1. Collaborators in Research on Peak Performance  Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, Iowa, USA  Oslo University College, Oslo, Norway  The National Olympic Training Center in Norway  The Norwegian University for Sports Sciences  Mr. Tor Dahl, former CEO of Manpower Europe and Manpower, Nordic Region

2. World Class Athletes  N=33: Placing amongst top ten in Olympic Games, World Championships, or similar for at least three seasons (Most had gold medals).  N=33: Athletes performing on average level in Norway.  N=33: Placing amongst top ten in Olympic Games, World Championships, or similar for at least three seasons (Most had gold medals).  N=33: Athletes performing on average level in Norway.

3. Higher Brain Integration in World-class Athletes

4. Travis et al, 2007 Brain Integration Scale (Frontal Coherence, Alpha/Gamma Power Ratio, and Brain Preparatory Response) Brain Integration Scale (Frontal Coherence, Alpha/Gamma Power Ratio, and Brain Preparatory Response)

5. Undivided Focus – "the Tunnel"  World-class Athletes habituated more rapidly to the loud tone than the comparison athletes – more able to quickly return and maintain their focus on the factors that were essential for successful performance  This could explain the frequently described experience of the tunnel, which is often related to peak performance.  World-class Athletes habituated more rapidly to the loud tone than the comparison athletes – more able to quickly return and maintain their focus on the factors that were essential for successful performance  This could explain the frequently described experience of the tunnel, which is often related to peak performance.

9. Conclusion  Knowledge (and performance) is structured in consciousness.  Normally self-development is rare after 20 years of age – the world-class performers must have been born with a more mature level of development.  Transcendental Meditation develops the Self and is therefore a practical means to naturally develop world-class performance.

10. Proposed Research Project Longitudinal, randomised research project on promising athletes studying the effect of: Group 1: Structured sportGroup 1: Structured sport Group 2: Structured sport and Transcendental MeditationGroup 2: Structured sport and Transcendental Meditation on higher development, brain integration, and athletic performance Longitudinal, randomised research project on promising athletes studying the effect of: Group 1: Structured sportGroup 1: Structured sport Group 2: Structured sport and Transcendental MeditationGroup 2: Structured sport and Transcendental Meditation on higher development, brain integration, and athletic performance

11. Transcendental Meditation www.t-m.org.uk Charles Cunningham chcunningham@blueyonder.co.uk 020 8894 9229 07852 279176 www.t-m.org.uk Charles Cunningham chcunningham@blueyonder.co.uk 020 8894 9229 07852 279176

12. Transcendental Consciousness “I have quite a lot of times experienced a state where I am completely inside myself and everything else disappears. This is a form of relaxation …. And there is nothing that can touch me. It feels very good. It is not that those periods are so very long. But it is beautiful to have them, once a week or once a day. Just sit down and feel that now it is only me that matters” — Heidi Tjugum World-class handball goal keeper “I have quite a lot of times experienced a state where I am completely inside myself and everything else disappears. This is a form of relaxation …. And there is nothing that can touch me. It feels very good. It is not that those periods are so very long. But it is beautiful to have them, once a week or once a day. Just sit down and feel that now it is only me that matters” — Heidi Tjugum World-class handball goal keeper

13. Higher States of Consciousness  In higher states of consciousness, the restful and expanded wakefulness of transcendental consciousness is integrated with active life  This experience is typically temporary in the beginning and becomes more and more permanent with further development  In higher states of consciousness, the restful and expanded wakefulness of transcendental consciousness is integrated with active life  This experience is typically temporary in the beginning and becomes more and more permanent with further development

14. Billie Jean King  “It almost seems as though I’m able to transport myself beyond the turmoil on the court to some place of total peace and calm. Perfect shots extend into perfect matches … I appreciate what my opponent is doing in a detached abstract way. Like an observer in the next room … It is a perfect combination of [intense] action taking place in an atmosphere of total tranquillity. When it happens, I want to stop the match and grab the microphone and shout that’s what it’s all about, because it is. It is not the big prize I‘m going to win at the end of the match or anything else …

15. Billie Jean King  On my very best days I have this fantastic … feeling of invincibility … When I’m in that kind of state … I feel that tennis is an art form that’s capable of moving both the players and the audience … When I’m performing at my absolute best, I think that some of the euphoria that I feel must be transmitted to the audience

16. Bjørnar Valstad  “I feel quite safe in some way … And all the things I’m doing are in some way just sitting in the background. Mentally, in orienteering we have map-reading but it’s going automatic... When I’m in this mode, there are no negative thoughts. It’s like sitting in a car with an automatic pilot and just sitting watching. I notice something happen in front of me and I need to do something and then back again, and you just sit there. When [in] the race, this is quite simple. It’s the way getting to know how to practice this, which is most difficult.” – Bjørnar Valstad, World-class Orienteer

17. Pelé: Greatest soccer player  “Suddenly I felt a strange calmness I hadn’t experienced in any of the other games. It was a type of euphoria; I felt I could run all day without tiring, and I could dribble through any of their team or all of them, that I could almost pass through them physically. I felt I could not be hurt. It was a very strange feeling and one I had never felt before. Perhaps it was merely confidence, but I have felt confident many times without that strange feeling of invincibility.”

18. Roger Bannister (first mile under 4 mins)  “I had reached my peak physically and psychologically. There would never be another day like it … The gun fired … Brasher went into the lead and I slipped in effortlessly behind him, feeling tremendously full of running. My legs seemed to meet no resistance at all … We seemed to be going so slowly … I was relaxing so much that my mind seemed almost detached from my body. My mind took over. It raced well ahead of my body and drew my body compellingly forward. I felt that the moment of a lifetime had come. The world seemed to stand still, or did not exist... I felt at that moment that it was my chance to do one thing supremely well … I knew I had done it before I even heard the time.”