One interesting point to note is that Arthurian legend, in its popular retelling, tends to show Arthur as "the chosen one", which is why he was able to pull out the sword.
The original stories tend to show that Arthur was worthy to become king because he understood he needed to apply the right amount of force, rather than trying to "overpower" it.
I don't think I would have understood the reference without having being told this recently; it is a trial that requires to be fully concentrated on sensing how the stone reacts to the moves.
I'm not sure which part of Arthurian legend your mentioning as original here, because Arthurian legends are... A rather deep well with no real canon as such. In the oldest versions, there is no sword in the stone, for example [0].
Along that line, Lancelot, who everyone knows, was a self-insert fanfic at one point. [1]
OK that’s neat but boils down to “here’s a cool game”. I was expecting a double blind study that measures some concentration metric vs a placebo intervention.
I'm sure they intend to do something like that, but unfortunately time/funding is probably getting in the way. Making an app like that is not exactly cheap. You need either the right combination of skills or a lot of trial an error, which is either high rate times short time, or low rate times long time. So they probably released this intermediate work to try to gin up some interest to get more funding.
Good luck to them. Never really worked out that way for me in my efforts.
One simple but effective technique is to practice the above three stages by focusing at a point where the eyebrows meet the bridge of the nose. Do this completely relaxed with eyes closed and adjusting the focal point slightly forwards/backwards until you feel a sudden relaxation/jolt (slight but distinct) within the body. Its like a physiological trick but once experienced you will know it and can then use it to calm down and concentrate whenever and wherever as needed.
I realize that this is ancient cultural knowledge, and what I'm going to say is very crude and sounds utterly stupid. But I stumbled upon a similar technique wherein I close my eyes and remember my best bowling game ever. That is, a moment which lasted 15 minutes that took place 20 years ago when my body and mind did exactly what I wanted in sync with each other, and performed almost as perfectly together as they ever have. Closing my eyes and re-living it for a few seconds gives me an endorphin rush and releases seratonin that I can feel elevating my mood almost immediately. I only honed in on this one experience in a bowling alley as my escape after years of trying to replicate various high feelings with drugs. Somehow, finding it has become a natural way to re-frame my mind in almost any situation. Although I'm afraid of over-using it, because the chemical effect is pretty powerful.
To anyone searching for something like this, I'd recommend thinking of a peak moment in your life - it could be something totally unexpected, like bowling (and listen: I'm not much of a bowler!) Just a moment when everything worked perfectly and you couldn't make a mistake. And try to re-live that moment behind your eyes.
One time when I was playing Rez¹ my consciousness seemed to split. There was the me playing the game, and then there was the me observing the me playing, spectating my own gameplay. By the time I had reached that point, gameplay seemed almost automatic. The enemies seemed to practically fly into my reticle, to be shot down immediately upon appearing. I realized I was somehow blocking my conscious focus from commenting on how I'm playing and offering corrections, leaving my unconscious free to actually do the work of targeting and shooting, as well as my conscious mind free to sit back and enjoy the ride. It was an unprecedented experience of total concentration on a task.
A further mindblow occurred when I realized that this is a thematic element in the game. In the upper left corner of the screen is a "system log" that describes what you're doing and names the things you're shooting down, that can be said to represent the mind's "narrator". But you almost never look at it because you're more concerned with what's happening on the screen. Steering your attention to the log means you'll lose focus on the actual gameplay.
Rez is like that. It's almost a metacommentary on the experience of playing it, and experience in general, sometimes. Everyone should play it.
You might find the book The Body Has a Mind of Its Own : How Body Maps in Your Brain Help You Do (Almost) Everything Better by Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee very relevant here.
Oh neat, I do exactly this and thought it was just another instance of neurodivergent self-soothing behaviour. Turns out I’m just practicing my yoga ;)
Yoga is not something magical but merely a empirical discipline with an accompanying metaphysics developed over a long period of time within a cultural context. Tease out the essentials from the cultural context and you have a practical discipline relevant for everybody today.
For example, Patanjala Ashtanga Yoga gives an all-encompassing framework to learn to focus/concentrate and if needed, experience a distinct supra-normal mental state (i.e. Samadhi). But the last is not necessary and you could use the framework to do and feel better in the everyday activities of life.
Here is how to do it;
1) Yama - We are embedded in an environment which influences us. Thus we have to practice restraints w.r.t. the environment to settle on a equilibrium state where we can have some control over how we react to external factors.
2) Niyama - We are active living beings with certain essential everyday needs. These need to be automated away using personal discipline so that we don't have to think and waste precious mental energy on them.
3) Asana - Because "we" are housed in a material Body we need to take care of and maintain the body so that it is healthy, strong and free of diseases leaving us free to work on our mental aspects.
4) Pranayama - The Body and the Mind are linked through the Breath. Hence to control the Mind one needs to learn to control the Breath first.
The above are the four "external" aspects, the four "internal" aspects follow;
5) Pratyahara - In order to focus and concentrate on one thing we first need to "withdraw" our Mind from other things and this is the practice of such withdrawal.
6) Dharana - Now we focus on one thing; it will be momentary at first but with repeated practice becomes easier.
7) Dhyana - Now we hold our attention for long periods of time on one thing. This is commonly known as Concentration/Contemplation. For all normal everyday activities we can stop at this stage.
