warm, giving, rewarding experience for both them and you.It's going to be great! Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.After 15 minutes your accompanist walks in to the room.Before you begin to rehearse, you check your Cue Card again, and go through your Pre-Performance Ritual, "C3" - calm, controlled, confident - the "C3" and "+1" on your Cue Card gives you a familiar, friendly reminder.You rehearse the beginning of the first piece with your accompanist.It's easy and free. The acoustic in the practise room is dry, but you know that out there in the hall the space will take care of you - the warm reverb will beautify every nuance and add to the experience for everyone.Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.When it is time, you are called to the wings of the stage.You take one final look at your Cue Card and go through the "C3" exercise again.You can hear the chatter of the audience, and see the stage in front of you.You walk calmly, securely, and with purpose on to the stage where you are greeted by applause.They like you and you haven't even done anything yet! This is going to be a fun performance!Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.Whilst your accompanist adjusts the piano stool, you look out into the audience and make visual contact with the people you are about to touch with your performance.Your body language exudes confidence and assuredness.You greet the audience, introducing yourself and your accompanist, and begin to talk about the evening's programme.Your voice is stable, powerful, and reflects the perfect +1 state of performance arousal that you are currently in.Your voice resonates effortlessly to the back of the hall.You are in The Zone.After your brief introductory talk, you look to your accompanist who is ready to work with you.This is going great! You begin your performance, and your performance arousal gently rises to a +2.(At this point in the visualisation I strongly suggest that you visualise your entire performance - that is, see and hear yourself giving the most musical, fantastic, controlled, inspired, moving performance you can possibly imagine.Use either 1st or 3rd person perspective.In your visualisation you are doing everything right - it feels fantastic and sounds amazing.You are at an ideal level of performance arousal for this performing situation, and totally in The Zone.) Just before the climax of the final piece, you turn the page, and see the familiar figure of "+3" that you wrote earlier at the top of your music.You step it up a notch, and raise your performance arousal level to +3.The music takes on a new life and energy and this is felt by you, your accompanist, and the audience.Finishing the concert at a +3 level your audience erupts in cheers and applause.You did it! It was great!! You were in The Zone! You acknowledge the audience, and walk off stage. .End of Intense Positive Visualisation example.When you feel ready, slowly begin to move your body again.How did it feel to give that amazing performance? You were great! Everything just 'clicked'.You were totally and completely in The Zone throughout the entire process. Intense Positive Visualisation can be practised every day before a performance.By doing so, you can condition yourself to perform in The Zone.Intense Positive Visualisation is highly recommended to all performers about to give important performances, auditions or recitals.The earlier you begin Intense Positive Visualisation the better, but at least one week prior to the performance event should be the minimum.In your own visualisations, remember to assess how much positive performance arousal you need at various moments. +1, +2, +3, +4, or +5.Do you need to be at the same activation level for the entire event, or does your performance arousal level need to modulate at various times?Remember that imagining yourself calm and relaxed probably isn't going to give you the best results if you are preparing for an intensely physical, fast-paced performance situation.Likewise, visualising getting yourself psyched up and exploding out of the gates isn't going to help you if you are preparing for a more delicate +1 situation, such as a slow movement of a concerto. Visualising performing with an ideal level of performance arousal is important! By using Intense Positive Visualisation, you are using positive conditioning to become familiar with as many elements of your performance day as possible, and become used to experiencing these always in a positive light.Notice also that Intense Positive Visualisation goes into as much detail as possible, both before and during your performance.This is to help take away as many surprises and unknown factors on the day of your performance as possible.It may help the accuracy and intensity of your visualisation to do some reconnaissance by actually visiting the performance venue prior to your performance event.This is easily possible for students giving final recitals for example, or sportspeople playing at a local venue.Try to also incorporate some variations in your visualisations.Perhaps the audience isn't ready and takes an extra 5 minutes to get seated? Perhaps your accompanist arrives later than expected due to traffic problems?Maybe the stage curtains are blue and not red? Perhaps the warm up room is bigger or smaller? Regardless of what happens, you are prepared, and you stay in your ideal level of positive performance arousal.You are completely stable, and in The Zone, always. By using Intense Positive Visualisation every day over a period of one week, you have in effect carried out your performance successfully 7 times.Practise this visualisation 3 times per day for a week and you've completed 21 successful, positive, great, fantastic, easy, ideal performances, and have been in The Zone every single time! Remember that your subconscious doesn't differentiate between what is real and what is imagined.Therefore by using Intense Positive Visualisation diligently, you are conditioning yourself for success by becoming familiar with performing in The Zone! By using the technique of Intense Positive Visualisation, you can experience your next audition, recital or 'high-pressure' performance as just another day at the office! thezonebook.Com.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Just Another Day at the Office - How to Get Better Results in Auditions
Welcome!"Just another day at the office." was originally written for classical musicians as an aid in preparing for auditions and other solo performances. However, the information in this article can be applied to anyone in a 'high-pressure' performance situation! Introduction Throughout the course of your performing life, opportunities to audition for jobs or perform in solo recitals don't usually come along too often.If you're an active job-seeker, you may have the chance to attend four or five auditions per year.As a student, you might perform one or two sixty-minute solo recitals per year.And as a full-time professional orchestral musician or choral singer, solo performances may be very few and far between indeed.Auditions and other solo performances are 'under the spotlight' events, and are often experienced by many performers with high levels of performance arousal. ."Performance arousal? What's that?".You've no doubt heard of or even experienced feelings of anxiety before and at times during performances.This anxiety, or performance anxiety as it is commonly referred to, is the negative form of performance arousal.Performance anxiety can affect you negatively in performing situations.Excitement on the other hand, or the feeling of looking forward to a performance, is the positive form of performance arousal, and can have a positive effect on your ability to perform.But this is only true if the level of excitement you experience is appropriate for your particular performing situation.In other words if the level of excitement you experience is inappropriate (i.E.Too much or too little) for your performing situation, then this excitement will have a negative effect on your ability to perform. So in short, the term "performance arousal" describes the excitement or anxiety you may feel before and at times during performances.Performance arousal can be particularly strong in 'under the spotlight' events, or other performing situations that you perceive as 'high-pressure'."Ok.So how much positive performance arousal (excitement) do I need to get the best results?".As a classical musician or singer performing in a recital or audition situation, high levels of excitement may make you feel like you are out of control.Likewise, performance anxiety can also make you feel out of control, and in addition may be accompanied by unpleasant physical sensations such as muscular tension, hyperventilation, sweaty palms, nausea, and so on.So, in traditional recital or audition situations, a moderately low level of positive performance arousal (excitement) will in most cases allow you to achieve your best possible results."That sounds like it should work in theory.But how do I actually make it happen?".In this article you'll be shown the simple yet powerful technique of Intense Positive Visualisation .This technique has been specifically designed to help you obtain an ideal state of mind for your performing situations, regardless of your field of performance.Using Intense Positive Visualisation, you can achieve better results in auditions, and