20 Mar “Flow” and “The Zone”
FLOW/THE ZONE
In a previous blog it was mentioned briefly that athletes and artists sometimes experience what in sports is often referred to as “The Zone”. It is also known as “Flow” in positive psychology. This blog post aims to cover Flow/The Zone in more detail. A big thanks to Wikipedia which provided the content of this post.
Flow/The Zone is a mental state in we are performing an activity fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. Flow is characterized by complete absorption in what we are doing. The Psychologist Mih ly Cs¡kszentmih lyi gave the concept it’s name and it has been widely referenced across a variety of fields, though “Flow” has existed for thousands of years in eastern religions.
According to Csikszentmihalyi, flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents perhaps the ultimate experience in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channelled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand. The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task although flow is also described as a deep focus on nothing but the activity ? not even oneself or one’s emotions.
THE FLOW EXPERIENCE
Cs¡kszentmih lyi identifies several factors we experience during flow.
1) We experience a loss of Self
2) We experience intense and focused concentration on the present moment
3) There is a merging of action and awareness
4) Our experience of time is altered
HISTORY
Flow has been experienced throughout history and across cultures. The teachings of Buddhism and of Taoism speak of a state of mind known as the “action of inaction” or “doing without doing” (wu wei in Taoism) that greatly resembles the idea of flow. Also, Hindu texts on Advaita philosophy such as Ashtavakra Gita and the Yoga of Knowledge such as Bhagavad-Gita refer to a similar state.
Historical sources hint that Michelangelo may have painted the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel while in a flow state. It is reported that he painted for days at a time, and he was so absorbed in his work that he did not even stop for food or sleep until he reached the point of passing out. After this, he would wake up refreshed and, upon starting to paint again, re-enter a state of complete absorption.
Bruce Lee either spoke of a psychological state similar to flow or spoke about the importance of adaptability and shedding preconceptions in his book the Tao of Jeet Kune Do. In his book, he compares the state of flow to water where he so famously says, ?Be like water …Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.”
APPLICATION
Cs¡kszentmih lyi in his book on “Flow” encourages to organise the way we do things in order to make it more likely that we experience “Flow”. He gives three conditions that have to be met to achieve a flow state:
1) We must be involved in an activity with a clear set of goals and progress. This adds direction and structure to the task.
2) The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback. This helps us negotiate any changing demands and allows us to adjust our performance to maintain the flow state.
3) We must have a good balance between the perceived challenges of the task at hand and our own perceived skills. We must have confidence in our ability to complete the task at hand.
With practice we can bring about a state of Flow more frequently and be happier and perform to our highest ability.
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