Heart Breath Mind: Conquer Stress, Build Resilience, and Perform at Your Peak

by Leah Lagos

Overview

Stress is not in your head, it’s in your body—this is the key to peak performance that Leah Lagos, PsyD, BCB, an internationally known expert in biofeedback and sport and performance psychology, wants us to know. In this book, she shares with readers for the first time the same program that she uses with top athletes, CEOs, business leaders—anyone who wants and needs to perform at their best. What makes her scientifically proven 10-week program unlike any other is that she recognizes the link between heart rhythms and stress to create specific, clinically tested exercises and breathing techniques that allow you to control your body’s physical response to stress. She pairs this training with cognitive-behavioral exercises to offer a two-tiered process for strengthening health and performance, enabling readers to respond more flexibly to stressful situations, let go of negative thoughts and emotions, and ultimately be more focused and confident under pressure.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781328603524
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,017,773
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

LEAH LAGOS, Psy.D., is an internationally renowned health and performance psychologist specializing in heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback. With nearly 15 years’ experience integrating the mind and body to reduce anxiety and boost resilience, Dr. Lagos is a recognized leader in peak performance training. In addition to consulting at the annual NFL scouting combine and providing onsite support on multiple PGA tours, she works with elite performers in sports, entertainment, medicine and business—from CEOs and hedge fund managers to Olympians, surgeons, and ballerinas. A consulting expert for the media, Dr. Lagos has been featured in more than 100 outlets including the Today Show, CNN, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, Golf Digest, Sports Illustrated, Harper’s Bazaar, Psychology Today, Shape Magazine, and many more. Dr. Lagos combines biofeedback and psychological strategies to help clients achieve optimal performance in health and life. She lives and practices in New York City.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Part I Laying the Groundwork

1 The Importance of Training Your Heart 13

2 Building a Life of Resonance 23

3 How to Use This Book 32

Part II Rewiring the Stress Response

4 Week 1: Finding Your Resonance Frequency 49

5 Week 2: Using Your Breath to Increase Energy 65

6 Week 3: Letting Go of Your Stress and Expanding Your Emotional Range 84

7 Week 4: Healing the Broken Parts 103

8 Week 5: Preparing for Challenge 120

9 Week 6: Mastering the Emotional Pivot 132

10 Week 7: Cultivating Resonance Under Fire 145

11 Week 8: Imprinting the Physiology of Success 162

12 Week 9: Using Your Heart Rhythms to Strengthen Your Relationships 175

13 Week 10: Anchoring Yourself in Resonance 192

Part III Beyond 10 Weeks

14 Maintaining and Fueling Your Resonance 207

Your Week-by-Week Snapshot 219

Your HRV and Homework Tracking Notes 223

Acknowledgments 243

Notes 246

Index 262

Editorial Reviews

Dr. Leah Lagos is an extraordinary being. I’ve never known a greater empath. She feels the ripples of the human psyche with a subtlety and sensitivity that is unique in my world experience. I’ve also had the good fortune of observing up close her HRV biofeedback train­ing with elite mental performers. The vast majority have described the experience as some version of life changing, and I’ve been blown away by the immense performance benefits.” — Josh Waitzkin, author of The Art of Learning, eight-time U.S. National Chess Champion, two-time Tai Chi Push Hands World Champion, Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, and the real-life inspiration behind the film Searching for Bobby Fischer “This is a step-by-step owners manual for the human body. Lagos’s protocols will teach you how to use the tools that all humans can control — the mind and breath — to influence the parts of us that we usually can’t. Her holistic and data-driven protocols fit athletes and laymen equally well. Now get into your body and breathe.” — Scott Carney, New York Times best-selling author of What Doesn’t Kill Us “Bruce Lee said that one of life’s most important lessons is mastering how to remain calm. Whether you’re a martial artist, a CEO, or a student taking a test, being able to tap into instant calm-on-demand is one of the most important life skills. If you can control your emotions and attention, you can navigate whatever happens in life with your full range of abilities. It doesn’t take years of yoga and meditation. Dr. Lagos teaches you how to tap a powerful tool anyone can use in daily life. Her techniques should be taught to every child. It’s not too late, whatever your age, to learn them now.” — Adam Robinson, co-founder of The Princeton Review, New York Times best-selling author of Cracking the SAT, and global finance consultant “Biofeedback teaches you the tools that you need to manage your stress response. I’ve personally seen her protocol provide life-changing and lifesaving benefits for my patients.” — Dennis Goodman, M.D., clinical professor of the Department of Medicine and director of Integrative Medicine at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine   —

From the Publisher