see how other 'high-pressure' performance situations may be perceived as easy, comfortable, and dare I say, even a joy to experience! .Familiarity.To begin with, let's take a situation quite apart from a musical one.Let's imagine for a minute that you are an office worker beginning your first day at a new job.As with a recital or audition, this is a situation that can put you in the stressful position of not knowing exactly what will happen throughout the course of the experience.You might have a certain amount of information, but there are still many variables and details that are either unfamiliar, or completely unknown.You are also quite naturally aware that the outcome of the actual event is significant, especially given the importance placed on first impressions.What are some of the physical and mental responses that you might experience before and/or during your 'ever-important' first day at the office? Perhaps you might have sweaty palms, shallow breathing, a churning stomach, or possibly mixed feelings of excitement and anxiety.However, after experiencing your new environment for a few days, you begin to perceive being at the office as no big deal.When this happens, the heightened excitement or anxiety (performance arousal) you experienced on your first day starts to disappear.Now, compare the number of times you've heard of the phrase "I'm starting my new job today.Wish me luck!" with the phrase "It's my 30th day at the office today.Wish me luck!" and not to mention "It's my 2,623rd day at the office today.Wish me luck!" It starts to sound ridiculous, doesn't it? So therefore, and this really is the crux of the matter, what is the difference between the ever so slightly ridiculous sounding 2,623rd day at the office and the 1st day at the office? The answer is familiarity! And it is a special sort of familiarity that helps us feel at ease, calm, confident and in control.This sort of familiarity can be referred to as positive conditioning. .Riding the Roller Coaster.To explain positive conditioning in plain English, picture this.You are at a theme park and are very nervous or anxious about riding that big, scary roller coaster for the first time.Even thinking about taking the plunge starts you off on a serious emotional roller coaster! "Should I? Shouldn't I? I don't really want to after all.But I do want to try it, and all my friends are doing it.I can do it.I can't do it.It might be fun!? But what happens if we crash? Maybe I should have just stayed in bed this morning!".Eventually you decide to board the roller coaster, and experience the ride.Riding the roller coaster turns out to be a positive experience - you survived and even enjoyed it in some weird way! This makes your brain suddenly say "Hey! That wasn't so bad after all!" The next time you think about riding the roller coaster, you are perhaps only a little nervous or anxious.You make the decision to ride the roller coaster again, and again it turns out to be a positive experience - you even had your eyes open this time! Your brain now says to you "Hey! That was actually kinda fun! I want to do it again!" And so the next time you think about riding the roller coaster, you are looking forward to it, because you know it will be a fun, enjoyable experience! This is basically how positive conditioning works. However, what if your experiences are negative? For example, what happens if the first time you ride the roller coaster you get stuck at the top of the ride and are forced to dangle upside-down for 6 hours because of a technical problem? If this happens, your brain is probably going to say to you the next time you think about riding a roller coaster, "Oi! Remember that last roller coaster experience?? It was horrible! I don't ever want to go through that again - get me outta here!" This is negative conditioning in action. ."The Routine" - Part 1.So, how do we ensure your brain tells you that auditions, recitals, and other 'high-pressure' performing situations are easy and fun? How do you achieve positive conditioning when you only get one shot at something??? We'll answer these questions very soon! But for now, it's back to the office! After 30 days at the office, you know the routine. .* Wake up with the alarm clock, hit the 'snooze' button, and sleep for an extra 10 minutes * Get out of bed when the alarm rings for the second time * Eat breakfast * Have a shower and get dressed * Brush teeth * Shoes on * Leave the house after locking the door * Walk to the bus stop.Aim to arrive there in time to get on the number 85 bus that you know always leaves 2 or 3 minutes earlier than it's supposed to * Board the bus * Get off the bus at the appropriate stop * Walk up to the building and in through the main entrance ."The Routine" - Part 2 A.* Greet the receptionist * Sign in * Walk up the stairs, bidding a fellow colleague a good day on the way * Greet the other office workers as you pass them on your way to your desk * Arrive at your desk, sit down, and start the day's work * Lunch break for 45 minutes * Work through to the late afternoon * When it's time to leave, walk back down the stairs, out of the office, and out of the building All of these small but necessary actions are completed each day as part of your routine.Thinking back to your first day at the office, you didn't have this routine - your first day was completely unfamiliar! This is the reason why you may have been feeling anxious or even over-excited (high performance arousal level), and the reason why you asked your partner, flatmate, friends, or family to "wish you luck." .Now, if it feels like we have wandered from the path of an 'under the spotlight' performance situation, read the bullet points in "The Routine" - Part 1 again, and then skip directly to "The Routine" - Part 2 B below. ."The Routine" - Part 2 B.* Walk around to the stage door of the venue * Greet the receptionist at the desk * Sign in * Walk up the stairs and along the corridor to warm-up room marked 'Soloist 1' * Take out your instrument, and begin your warm-up routine * After some time, your accompanist enters the warm-up room * With 15 minutes until your audition is scheduled to start, you rehearse entries and certain problem passages * The stage manager knocks on the door, and asks if you are both ready * You follow the stage manager to the wings in the off-stage area * You walk confidently on stage, with your accompanist following closely behind * You acknowledge the audition jury * You begin the audition calmly, and confidently * The performance begins, and continues in the most musical way you can possibly imagine * You finish the last audition piece, acknowledge the jury, and finally walk off stage.So, if you're a performer, and get the chance to be 'at the office' for 30 days (performing in recitals or auditions every day for 30 days) you can get to know the routine, and become quite comfortable and familiar with it.But wait a second! You might be thinking. "Ok, but the office worker has the opportunity to learn the routine and get familiar with it as they are in reality at the office every weekday.I'm not doing a recital or audition everyday.I only get one shot at this!" .What?You're right! You're not performing in a recital or audition everyday, but you should be! "What? Auditions and recitals don't come along everyday!" In reality, no they don't! But in your mind, you can perform auditions and recitals as often as you wish! ."What do you mean?!? How does this work?".By using specially designed visualisation techniques, you can use your mind to rehearse any 'one-shot' performance as many times as you wish! Therefore, you can become familiar with your 'one-shot' performing situation, well before it even happens! So, if you practise visualisation techniques, when you walk into your performing situation in reality, you're just like the office worker going to work on their 30th or even 2,623rd day at the office! In other words, you can feel, calm, confident, and in control in any performance situation! .The Proof."But wait just another second! Surely there is a vast difference between experiencing an event in reality and experiencing the same event in your imagination? After all, the office worker actually is at the office every day, and if I use visualisation, I'm only going to imagine myself being at 'the office'.Can this really be the same thing?" The short answer to this question is YES! According to many studies on visualisation in the field of sports psychology, the subconscious mind doesn't know the difference between actually experiencing an event, and simply imagining an event in vivid detail! .Look at this example..One study on visualisation in sports psychology involved the members of three basketball teams of approximately equal skill level, practising shooting '3-pointers', for a period of 30 days.One of the teams practised neither physically on the court, nor in their minds during the duration of the study.Their improvement at the end of the study was not surprisingly 0%.Another team practised physically - that is, on the basketball court - for a period of one hour each day.After 30 days, their improvement was measured at 24%.The third team did not practise physically at all but was told to mentally visualise the game for one hour each day.At the end of the thirty day period, their improvement was a remarkable 23%. What was the reason for this? The sports scientists concluded that the subconscious mind cannot differentiate between what is real and what is imagined.Therefore, since the subconscious mind has a large influence on how you perform, positively conditioning your subconscious mind using Intense Positive Visualisation can have a huge effect on your success as a performer! Find out how to practise Intense Positive Visualisation in the next section! .Intense Positive Visualisation.Visualisation techniques can help you positively condition yourself to achieve an ideal state of mind, helping you to gain optimal results in your performing situations. In short, when visualising, you train your mind by entering a relaxed state and imagining the exact results you would like to achieve.By regularly practising visualisation techniques, you can condition yourself for success! In the book Performing in The Zone, three different types of visualisation techniques are explained..