Words Liam Gallagher Photos and Design Ari Marcopoulos Y ou know that scene in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back where Luke Skywalker makes his X-Wing fighter hover with the wave of his hand? Yoda is just getting going with Luke and his process of learning to use the “Force,” and Luke wills a massive piece of machinery up and out of some sort of swamp and gets the thing to hover there in front of him. It is the ultimate display of mind over matter. A fantasy we’ve all certainly entertained. Telekinesis is the clinical term. Or psychokinesis, in which objects are moved without applying physical force. It’s long been used in media entertainment but hasn’t been scientifically achieved. As far as we know. this new job is by far his best chance yet to test everything he’s studied throughout his career. “There is nothing more rewarding and nothing more interesting to me than trying to implement ideas in the most high-consequence envi-ronments that you could possibly imagine,” Bertram says. “Out of all the things I do, my job with these crazy talented riders is my favorite by far.” Simply put, Bertram’s job is to help these snowboarders find flow. And the thing with flow is that, when you’re in flow, certain parts of your brain are sending off an identifiable electrical signal. “You can measure the electrical activity that’s coming off the brain in pulses per second,” Bertram says. “We put an electrode on and see these pulses and depending on what the brain is doing, there’s very stereotypi-cal patterns. If we’re having a conversation and we’re paying attention to each other, there’s a good chance the brain is giving off what are called beta waves, which is about 10 to 30 pulses per second. And what we know about the brain when it’s in its highest performance state—when it’s in what we call the flow state—it’s somewhere in the neighborhood of about eight to 10 pulses per second.” So, then, say those instruments that are reading your brain are also communicating with a drone. Once you settle into eight to 10 pulses per second, the drone takes flight. Tap into flow and the proverbial X-Wing will fly. That’s what Bertram has done. It works. Shades of Yoda for sure. But there’s more sage advice from Bertram. “The flow part is sexy, right?” Bertram ask. “It’s like, ‘Oh, you get to fly a drone with your mind’ and that’s cool and all, but there’s some skills Thing is, there’s this guy I know, and he knows how to make things hov-er with just his brain. A lot like how Luke lifted that X-wing. For real. In fact, he works for the Canadian National Snowboard Team and he’s teaching them how to perform magic with their minds too. Meet Chris Bertram: flow coach. Have you heard of the idea of flow, or the flow state? Or maybe you’ve felt it. Flow can be both a feeling and a knowing. It’s a state of being. And one that can be great for pushing one’s physical, mental, maybe even spiri-tual limits. With the right set of maps, you can find flow. That’s where Chris comes in. He’s there to guide people toward that state. He’s got the maps. He’s like Yoda guiding Luke. So, does the team call him Yoda? “No,” he laughs. “But, I’ll say, out of the various jobs and titles that I have, the job title of ‘flow coach’ with Canada’s national snowboard team is by far my favorite.” Chris is, formally, Dr. Bertram. He’s an associate professor at the Uni-versity of the Fraser Valley and director of applied neuroscience at EXOS, a performance institute that helps people be the best possible versions of themselves. He’s been working in the field of skills acquisition for 25 years as a professor and researcher. “I’m studying how we get better, faster,” Bertram says. “And then ultimate-ly what I’m interested in is: How do we set up the conditions for learning and progression in such a way that those skills will show up under pressure?” Only more recently in his career did he get the gig with the Canadian national team. He’s been working with some of Canada’s best and bright-est snowboarders for about four years now. Bertram will tell you that 062 THE SNOWBOARDER’S JOURNAL
The Snowboarder's Journal The Snowboarder's Journal 20.4: Page 62
