27 Oct Flow triggers (Yoga in Heston & Hounslow)
In a previous post we looked at “Flow” the blissful state of consciousness in which we feel our best and perform our best. It was mentioned in that post that there are set conditions under which flow occurs.
Many of the conditions for Flow were first brought to light in Western Psychology by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. From a global study of thousands of people and their experiences of flow he identified the flowing conditions;
1/ Your mind must be focused in the present moment.
2/ Your mind must be focused on a narrow field of attention.
3/ You must have clear goals.
4/ You must get immediate feedback on whether you are achieving those goals.
5/ The activity should be stretching your abilities close to their limit.
The more of these conditions that are met the more powerful our experience of Flow.
If you meditate you have probably noticed that by practising most forms of meditation, you will be meeting most if not all of the conditions above.
Meditation primes our minds for Flow experiences. Meditation trains our minds to be fully present in the moment. It trains our minds to be able to bring all of our attention to a single point.
I have found that my meditation practice has opened the door for more and more Flow experiences. This applies whether I am having a conversation, drawing a portrait, playing a sport or a game, reading or watching a film. I have become better at the things I enjoy and happier while doing them.
I am sure if you invest as little as 10 minutes a day in meditation it may well do the same for you!
Obviously there is much more to learn about Flow. I hope the ongoing posts on this blog help wet your appetite and get you interested in this subject which for many people is the meaning of their life.
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