* Snap Shot * Intense Positive Visualisation * The 5 Sense Visualisation Method .Here in "Just Another Day at the Office." you're going to see exactly how the simple yet powerful technique of Intense Positive Visualisation can help you in your performing situations! Read on! .Different points of view .Intense Positive Visualisation can be carried out in the 1st person or 3rd person perspective.Using the 1st person perspective, you put yourself in the centre of the visualisation.For example, if you are a concert pianist, you would imagine yourself performing on stage from your own eyes, seeing your hands and the piano keyboard in front of you, taking in the experience as if you were actually carrying it out in reality.In the 3rd person perspective, you would see yourself from a distance, possibly from a seat in the audience, the back of the room, or even a position up in the ceiling somewhere above, behind, or beside you.Some performers find a 1st person visualisation to be more powerful and real, whereas others may find a 3rd person visualisation to be most effective.Experiment using both viewpoints, and discover which one works best for you. .Intense Positive Visualisation explained.To practise Intense Positive Visualisation, you will need to be undisturbed for a period of anywhere from ten minutes to an hour, depending on the length of the performance you are about to visualise.Intense Positive Visualisation is best carried out lying down on your back with your hands resting gently on your solar-plexus.You may choose to lie flat on the floor or on a yoga mattress.Lying down on a bed can be an acceptable alternative, and is at times preferable if practising this exercise just before sleeping.It's important to keep the body at a comfortable temperature throughout the duration of the visualisation, and therefore covering yourself with a blanket might be necessary.To begin Intense Positive Visualisation, gently close your eyes, and lightly touch your tongue to the front part of the roof of your mouth, just behind the teeth.This is a Qi Gong technique which forms an 'energy bridge' to allow freer flow of energy in the human energy system.Try to keep the root of your tongue relaxed at all times.If you have trouble with this, simply let your tongue sit in its natural position and come back to this Qi Gong energy bridge technique at a later stage.Whilst in a horizontal position, allow the floor to take your weight.Feel your limbs becoming heavier the more relaxed they feel.Trust the floor - it will hold you.Give in to the support from underneath.Trust, relax, and let go.Breathe gently through your nose.Allow your body to breathe as it needs to.The next section is designed to help you understand how Intense Positive Visualisation works.It is an example of one possible visualisation, taken from the perspective of a musician giving a recital, requiring a performance arousal level of +1 before the performance, +2 for the majority of the recital, and +3 for the climax of the concert.After reading the following example and understanding the process of Intense Positive Visualisation, you can then create your own personal visualisation to meet your specific needs.When creating your visualisation, remember to visualise events exactly as you want them to be. .Start of Intense Positive Visualisation example..You begin by imagining yourself at home, taking your performance clothes out of the wardrobe.You check to see that everything is in order with your clothes and your performance shoes.You put your performance clothes and shoes in a suit bag, pick up your instrument case, check to see if you have your keys and wallet, and leave the house, locking the door behind you.You walk down the stairs and out on to the street in a relaxed pace.Arriving at the metro (underground train/'tube') station, you use your ticket to pass the barrier, and board your train.It's going to be a great show.Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.Getting off at the right stop, you stroll towards the recital hall, taking in the scenery on the way.Perhaps a seagull is calling in the distance? How do the trees look? Are there other people out walking? You take out your Cue Card and slowly read over your key words.Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.You arrive at the venue and greet the receptionist on the way in.After signing in, you head to your warm up room where your accompanist is already waiting for you.You ask your accompanist for 15 minutes by yourself so that you can prepare yourself and warm up.You unpack your instrument, and begin your warm up routine.It feels fantastic to start warming up.You know your accompanist is going help you put on a great show.You know that the venue has a warm acoustic.Your performance clothes are ironed and your shoes polished.You are ready.You are about to share part of yourself with some people who want to hear you - they want to be touched by you.It's going to be a warm, giving, rewarding experience for both them and you.It's going to be great! Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.After 15 minutes your accompanist walks in to the room.Before you begin to rehearse, you check your Cue Card again, and go through your Pre-Performance Ritual, "C3" - calm, controlled, confident - the "C3" and "+1" on your Cue Card gives you a familiar, friendly reminder.You rehearse the beginning of the first piece with your accompanist.It's easy and free. The acoustic in the practise room is dry, but you know that out there in the hall the space will take care of you - the warm reverb will beautify every nuance and add to the experience for everyone.Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.When it is time, you are called to the wings of the stage.You take one final look at your Cue Card and go through the "C3" exercise again.You can hear the chatter of the audience, and see the stage in front of you.You walk calmly, securely, and with purpose on to the stage where you are greeted by applause.They like you and you haven't even done anything yet! This is going to be a fun performance!Your performance arousal level is at +1.You feel relaxed, positive, and calm.Whilst your accompanist adjusts the piano stool, you look out into the audience and make visual contact with the people you are about to touch with your performance.Your body language exudes confidence and assuredness.You greet the audience, introducing yourself and your accompanist, and begin to talk about the evening's programme.Your voice is stable, powerful, and reflects the perfect +1 state of performance arousal that you are currently in.Your voice resonates effortlessly to the back of the hall.You are in The Zone.After your brief introductory talk, you look to your accompanist who is ready to work with you.This is going great! You begin your performance, and your performance arousal gently rises to a +2.(At this point in the visualisation I strongly suggest that you visualise your entire performance - that is, see and hear yourself giving the most musical, fantastic, controlled, inspired, moving performance you can possibly imagine.Use either 1st or 3rd person perspective.In your visualisation you are doing everything right - it feels fantastic and sounds amazing.You are at an ideal level of performance arousal for this performing situation, and totally in The Zone.) Just before the climax of the final piece, you turn the page, and see the familiar figure of "+3" that you wrote earlier at the top of your music.You step it up a notch, and raise your performance arousal level to +3.The music takes on a new life and energy and this is felt by you, your accompanist, and the audience.Finishing the concert at a +3 level your audience erupts in cheers and applause.You did it! It was great!! You were in The Zone! You acknowledge the audience, and walk off stage. .End of Intense Positive Visualisation example.When you feel ready, slowly begin to move your body again.How did it feel to give that amazing performance? You were great! Everything just 'clicked'.You were totally and completely in The Zone throughout the entire process. Intense Positive Visualisation can be practised every day before a performance.By doing so, you can condition yourself to perform in The Zone.Intense Positive Visualisation is highly recommended to all performers about to give important performances, auditions or recitals.The earlier you begin Intense Positive Visualisation the better, but at least one week prior to the performance event should be the minimum.In your own