8) Samadhi - This is the state where the distinction between subject and object does not exist and the individual has "dissolved himself" (called "Laya" in Sanskrit). A good common example is when people laugh and cry (literally) with the protagonist when watching a emotional movie. The key here is to be completely permeated by the experience itself with no other thought/emotion/feeling (Classic example - Orgasm). In modern psychology this can be approximated by the "Flow State" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
As you can see, the framework given by Ashtanga Yoga is eminently practical.
Nothing magical; just front and back of the midpoint between the eyebrows until you settle on a point where you get the sensation. That is why i called it a "physiological trick".
It is very simple, don't overthink it. Go to a quiet place with no distractions, let go of everything mentally and physically, be totally relaxed, don't think of anything (i.e. Pratyahara) but just try to focus on a point within the blackness (i.e. Dharana) and hold your attention there (i.e. Dhyana) when you feel a distinct bodily sensation.
Try and do this before falling asleep in your bed at night and your quality of sleep will improve greatly. You can also do this just after you wake up in the morning in your bed (but before looking at your phone, talking to your spouse etc.) and you will feel more refreshed than normal.
Once you get the trick you can actually use a home blood pressure monitor and see the changes in physiological parameters yourself.
A bit tangent but for me the biggest improvement in concentration I ever experienced came with nutritional ketosis. I can easily enter a flow state and work on the same problem for hours without any effort since I've been fat adapted. It's amazing.
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I don't think I would have understood the reference without having being told this recently; it is a trial that requires to be fully concentrated on sensing how the stone reacts to the moves.
Along that line, Lancelot, who everyone knows, was a self-insert fanfic at one point. [1]
[0] L'Estoire des Engles
[1] Lancelot, le Chevalier de la charrette
Good luck to them. Never really worked out that way for me in my efforts.
One simple but effective technique is to practice the above three stages by focusing at a point where the eyebrows meet the bridge of the nose. Do this completely relaxed with eyes closed and adjusting the focal point slightly forwards/backwards until you feel a sudden relaxation/jolt (slight but distinct) within the body. Its like a physiological trick but once experienced you will know it and can then use it to calm down and concentrate whenever and wherever as needed.
To anyone searching for something like this, I'd recommend thinking of a peak moment in your life - it could be something totally unexpected, like bowling (and listen: I'm not much of a bowler!) Just a moment when everything worked perfectly and you couldn't make a mistake. And try to re-live that moment behind your eyes.
Sounds totally cheesy and ridiculous, I know.
A further mindblow occurred when I realized that this is a thematic element in the game. In the upper left corner of the screen is a "system log" that describes what you're doing and names the things you're shooting down, that can be said to represent the mind's "narrator". But you almost never look at it because you're more concerned with what's happening on the screen. Steering your attention to the log means you'll lose focus on the actual gameplay.
Rez is like that. It's almost a metacommentary on the experience of playing it, and experience in general, sometimes. Everyone should play it.
¹ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rez_(video_game)
For example, Patanjala Ashtanga Yoga gives an all-encompassing framework to learn to focus/concentrate and if needed, experience a distinct supra-normal mental state (i.e. Samadhi). But the last is not necessary and you could use the framework to do and feel better in the everyday activities of life.
Here is how to do it;
1) Yama - We are embedded in an environment which influences us. Thus we have to practice restraints w.r.t. the environment to settle on a equilibrium state where we can have some control over how we react to external factors.
2) Niyama - We are active living beings with certain essential everyday needs. These need to be automated away using personal discipline so that we don't have to think and waste precious mental energy on them.
3) Asana - Because "we" are housed in a material Body we need to take care of and maintain the body so that it is healthy, strong and free of diseases leaving us free to work on our mental aspects.
4) Pranayama - The Body and the Mind are linked through the Breath. Hence to control the Mind one needs to learn to control the Breath first.
The above are the four "external" aspects, the four "internal" aspects follow;
5) Pratyahara - In order to focus and concentrate on one thing we first need to "withdraw" our Mind from other things and this is the practice of such withdrawal.
6) Dharana - Now we focus on one thing; it will be momentary at first but with repeated practice becomes easier.
7) Dhyana - Now we hold our attention for long periods of time on one thing. This is commonly known as Concentration/Contemplation. For all normal everyday activities we can stop at this stage.
8) Samadhi - This is the state where the distinction between subject and object does not exist and the individual has "dissolved himself" (called "Laya" in Sanskrit). A good common example is when people laugh and cry (literally) with the protagonist when watching a emotional movie. The key here is to be completely permeated by the experience itself with no other thought/emotion/feeling (Classic example - Orgasm). In modern psychology this can be approximated by the "Flow State" - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
As you can see, the framework given by Ashtanga Yoga is eminently practical.
Try and do this before falling asleep in your bed at night and your quality of sleep will improve greatly. You can also do this just after you wake up in the morning in your bed (but before looking at your phone, talking to your spouse etc.) and you will feel more refreshed than normal.
Once you get the trick you can actually use a home blood pressure monitor and see the changes in physiological parameters yourself.
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Seiken Densetsu 1 was released in the US as Final Fantasy Adventure.
Seiken Densetsu 2 is Secret of Mana.
Seiken Densetsu 3 was fan-translated in the early 2000s and later released officially as Trials of Mana, with a 3D remake for the Switch.
So this is neurofeedback. But is it any better than existing neurofeedback which already makes use of computer games?