A few years ago, I became interested in “flow” or what some call “being in the zone.” Not just during singular activities like sports, hobbies, reading, or gaming, but as a perpetual conscious awareness where every moment is connected to the next in a limitless, compassionate, flowing wholeness. Where human life circumstances flow positively ALL THE TIME and one’s existence is lived almost supernatural as a mystical creator, benevolent force, and omniscient (all-knowing) flowing reality.

Quantum theorist, David Bohm, reflects on this when he wrote, “Understanding the nature of reality and consciousness… as a coherent whole… and an unending process of movement and unfoldment… is an undivided process of flow.” He goes on to talk about the problem of “one who thinks – the ego in principle, is considered completely separate from and independent of the reality he thinks about… thus there is a fragmentation of consciousness… treating things as divided, disconnected, and broken up into yet smaller parts… each part considered to be essentially independent and self-existent.”

Universe of unbroken wholeness is what Bohm calls, the implicate or enfolded order, whereas space and time are no longer the dominant factors of reality.

This requires us to shift our thinking into a “single and coherent, unbroken flowing actuality of existence as a whole” by considering our worldview and cosmology as a related whole. He says by shifting our thinking, “the mind will tend to move in a similar way, and from this will flow an orderly action within the whole.”

Another perspective on flowing wholeness is captured in the following quote by Sue Jackson, author and sports psychologist who has written about flow in sports.

Once the keys to flow are understood, the opportunity to develop one’s whole life according to flow principles begins to emerge. At that point, it becomes possible to transform the entirety of life from a stressful and chaotic chase into something resembling an enjoyable dance. ~ Sue Jackson

Enjoyment and optimal experiences are considered necessary for flow to occur, according to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, positive psychologist, author of 15 books including the book Flow and over 120 articles or book chapters on the subject. His research has shown that moments of enjoyment relax the body/mind complex to temporarily let go of stressors, constrictions, and blocks that would stop flow.

So what are the keys to flow? How does one embody the keys? And how does one simply, “BE” flow?

The Nine Concepts of Flow
Mihaly has identified nine concepts that show up consistently in the research studies regarding flow. They are:

1. Challenge / skills balance
2. Action – awareness merging
3. Clear goals
4. Unambiguous feedback
5. Concentration on the task at hand
6. Sense of control
7. Loss of self-confidence
8. Transformation of time (live in a timeless moment)
9. Autotelic experience (The memory of flow experiences becomes a beacon.)

Challenge/skill balance
Many studies have shown when there is high perceived challenge along with high perceived skill in meeting the challenge, circumstances are right for flow to occur. Whether it is playing an instrument, mastering a sport, learning a new language, mastering artistic expression, all of these are ideal activities for moving into flow. “Holding a state of consciousness of being on the cutting edge of attaining the challenge, but always improving your skill level, is one secret for moving into flow.” Many of the masters (great pianists, professional athletes, spiritual adepts, etc.) continuously reach for high challenges, which is one reason why they are always evolving to higher and higher levels of performance.

Action/awareness merging
This is what I call “getting lost in the activity.” Some call its mindfulness, total absorption, becoming the action, becoming one with the activity. It is where effortlessness, spontaneity, and automaticity reside. A good friend of mine named Pamela, recently shared a story in our group teleconference about this. She was on a canoe trip with a bunch of friends. They were all on the shore having lunch when someone noticed one of the canoes had gotten loose and was floating down the river. Pamela jumped up, leaped into a canoe, speedily paddled to finally catch up with the loose canoe, straddled her left leg into the loose canoe holding it to hers, and brought both canoes back to the shore. Everyone was amazed! She admitted she didn’t think about what to do, she just acted. Sounds like she was in flow.

This transcending normal awareness is really what flowing wholeness is about. It is being completely aware of moment-to-moment life experience; awareness of the rhythm of your breathing, the pulse of your heartbeat, the flow of energy through and around your physical and energetic bodies; and awareness of the whole.

Clear goals
You may be surprised at this one. I know I was. You see, clear goals help you move into flow because they provide focus, direction, and clarity of purpose on a moment-to-moment basis. When I am trying to master a song on the piano, I set goals to learn and memorize small sections of the piece until I can play it with my eyes closed. Then I move on to the next section. This goal keeps me focused and purposeful in my practice, allows me to master each component, provides immediate feedback, and reveals moment-to-moment awareness.

Flow is found by listening to your inner voice, which can tell you what your true interests are: by developing the skills necessary to become immersed in a challenging activity; by learning to focus on concrete goals and on subtle feedback… Once the goal is clear, the path to its attainment also becomes clearer. If the goal is to achieve an optimal experience, knowing what you are trying to achieve is critical and will start you on the journey. ~ SJ

Unambiguous feedback
If you know how you are doing during active engagement of an activity, you don’t have to stop and think or analyze it. Clear information (can be negative as well as positive) enables you to make immediate adjustments in real-time, allowing you to stay in flow.

Total concentration
Similar to the action-awareness concept, total concentration is when there are no distractions or extraneous thoughts. You are fully present and focused.

When the experience is so intense that it requires every bit of attention, the person can no longer process information even about his or her existence. She loses her sense of identity, like an automaton proceeding in a trance. In such moments flow resembles those state of ecstasy that religious disciplines reach trough ritual, prayers, or meditation. For instance, the floating sensation described by athletes is reminiscent of the concept of yu, which the Chinese Taoists prescribed as the “right way to live.” Yu has been translated to mean “floating,” “flowing,” or “walking without touching the ground.” At such levels of intensity, concentration is not only effortless but it also achieves a pure, spiritual dimension beyond the body whose efforts made it possible in the first place. ~ SJ

Sense of control
This is really a perception of control because absolute control is a myth. It is feeling empowered and confident in meeting the challenges at hand.

Loss of self-consciousness
One is not concerned with what others think about them or concerned with judging them-self when in flow. It is simply letting go of judgment from self and others, prior to entering the flow state-of-consciousness. No longer worrying about what other’s think of you is freedom from self-consciousness allowing awareness of simply “being flow.”

Transformation of time
When in flow, one forgets about time. Only after one returns to normal, everyday consciousness does one realize the perceived time seemed to have slowed, stopped, or even accelerated during the activity. This typically occurs in deep concentration and when the flow state is very deep.

Autotelic experience
This has been described as the “end result of the other eight dimensions,” is a defining motivation to keep pushing towards higher challenges, is intrinsically rewarding, and is usually not realized until one later reflects on the flow experience.
Entering the flow state-of-consciousness occurs in sports, artistic endeavors, careers, and even common activities like driving a car.

One learns to experience flow by getting involved in activities that are more suited to provide it, namely mental work and active leisure… the point is to be happy while doing things that stretch our skills, help us grow, and fulfill our potential. ~ Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Conclusion
Each of us can train the body and mind to enter flow. One can apply it to virtually any activity in life. So set goals just above one’s current level of performance and make them specific and task-focused to give direction to the action. Write them down and then visualize the performance, focusing on key elements like viewing a movie on a video screen. Visualize the end result while holding the “feeling state” or how you envision it will feel to accomplish your goal.

Remember to make your goals concrete and rehearse them well, which will allow you to act on them automatically. And practice, practice, practice until conscious effort becomes superconscious.

Enjoy the flow. JP

Note: Artwork by Daniel B. Holeman