visualisations, remember to assess how much positive performance arousal you need at various moments. +1, +2, +3, +4, or +5.Do you need to be at the same activation level for the entire event, or does your performance arousal level need to modulate at various times?Remember that imagining yourself calm and relaxed probably isn't going to give you the best results if you are preparing for an intensely physical, fast-paced performance situation.Likewise, visualising getting yourself psyched up and exploding out of the gates isn't going to help you if you are preparing for a more delicate +1 situation, such as a slow movement of a concerto. Visualising performing with an ideal level of performance arousal is important! By using Intense Positive Visualisation, you are using positive conditioning to become familiar with as many elements of your performance day as possible, and become used to experiencing these always in a positive light.Notice also that Intense Positive Visualisation goes into as much detail as possible, both before and during your performance.This is to help take away as many surprises and unknown factors on the day of your performance as possible.It may help the accuracy and intensity of your visualisation to do some reconnaissance by actually visiting the performance venue prior to your performance event.This is easily possible for students giving final recitals for example, or sportspeople playing at a local venue.Try to also incorporate some variations in your visualisations.Perhaps the audience isn't ready and takes an extra 5 minutes to get seated? Perhaps your accompanist arrives later than expected due to traffic problems?Maybe the stage curtains are blue and not red? Perhaps the warm up room is bigger or smaller? Regardless of what happens, you are prepared, and you stay in your ideal level of positive performance arousal.You are completely stable, and in The Zone, always. By using Intense Positive Visualisation every day over a period of one week, you have in effect carried out your performance successfully 7 times.Practise this visualisation 3 times per day for a week and you've completed 21 successful, positive, great, fantastic, easy, ideal performances, and have been in The Zone every single time! Remember that your subconscious doesn't differentiate between what is real and what is imagined.Therefore by using Intense Positive Visualisation diligently, you are conditioning yourself for success by becoming familiar with performing in The Zone! By using the technique of Intense Positive Visualisation, you can experience your next audition, recital or 'high-pressure' performance as just another day at the office! thezonebook.Com.
Psychology Themes And Variations Low Cost Psychology: Themes And Variations Briefer - Text 8TH EDITION
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People are often accused of being asleep.This assertion is made by people who believe that they are awake.Is this just a metaphor used to launch a pejorative statement?Or is it, like the difference between waking hours and sleeping hours, a condition where awareness is partially or completely absent?Actually, it appears to be more than a metaphor and also a part of the human condition to be asleep.Here are five ways we are all asleep.One, we fail to notice things.Due to the way our brains work, our minds can only notice a few possibilities out of an infinite sea.There are many reasons for this phenomena.Despite having 15 billion brain cells, the bulk of these are used for unconscious processes.Brain lateralization is one reason, for example.The left brain sees things differently from the right brain.And most people favor one over the other due to cultural bias.The left brain focuses on language, mathematics, logic, numbers, sequence, linearity, and analysis.The right brain focuses on forms and patterns, spatial manipulation, rhythm, musical appreciation, imagination, and daydreaming.Those who do use both sides, communicating ideas between the corpus callosum, are those who have adopted special measures to override the cultural bias, like meditation, to create whole brain thinking.Two, in a literal sense, the world is not what it appears to be.We appear to live in a world of spaces and objects, but actually this is an illusion created by the brain and the sense organs.The smallest thing that we can see is made up of atoms.To see the atoms in a tennis ball, we would have to blow it up to the size of the earth.The atoms in it would then be the size of grapes.If you were to now blow up an atom to see it more clearly, you would have to make it the size of a 14 story building.The largest part in the atom, the nucleus, would be the size of a grain of salt.However, since this is 2,000 times bigger than an electron, these would be the size of dust particles.The real world is mainly empty space, punctuated by bits of matter, whose real nature are not hard bits of something but patterns of vibrations.Three, we think of many things throughout the day, but most of this thinking is done in imaginary time.Imaginary time is the past, where things, events, people, and places have ceased to be.Sometimes they have passed away from our sense perceptions.Sometimes they may not exist at all.When we project the memory of the past into the future, we spend time in an imagined state where things will be different for us.The only real time is now.The only real place is here.However, are awareness is seldom on the here and now.While maintaining enough of our consciousness to be rooted and functioning in the present, we frequently drift of into imaginary time.The only difference between day dreaming and night dreaming is the intensity of our inner images.During the day, we are partially aware that we are not in imaginary time, and our experiences have a certain order to them.During the night, or when we are asleep in bed, we are completely aware of only imaginary time and our experiences have no clear logic, and one experience can transform into another within seconds and without an explanation.A fourth way, we are asleep is because we think that our consciousness is our own.This may not be true.Our thoughts are only borrowed from the general thoughts of all humankind.Further, we may all share in a collective unconscious.Thus, all our thoughts are only variations on the theme promoted by our environment and our cultural conditioning on what things mean.Finally, a fifth way we are asleep is that we assume that there are only four dimensions to reality, the three of space and the one of time.But both mystics and physicists often speak of the possibility of other dimensions.If we are all asleep, then, is an enlightened person awake?Only in a relative sense.They know they are dreaming, while everyone else is convinced that their dream is real.In a way, an enlightened person, is like a lucid dreamer, while others are convinced that all this sound and fury called life means something and that the hour we strut upon the stage is of some great significance.
The Unity Candle and Other Ceremonies of Commitment
There are, in Protestant weddings, more than a few different traditions allowing the bride and groom to show their families a symbolic representation of their union and devotion to each other.The unity candle is one of those very traditions, steeped in only a few decades of history, but incredibly popular in today's wedding ceremonies.The unity candle's birth wasn't the first, nor the last ceremony to instill in a wedding the gravitas of commitment.Not only is there a definite focus on the importance of the candle, by couples as well as candle makers, there's a sure gravitation towards the use of other unity ceremonies both new and old that allow both bride and groom to show their dedication to the union.The unity candle itself is a fairly elaborate affair.One can buy a unity candle from any gift store or bridal shop, complete with a brilliantly crafted unity candle and often the two lighting candles that the bride and groom use to light the central flame.A candelabra for carrying all three is usually also available.Options, including engraving of the couple's names on the candle or similar keepsake additions make the package perfect for the ceremony.There are however, other simpler unity ceremonies involving the sharing of a common object, food, or drink that accomplishes the same effect.Probably the simplest of these is the Rose Ceremony, in which the couple might exchange a single rose to show unity.Other such exchanges include the Garland or Lei exchanging ceremonies in which Indian or Hawaiian brides and grooms exchange a ring of flowers to symbolize their unity.Other similar variations include the pouring of wine or water into a communal glass, or the simultaneous tearing of a loaf of bread to be shared.The purpose of all of these is to display the way in which the couple is giving a part of themselves to complete a new whole.Appropriately, in the unity candle ceremony some couples choose to keep their individual candles burning as a sign of the individuality that they will retain beside the new entity created in their marriage.The unity candle tradition's growth then, is not as surprising as some might think.The concept of symbolically showing to your friends and relatives how you will become a new person and join with your spouse in a united marriage is a common procedure.The manner in which it is done is the only way in which it varies.
