Jeppe Park Primary is an independent primary school housed in a renovated shoe factory in the middle of Jeppe’s Town, Johannesburg. This little oasis in the middle of chaos and deterioration was the epicentre of the zenophobic attacks
Originally 5th Place was called on to do some work with the children affected by the attacks but as some time had passed, including a school holiday, the children had settled. It was deemed better to introduce the work to the teacher body first.
A short introductory talk on what emotions are and the need for regulation to support both physical as well as mental health was given. The teachers were then taken through an Emotional Fitness Class to down regulate one difficult emotion and up regulate a supportive one.
Matthew Green
Reducing the Certainty Deficit in high-performing people and teams · Emotional fitness coach
Matthew works with athletes, performance teams, and anyone who wants to reduce the Certainty Deficit in their situation or context.
The Certainty Deficit is the space between what you can do and what your body will let you do when it counts. It is context-specific and situational. A person or athlete can have zero deficit in one situation and a significant one in another.
The body holds beliefs that keep the Certainty Deficit in place. These beliefs run deeper than self-talk and faster than any conscious strategy. When they shift, the ceiling shifts, and new possibilities arise.
Matthew is also an emotional fitness coach who supports individuals to live and lead from a place of inner clarity and stability. The work is somatic-first, practical, and grounded.
If you're seeing a pattern that current approaches haven't shifted, let's talk.
My origin story: Why elite athletes underperform when it counts
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