Can't focus on work? Hire a mind trainer

Can't focus on work? Hire a mind trainer
20 Jan 2008, 0329 hrs IST,Amrita Singh,TNN
January is usually the time for resolutions. But if you find yourself breaking them as you slip into February, don't lose heart. Try hiring a mind trainer. That's someone who would help you understand your emotions and show why you haven't been able to keep your promises. Mind trainers work on making your brain more fit so you are better equipped to excel in life and face various situations with a collected mind.

However, it's not as easy as it sounds. Training the mind involves an understanding of how your mind works, visualisation techniques and exercises for the brain — popularly called brain gym.

There are people who swear by its effectiveness. Indian cricket coach Gary Kirsten has requested the BCCI for a mental conditioning coach for the team and even recommended his own mind coach Paddy Upton for the job. Kirsten apparently believes Upton was instrumental in shaping his career by making him understand and deal with his emotions while batting.

But it's not just Team India who is getting a mental coach. As urban Indians are feeling the stress of a more competitive life, even young professionals, students and sportspersons are hiring a mind trainer to help them excel.

In the last two years, several mind training institutes like Brainobrain, Mindtrainers and Mind Gym have come up in the country. At the Delhi Police Public School's brain gym center, students are encouraged to try out exercises that help them keep their mind strong and agile. Chennai-based SIP Academy, that uses brain exercises to make children learn faster, has grown at more than 60% annually and has over 300 branches in India now. Even individual mind trainers have never had it better. N Renuka, a mind trainer based in Hyderabad, has interacted with over 150 clients in the last two years.

The current interest in mind training focusses on enhancing performance. "Broadly, all the mind trainers, irrespective of the technique they use, work on making the brain cognitively fit," says Pawan Choudhary, mind coach and author of the book When you are sinking, become a submarine. Among the most popular options for mind training is the brain gym. Sareylom Poole, one of the two instructors approved for India by the US-based Braingym International Foundation, says, "Brain exercises could help just about anyone, whether you are wanting to lose weight or learn faster or improve sales."

"Brain gym exercises increase the flow of energy between the right and left brain, which in turn increases alertness, concentration, focus and other brain functions," says Dinesh Victor, a master trainer who also happens to be cricketer Sreesanth's coach.

To start with, a private session with a gym instructor is recommended, which typically lasts one-two hours and focusses on a specific goal like increasing creativity, imagination, focus etc. At the end of the session, says Sareylom, one typically experiences what is termed as a 'balance', which means that the process of learning is complete.

Though the concept of a mind coach has been there for centuries (in the Mahabharata, for instance, Krishna turned into a mind coach for Arjun, while Napoleon is said to have employed the services of Indian hypnotist Abbe Faria, who even accompanied him to several battlefields, including the wars against Italy and England), mind training in the country is at a very nascent stage. Which is why, before you settle on a mind coach for yourself, ask for past experience and proof and only then, enroll for a mind training session.

amrita.singh@timesgroup.com