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When choosing tinges for a room interior, it is important to keep personal taste and preference in mind.Professionals use three basic interior design color schemes when planning any project.These basic color schemes are analogous, complementary and monochromatic.An analogous color scheme consists of using colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.One example of this scheme would be to use the warm colors of red, red-orange, yellow-orange and yellow.Another choice might be choosing cooler color tones, such as blue-green, blue, blue-violet and violet.Although there is no high contrast in this scheme, using analogous colors in a project can make a room feel very luxurious and harmonious.Complementary colors are the colors that are opposite on the tinges wheel.This particular scheme is widespread in many homes built during the middle of the twentieth century.The pink and green designs in bathrooms of that era are complementary.Other combinations would be blue and yellow or red and turquoise.Out of all the tinge palettes, complementary colors offer the highest contrast and visual interest.If all one color suits the design of the room, then a monochromatic tinge plan will fill the bill.Monochromatic means just that, all one color.A monochromatic color scheme involves the use of one color plus tints and shades of the particular color.For instance, a palette of burgundy, red and pink is a monochromatic scheme.A monochromatic design within a room is easy to pull together and can make a room feel soothing and balanced.Of course, there are variations of the three basic color schemes from which to choose.Some of these include..• Split Complementary - a modified version of the standard complementary scheme.• Triadic - a combination of three evenly spaced tinges on the color wheel.• Tetradic - a combination of two pairs of complementary colors, sometimes called "double complementary".Choosing basic interior design color schemes is easy and wonderful results are possible.Take care when choosing tinges that are pleasing to the eye and flow harmoniously.Following the simple rules of good design is the first step in establishing an overall theme to a room.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Quick Tips For Preparing Courtroom Graphics and Animations
The use of visual aids, coupled with good public speaking skills work hand-in-hand to give credible and convincing courtroom presentations.The style of speaking, amount of preparation, subject and several other factors can all effect how successful the speaker will be with his audience.Establishing your visual aids might feel a bit frustrating for some and for others might be a very enjoyable event to help get the creative "juices" flowing.In either case, special attention should be paid to how you will deliver a courtroom visual and why you need to show it in the first place.In today's world, courtroom graphics are almost always computer generated, except in the case of items such as enlarged photos or other hand-drawn sketches.The fact of the matter is that Jurors expectations have changed.The general acceptance and common knowledge of the internet, computers, software and digital media has completely changed the playing field when it comes to jurors' expectations for the quality of courtroom graphics and animations.Far too often, people like to "slap" something together with less than impressive results or without taking the time to hone in on the important part of the visuals.Other times, people display obscure and overcomplicated graphics that may distract a juror's focus from the point being made.Graphics and animations in the courtroom need to flow with the presentation and enhance a juror's understanding of the key facts being offered for the case.Missing details, incorrect spelling, animations that are too fast and text that is too small distract the juror from the key points being made by the presenter.Once this happens a few times in a row, you will most likely notice that the jurors start losing eye contact and eventually reward your efforts with a wide mouthed yawn.So, here are a number of practical tips to assist with presenting animations and graphics in the courtroom.1.Purpose and objective?By far the most important step of any animation or graphic is to establish the objective.Many times people shoot for the "wow" factor without really putting thought into the visual strategy behind the presentation.By establishing your objectives first, you can prepare material that supports each objective in an organized and simplified manner.An attorney trying to explain how a mechanical device functions would most likely consider a different approach to one who was trying to explain the sequence of chronological events in a court case.Naturally, the types of graphics or animations used will be different such that the style of the graphics will assist in delivering the best means of communication.Planning is essential to establishing your objectives and finding the best visual strategy.2.Who is the audience?Once the objectives have been set, it is important to understand who the jury (or other audience) will be.The objectives need to fit into the needs and expectations of the audience.By considering the nature of your audience, you can more easily determine what you will present and how you will present it.Understanding your audience will allow you to..-Select key points of emphasis -Provide a useful level of detail -Prepare appropriate visual aids -Create a tone that is sensitive to your audience's circumstance.As an example, a jury made up of persons with a strong technical background might expect to see a forensic animation, video footage, electronic records and a PowerPoint presentation.Not having these kinds of modern day graphics available can be a failure to meet an audience's expectations and hence, lose some credibility.3.Length and pace of a presentation.Perhaps one of the best pieces of advice I have ever heard about giving presentations is the quote "The mind can only absorb what the butt can endure".Keep your courtroom presentations to the point! Many people have experienced firsthand how difficult it is to stay attentive after a lengthy presentation that just drags on and on.Once a juror becomes physically uncomfortable or mentally fatigued, it's very difficult to regain their attention.Most judges appreciate the use of animations or other graphics that assist in reducing the length of time required for a trial.Lengthy courtroom explanations can often be best summarized with a presentation that combines some key graphics.In many instances, there may be complex topics being discussed and it makes sense to hire a professional animator to convert a complex explanation into an easy to understand animation that is short, concise and memorable.This also frees up the attorney from stumbling over his own words on a topic that may not be very familiar.Also, beating a key point to death with repetition and a lengthy verbal battery is simply detrimental to keeping a captivated audience.Keep the pace moving and once a point is made, move on.There is no problem with restating or showing the same graphic a bit later in the presentation.In fact, it is a good idea to provide some supporting evidence and then restate the key point.4.Cliche - Keep it simple!The graphics used to convey any key points need to be as simple and appealing as possible.Cramming too much information into one graphic or animation means that jurors can have a number of unanswered questions in their mind and may not be following along.Keep a simple mental roadmap for each graphic that you would like the jurors to follow.Point them in the direction you want them to look and follow through with an explanation for the rest of the graphic.When discussing large or complex matters, ensure that the "big picture" is clear.Then, break down the complex matters into smaller parts that are easier for the jurors to understand and also much simpler for the attorney to present.At the same time, be sure that the "big picture" is always clear.5.Have a central and cohesive theme.Presenting a large number of graphics that are from many different sources and have no common theme is like throwing all the pieces of a puzzle on the floor and expecting someone to see the final image.Preparing a courtroom presentation means that a common style or "look" should be adopted and carried throughout the presentation.When considering a style for the theme, think about what materials are being presented and what the juror's expectations might be.If a medical case is being presented, be sure to do some research into the style and look that one would typically expect from the medical or pharmaceutical industry.A quick check on the internet will reveal that many medical facilities like to use variations of blue and white for their websites, logos and marketing materials.They also use a very simple Arial or Roman font.So, it would make sense to follow the same type of trend when making a presentation for a medical case.Do not to use something like black and yellow with an overzealous font that you would normally use for a birthday banner!7.Use colors to your advantage.The general rule of thumb with any visual graphic is "high contrast".Text needs to stand out to the background as do any sketches, animations or other graphics.Obviously, using a blue background and making text blue, is probably not a wise choice.However, choosing a blue background with yellow text is very effective and often recommended.A small percentage of the population is colorblind.Most colorblind people are not as sensitive to red and green and can lose sight of small colored details in a photo or graphic.When necessary, circle important pieces of evidence in a photo with a yellow or high contrast circle.8.Do some research.There are no hard rules to developing a strong set of courtroom graphics.There are many articles and papers available on the internet that deal with the science and psychology of delivering effective graphics and making effective presentations.Consider reviewing some of these articles to learn about the psychology of how graphics, animations and colors can affect jurors in a favorable way.One thing is certain; planning is a key factor when creating courtroom graphics! Most attorneys do not spend enough time on this most important point.Be sure to spend the time to go over your visuals so that they are checked for accuracy, effectiveness and how they will be used in the courtroom.Also, make sure to see all of the expert witness' visuals and have someone unfamiliar with the case review the animations and graphics to see if they will be well understood.
