Focus: Stress-point learning problems occur when a leaning challenge exceeds the learner’s ability. Some people shrink from stress-point learning and thus limit their achievement potential. Others self-actualize by embracing appropriate stress-point challenges. Effective learners can increase their mental attention to successfully master tasks that cause initial failure. They don’t get frustrated but actually enjoy the tension of the challenge. Ineffective learners tighten-up and lose control in these stress situations. They can’t muster the mental effort and are easily defeated by anxiety and emotional tension. Their coordination, timing, attention and self-direction fall apart. Most educators and therapists ignore or don’t know what to do about this important aspect of learning. Most learners are not conscious of their negative stress-point habits and aren’t aware that this important learning skill can be trained directly. This innovative approach includes bouncing on a small trampoline while reading letters, numbers, or sentences to improve visual perception and information processing. The trampoline is a timing device. So is the brain. Attention, information processing and performance are degraded unless timing is present, precise and predictable. In addition, the trampoline improves balance and coordination. The therapy/training is individualized for each person. Tasks are made as easy as necessary to insure initial success and motivation and then made more complex to increase mental focus and flow. Anxiety, frustration, impulsiveness, attention deficit and other learning blocks evaporate in the process. The speaker will demonstrate how to train attention and memory skill development at the stress-point.

Longer description

Tension, Attention and Intention - Stress-Point Attention and Memory Training
Improve your and your children/students /clients learning and performance under stress conditions.

This technique uses stress-point tasks such as reading letter, number, or word sequences in rhythm while bouncing on a trampoline. Trampoline bouncing is an aerobic exercise, increases blood flow in the body and brain, and also improves balance, timing, and gross coordination. Stress-Point Learning is expressive and active. It requires doing the right thing at the right time. Hidden learning and perception blocks are exposed at the stress-point. Attention deficits go away as one learns to recover their attention so quickly, completely and automatically that attention springs back even before it leaves (precovery). In this highly creative consciousness, time proceeds in slow motion and instinct guides performance so that mind absorbs more and can recall, process and act with ease at unusually rapid rates. People at every age and level of education can benefit. This includes average achievers, high performing students, athletes, actors, musicians, as well as individuals with developmental lags, learning and reading disabilities, emotional problems and brain trauma. Lasting changes in the chemistry and physiology of attention take place deep in the brain. The result is increased ability to handle life’s learning challenges with greater mental focus, clarity and ease.

Here’s how it works. At first, the exercises are simple and the client is coached to master them at very high levels of competence. Then the tasks are made more and more complex. Finding the right degree of challenge is the key to successful training. Task difficulty must match attention and performance skills. Tasks that are too easy are boring and lead to decreased alertness, sluggish thinking, and short attention span. Overly difficult tasks overwhelm the student and result in loss of control, loss of meaning, and anxiety, anger, frustration, and impulsiveness. Appropriate tasks, in which the task seems doable but first attempts bring failure and then success after several tries. The effort to succeed motivates stronger attention and results in pleasure of learning and a desire for more. This we call stress-point learning. The result: great increases in self-confidence, information processing, and decision-making, as well as the ability bring one’s self to states of effortless and flowing learning.

The following task demonstrates the essence of this approach. Try it. Clap your hands in a steady tempo, at about one or two claps per second. Can you keep the beat? If not, use a metronome or a helper to clap with you. If you bounce on a trampoline for this exercise, clap at the bottom of each bounce. When you can sustain a steady clap rhythm, read these numbers out loud in time with your claps.


7 4 3 9 5 6 2 9 4 7 2 3 8 6 1 4


Find the optimal exercise by starting easy and adding complexity until you reach your stress-point. If you don't achieve sustained improvement after a few attempts, try using less numbers or slowing the pace by putting an extra clap between numbers. There are many ways to increase the demand for greater attention: faster tempo; read in reverse order; increase task length by going forwards and backwards three times in a row without stopping; say only the even but not the odd numbers (clap but keep silent on the odd numbers); add or subtract one (or two or three) to/from every number or just to even numbers; sum the numbers as you go; or alternate saying the number on every other beat and the letters of the alphabet in between. As attention skills are honed, learning blocks (stress-point patterns) become obvious. Repeated patterns of omissions, reversals, wrong numbers, distracting thoughts such as "This is too easy" or "I can’t do it, post-failure failure (making a mistake causes subsequent failure), poor attention recovery (can’t save yourself in action), false starts or mistakes just at the end are examples. A major goal is to learn how to recover (regain attention quickly) to avert mistakes. When your mind wonders, can you recover your attention and keep going or do you fall apart? Can you catch your errors or must someone tell you? As you discover your stress point behaviors you will learn to self-direct more effective powers of learning and attention.

Course Description
1. What will the presenter cover?
The workshop will show how to recognize learning blocks and train mental attention during stress-point learning.
2. What is the goal?
To provide a solid, practical understanding of the principles, techniques and strategies for creating positive stress-point learning behaviors that increase attention and memory abilities for all tasks.
3. How will this be accomplished?
Students will observe and participate in in-depth demonstrations of the approach. 4. Is there written material to reinforce the workshop?
The presenter has written a book, Attention and Memory Training for Children. This book explains the approach in detail and includes step-by-step procedures and charts.

Statement of Objectives
1. How to create learning tasks that reveal stress-point learning blocks.
2. How to train attention and memory skills by developing positive stress-point behaviors.
2. How to apply the approach to specific learning/attention problems.
4. How to observe and measure progress.

Attendee description
Anyone interested in attaining or teaching high optimal learning states of consciousness.

Prerequisites
None

Claim of the course
1. Learning skills of people at every age, developmental level and physical condition can improve their learning using this approach.
2. Emotional, cognitive, perceptual and physical learning abilities improve.
3. The learning approach makes intuitive sense and is fun.

Course outline
1. Find the stress-point:
Start with easy tasks and add complexity until learning falters and mistakes are made.
2. Observe learning blocks.
Learn how to look for positive and negative changes in attention, coordination and emotions, caused by initial failure.
3. Use learning strengths to eliminate learning weaknesses.
Learn step-by-step techniques and the art of coaching the student to achieve highly effective learning states.
4. Look for mastery at each stage of learning
Five questions: Can I do it; can I do it well, can I do it well for a long time, every time; can I accept change (apply it in new situations); can I be creative in the process?
5. Practical applications
How to use the technique for learning and memorizing specific information.