Psychology Themes And Variations Discount Psychology: Themes And Variations, Briefer Version
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PSYCHOLOGY: THEMES AND VARIATIONS, BRIEFER EDITION, 8TH EDITION helps you experience the excitement of this fascinating field, while helping you study and retain what you learn! Filled with practical ways that you can apply psychology to your everyday life, this best-selling psychology textbook is an experience in learning that you'll remember long after you complete your introductory psychology course. Critical Thinking Applications in every chapter give you specific critical thinking strategies you can apply to what you read. Every chapter of this book offers tools to help you focus on what's important--showing you how to study in ways that help you retain information and do your very best on exams.
Psychology: Themes and Variations, Briefer Version Reviews
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| 4 of 6 people found the following review helpful  Kindle format lacking...recommend buying paper version, if you are picky, Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Psychology: Themes and Variations, Briefer Edition, 8th Edition (Kindle Edition) I bought the Kindle version, as I decided that it'd be one less textbook for me to carry around. Unfortunately, there are still several problems:- the graphics / charts are difficult/impossible to read - the 'limits' of the Kindle format, make the flow of the book unnatural. (meaning charts aren't where they should be, as per the paper format) - there are lots of typos and "missing choices" in the Practice tests section 1 of 2 people found the following review helpful  Does the job, Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Psychology: Themes and Variations, Briefer Version (Paperback) My psych professor wanted the new edition but i refused to buy a $133 book that i wasn't going to use to its full extent, so i bought this. The chapters are off and slightly different from the newer one but besides that it gets the job done quite well. The condition was nice as well, some wearing but it doesn't bother me at all. 2 of 4 people found the following review helpful  THANK YOU, Amazon Verified Purchase This review is from: Psychology: Themes and Variations, Briefer Version (Paperback) I received this book on time, and it was exactly what I ordered. Will continue to do business here. |
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Parenting, Fear and Relationship
The years of research on the brain have taught us that human beings are the most incredible, vulnerable, high maintenance creatures on the planet.It takes years to grow a child into a competent, capable, loving, contributing adult; or not.We know that the human brain has not completed its growth for executive functioning until the 25th year of life.We are more fragile than we realize and more resilient in our ability to grow beyond our traumas.Our basic survival needs for food, shelter, water, some type of medical care and education are minimally met for the most part, at least in the United States.One of the basic building blocks for a humane human is not met well world-wide.Children's emotional needs aren't even on the radar screen.We don't understand the impact of stress, trauma and fear-based parenting practices on the emotionally vulnerable child.I could give you all kinds of statistics but you can look them up; suffice it to say you can check out the news every day and find evidence that we are not doing very well in our relationships; children bullying children; adults bullying adults.In order to connect in relationships we have to be in a calm place so we can feel empathy, compassion, love, and set healthy limits and boundaries.The fear receptor of our brain helps us survive.It is called the amygdale.We are born to be on the look out for what might hurt us.We are also born to be in relationships.Another part of our brain that is supposed to help us calm down is called the hypothalmus.If we can't calm ourselves down our short-term memory (the hippocampus) gets suppressed and our thinking gets confused and distorted.It makes it difficult to connect to our centers of emotional and social control (the cortex).From a calmer more rational place we can reach out and care for another.But when we are stressed we feel angry, hostile and frustrated.Our amygdala is triggered and cannot be calmed by the hippocampus which slams the door temporarily on our cortex.The stress chemicals are gearing the body up to freeze, fight, or run.We are engaged in disconnecting from others because in that moment they are perceived as the enemy.Stress takes us out of relationship with each other.Stress takes us into fear.It is a wonder we don't do more awful things to each other.Our ability to regulate stress is established through our neurophysiological regulatory system.This system is established in the first year of life and research shows it begins in the womb.Our ability to regulate ourselves is critical for healthy attachment.When we are conceived, the bodymind system of the fetus and that of the mother is intricately connected through the placenta.What the mother feels for good or ill is felt in the developing fetus.After birth other caregivers are interconnected in an invisible world of neurophysiology that the baby feels and reacts to.A child's ability to learn to self-regulate is dependent on these relationships which happen at a felt-sense in the body.When a child becomes stressed and cries and someone comes and regulates him or her, over time and through repetition they learn how to regulate themselves.On the other hand if a child becomes dysregulated and no one comes, or they come in an angry way or variations on this theme the child does not get the experience necessary to learn self-regulate."Infants in well-regulated parental systems become effective self regulators in the face of stress as young children separate from the caregiver." (Sroufe, L.Alan.Emotional Development.New York. Cambridge University Press, 1995).Allan Schore states that the ability to develop attachment is dependent on the state of regulation.Without regulation a child cannot develop attachment and a parent figure cannot bond.The jury is no longer out on nature vs.Nurture.Our genetic endowment can be influenced by environmental factors and vice versa.Environments and experiences change the biology of the brain for good or ill.We all have a combination of both.What children need in early development is heart-felt attention, time-in, presence, talking, singing, smiling, joy; heart-felt affection like holding, rocking, kissing, carrying and staying attuned to the child's needs to know when they are hungry, wet, need soothing, holding, eye contact, and just being there for them.Early childhood experiences wire the brain in a way that later helps or hurts (or a mix) the development of social and emotional intelligence.An example of this is from my childhood.My parents divorce was final in August and I was born in September.I was breech and as was common in those days my mother was given twilight sleep.It is a combination of morphine and scopolamine which together provide childbirth without pain or without the memory of pain.A mother can't be fully present in the birth experience.It was found to depress the baby's central nervous system, at times inhibiting breathing.In the 1970's its use was halted.My early beginning was that the most important person was there but not consciously.The unspoken message was that I had to do everything all by myself.How interesting that pattern repeated itself over the course of my childhood.I learned that my dad, Nannie, great grandmother and grandfather were there and excited to meet me but I was behind the glass and alone.The drug induced dis-connection from my mother was only the precursor of the disconnections that were to come.I do believe that after that difficult start I had experiences where I felt loved and cared for by my mother but as her stress and depression grew so did the gap between us.Love, for me, meant I love you but leave me along.Words I heard too frequently.She told me one time that she read to us when we were children.I have no memories of her doing that.I am grateful that she gave me life and the resources of reading; it is a gift that keeps on giving (though it is a solitary experience).We know that children who are read to become good readers.I am a voracious reader which has been an ongoing source of comfort, inspiration and growth for me.So much of who we are is learned.I find comfort in knowing who this gift came from because for so long I could only see the pain and sadness between us.As I have connected to that sadness and pain a veil has lifted and I saw this gift.As I choose to accept this gift from my mother my body feels lightness and a sense of gratitude.We receive both positive and negative conditioning from our parents.I've been so stuck in the negative conditioning I couldn't see there was some positives.This is a more realistic 'truth' that gives me a 'felt sense' of balance.Not that the positives erase the negatives but that my bodymind system is validated that both exist within me.I am free to validate and acknowledge both.
Discovering Science Fiction's Re-emergence and Re-assessment in the USA
Science fiction has emerged as acceptable in the literary cannon with the inclusion of a wide selection of science fiction writers as worthy of studying.At least this was one of the facts I learnt of a genre which I had for long associated with popular thrillers when we discussed Contemporary American Literature in the US a year or so ago.Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction often involving speculations on current or future science or technology usually in books, art, television, films, games, theater, and other media.In the age of television, computers and other technology, the fascination of contemporary fiction writers with technology has become an extension of the sphere of social realism for the exploration of writers.Science fiction is akin to fantasy.But it differs from it in that, its imaginary elements are largely possible within scientifically postulated laws of nature though some elements might still be pure imaginative speculation.Science fiction is largely then writing entertainingly and rationally about alternate possibilities in settings that are contrary to known reality including..O A setting in the future, in alternative time lines, or in a historical past that contradicts known historical facts or archaeological records.O A setting in outer space, other worlds, or one involving aliens.O Stories that contradict known or supposed laws of nature.O Stories that involve discovering or applying new scientific principles, such as time travel or psionics,.O Stories that involve the discovery or application of new technology, such as nanotechnology, faster-than-light travel or robots,.O Stories that involve the discovery or application of new and different political or social systems.Science fiction also involves imaginative extrapolations of present day phenomena, such as the thoughtful projection forward of contemporary medical practices such as organ transplants, genetic engineering, and artificial insemination or the evolving social changes such as the rise of the suburb and the growing disparity between the rich and poor.Science fiction has a widening range of possibilities in themes and form.It embraces many other subgenres and themes.Science fiction writer Robert A.Heinlein defines it as "realistic speculations about possible future events, based solidly on adequate knowledge of the real world, past and present, and on a thorough understanding of the nature and significance of the scientific method." For Rod Serlin whilst "fantasy is the impossible made probable, Science Fiction is the improbable made possible.There are thus no easily delineated limits to science fiction.For even the devoted fan- has a hard time trying to explain what it is.Hard science fiction, gives rigorous attention to accurate detail in quantitative sciences producing many accurate predictions of the future, but with numerous inaccurate predictions emerging as seen in the late Arthur C.Clarke who accurately predicted geostationary communications satellites, but erred in his prediction of deep layers of moondust in lunar craters."Soft" science fiction its antithesis describes works based on social sciences such as psychology, economics, political science, sociology and anthropology with writers as Ursula K.Le Guin and Philip K.Dick.And its stories focused primarily on character and emotion of which; Ray Bradbury is an acknowledged master.Some writers blur the boundary between both.Mack Reynolds's work, for instance, focuses on politics but anticipates many developments in computers, including cyber-terrorism.The Cyberpunk genre, a portmanteau of "cybernetics" and "punk" ,emerged in the early 1980s." First coined by Bruce Bethke in his 1980 short story"Cyberpunk," its time frame is usually the near-future and its settings are often dystopian.Its common themes include advances in information technology, especially of the Internet (visually abstracted as cyberspace (possibly malevolent), artificial intelligence, enhancements of mind and body using bionic prosthetics and direct brain-computer interfaces called cyberware, and post-democratic societal control where corporations have more influence than governments.Nihilism, post-modernism, and film noir techniques are common elements.Its protagonists may be disaffected or reluctant anti-heroes.The 1982 film Blade Runner is a definitive example of its visual style with noteworthy authors in the genre being William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Pat Cadigan, and Rudy Rucker.Science fiction authors and filmmakers draw on a wide spectrum of ideas.Many works overlap into two or more commonly-defined genres, while others are beyond the generic boundaries, being either outside or between categories.The categories and genres used by mass markets and literary criticism differ considerably.Time travel stories popularized by H.G.Wells' novel The Time Machine with antecedents in the 18th and 19th centuries are popular in novels, television series ( Doctor Who), as individual episodes within more general science fiction series ( "The City on the Edge of Forever" in Star Trek, "Babylon Squared" in Babylon 5, and "The Banks of the Lethe" in Andromeda )and as one-off productions such as The Flipside of Dominick Hide.Alternate history stories based on the premise that historical events might have turned out differently.Using time travel to change the past, or simply set a story in a universe with a different history from our own.Classics in the genre include Bring the Jubilee by Ward Moore, in which the South wins the American Civil War and The Man in the High Castle, by Philip K.Dick, in which Germany and Japan win World War II.Military science fiction exploits conflicts between national, interplanetary, or interstellar armed forces; in which the main characters are usually soldiers.It has much details about military technology, procedures, rituals, and history; and sometimes using parallels with historical conflicts.Examples include Heinlein's Starship Troopers followed by the Dorsai novels of Gordon Dickson.Prominent military SF authors include David Drake, David Weber, Jerry Pournelle, S.M.Stirling, and Lois McMaster Bujold.Joe Haldeman's The Forever War , a Vietnam-era response to the World War II-style stories of earlier authors is a critique of the genre.Baen Books cultivates military science fiction authors.Television series within this subgenre include Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1 and Space. Above and Beyond.There is also the popular Halo videogame and novel series.Related genres include speculative fiction, fantasy, and horror,.Alternate histories (which may have no particular scientific or futuristic component), and even literary stories that contain fantastic elements, such as the work of Jorge Luis Borges or John Barth.Magic realism works have also been said to be within the broad definition of speculative fiction.Fantasy is closely associated with science fiction.Many writers, including Robert A.Heinlein, Poul Anderson, Larry Niven, C.J.Cherryh, C.S.Lewis, Jack Vance, and Lois McMaster Bujold have therefore worked in both genres.Writers such as Anne McCaffrey and Marion Zimmer Bradley have written works that appear to blur the boundary between the two related genres Science Fiction conventions routinely have programming on fantasy topics and fantasy authors such as J.K.Rowling and J.R.R.Tolkien (in film adaptation) have won the highest honor within the science fiction field, the Hugo Award.Larry Niven's The Magic Goes Away stories treat magic as just another force of nature subject to natural laws which resemble and partially overlap those of physics.In general, science fiction is the literature of things that might someday be possible, and fantasy is the literature of things that are inherently impossible.With magic and mythology being amongst its popular themes.It is common to see narratives described as being essentially science fiction but "with fantasy elements." such narratives being termed "science fantasy".Horror fiction is literature of the unnatural and supernatural, aimed at unsettling or frightening the reader, sometimes with graphic violence." Although not a branch of science fiction, its many works incorporates science fictional elements.Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein, is a fully-realized science fiction work , where the manufacture of the monster is given a rigorous science-fictional grounding.The works of Edgar Allan Poe also helped define the science fiction and the horror genres.Today horror is one of the most popular categories of film.Modernist works from writers like Kurt Vonnegut, Philip K.Dick, and StanisBaw Lem bordering Science Fiction and the mainstream.Have focused on speculative or existential perspectives on contemporary reality.According to Robert J.Sawyer, "Science fiction and mystery have a great deal in common.Both prize the intellectual process of puzzle solving, and both require stories to be plausible and hinge on the way things really do work." Isaac Asimov, Anthony Boucher, Walter Mosley, and other writers incorporate mystery elements in their science fiction, and vice versa.Superhero fiction is a genre characterized by beings with hyper physical or mental prowess, generally with a desire or need to help the citizens of their chosen country or world by using their powers to defeat natural or supernatural threats.Many superhero fictional characters have involved themselves (either intentionally or accidentally) with science fiction and fact, including advanced technologies, alien worlds, time travel, and interdimensional travel; but the standards of scientific plausibility are lower than with actual science fiction.Some of the best-known authors of this genre include Stan Lee, Keith R.A.DeCandido, Diane Duane, Peter David, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, George R.R.Martin, Pierce Askegren, Christopher Golden, Dean Wesley Smith, Greg Cox, Nancy Collins, C.J.Cherryh, Roger Stern, and Elliot S! Maggin.As a means of understanding the world through speculation and storytelling, science fiction has antecedents back to mythology, though precursors to science fiction as literature began to emerge from the 13th century (Ibn al-Nafis, Theologus Autodidactus) to the 17th century (the real Cyrano de Bergerac with "Voyage de la Terre à la Lune" and "Des états de la Lune et du Soleil") and the Age of Reason with the development of science itself.Voltaire's Micromégas was one of the first, together with Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels.Following the 18th century development of the novel as a literary form, in the early 19th century, Mary Shelley's books Frankenstein and The Last Man helped define the form of the science fiction novel] later Edgar Allan Poe wrote a story about a flight to the moon.More examples appeared throughout the 19th century.Then with the dawn of new technologies such as electricity, the telegraph, and new forms of powered transportation, writers like Jules Verne and H.G.Wells created a body of work that became popular across broad cross-sections of society.In the late 19th century the term "scientific romance" was used in Britain to describe much of this fiction.This produced additional offshoots, such as the 1884 novella Flatland. A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott.The term would continue to be used into the early 20th century for writers such as Olaf Stapledon.In the early 20th century, pulp magazines helped develop a new generation of mainly American SF writers, influenced by Hugo Gernsback, the founder of Amazing Stories magazine.In the late 1930s, John W.Campbell became editor of Astounding Science Fiction.A critical mass of new writers emerged in New York City.Called the Futurians, This group included Isaac Asimov, Damon Knight, Donald A.Wollheim, Frederik Pohl, James Blish and Judith Merril.Other important writers during this period included Robert A.Heinlein, Arthur C.Clarke, and A.E.Van Vogt.Campbell's tenure at Astounding is considered to be the beginning of the Golden Age of science fiction, characterized by hard SF stories celebrating scientific achievement and progress.This lasted until postwar technological advances, new magazines like Galaxy under Pohl as editor, and a new generation of writers began writing stories outside the Campbell mode.In the 1950s, the Beat generation included speculative writers like William S.Burroughs.In the 1960s and early 1970s, writers like Frank Herbert, Samuel R.Delany, Roger Zelazny, and Harlan Ellison explored new trends, ideas, and writing styles, as was a a group of writers, mainly in Britain, who became known as the New Wave.In the 1970s, writers like Larry Niven and Poul Anderson began to redefine hard SF while Ursula K.Le Guin and others pioneered soft science fiction.In the 1980s, cyberpunk authors like William Gibson turned away from the traditional optimism and support for the progress of traditional science fiction.Star Wars helped spark a new interest in space opera, focusing more on story and character than on scientific accuracy.C.J.Cherryh's detailed explorations of alien life and complex scientific challenges influenced a generation of writers.Emerging themes in the 1990s included environmental issues, the implications of the global Internet and the expanding information universe, questions about biotechnology and nanotechnology, as well as a post-Cold War interest in post-scarcity societies; Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age comprehensively explores these themes.Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan novels brought the character-driven story back into prominence.The Next Generation began a torrent of new SF shows, of which Babylon 5 was among the most highly acclaimed in the decade.There was also the television series Star Trek..A general concern about the rapid pace of technological change crystallized around the concept of the technological singularity, popularized by Vernor Vinge's novel Marooned in Realtime and then taken up by other authors.Television shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and films like The Lord of the Ring created new interest in all the speculative genres in films, television, computer games, and books.According to Alan Laughlin, the Harry Potter stories have been very popular among young readers, increasing literacy rates worldwide.While SF has provided criticism of developing and future technologies, it also produces innovation and new technology.The discussion of this topic has occurred more in literary and sociological than in scientific forums.Cinema and media theorist Vivian Sobchack examines the dialogue between science fiction film and the technological imagination.Technology does impact how artists portray their fictionalized subjects, but the fictional world gives back to science by broadening imagination.While more prevalent in the beginning years of science fiction with writers like Isaac Asimov, Robert A.Heinlein, Frank Walker and Arthur C.Clarke, new authors like Michael Crichton still find ways to make the currently impossible technologies seem so close to being realized].This has also been notably documented in the field of nanotechnology with University of Ottawa Professor José Lopez's article "Bridging the Gaps. Science Fiction in Nanotechnology." Lopez links both theoretical premises of science fiction worlds and the operation of nanotechnologies.Science fiction has brought in the primacy of technology as a culture making it otherwise called 'technoculture' which in literature describes a new proximity between the author and technology.From the computer code accompanying the text of Laurie Anderson's stories from the Nerve Bible to the metaphors of binary computer logic used by Thomas Pynchon in The Crying of Lot 49 to the full partnership of computer and authorship represented by hypertext fiction, many recent literary developments suggest a shift in paradigm linking creativity with the telecommunications machine that now facilitate- and mediate - human contact.This has also resuscitated science fiction as an experimental literary genre that has for over three decades being producing compelling dystopian visions, social allegories, and innovative variations on traditional forms of fantasy.Constituting a new and powerful engagement with technology as a social and creative force.The possibilities just as the dangers of technologies are immense.The present day technologies might be used by women and other historically disenfranchised groups as tools to embody and enforce new social relations.In Feral Lasers Gerald Vizenor's crossblood trickster technician Almost Browne harnesses first-world technology to produce holographic laser light shows that project the ghosts of the past over the landscapes of the Quidnunc reservation and urban Detroit.And Almost Browne asserts the cause of light rights in the courtroom where he is being tried for causing a public disturbance,whilst people inspired by him deploy the lasers to revise histories to hold their memories, and to create a new wilderness over the interstates.
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