Total Immersion: How to Recognize and Tap Into the Power of Flow
They’re moments when the rest of the world – even consciousness itself – recedes into an unperceived periphery. Seemingly outside the progression of time, detached from the bounds of physical need, you fade past existence into immersion. The self quietly falls away. You’re one with the mountain, the paint brush, the instrument, the pose, the stride, the notes, the words. If you could freeze time to capture this dasein experience, you’d witness freedom, lightness, unwitting joy.
Like Schrödinger’s cat or a faint star in the night sky, however, these moments resist direct observation. The minute we bring awareness to them, they’ve already passed. We catch them, instead, out of the corner of our eye – briefly, fleetingly, on the returning threshold of consciousness. Despite their transience, we discern their effects. We emerge changed – more content, composed.
These are flow moments of course – spells of time in which we become wholly absorbed in our endeavors. They’re sometimes called peak performances or “in the zone” moments in the athletic arena or, alternatively, samadhi in yoga and select Eastern religions. Flow happens when we let individual consciousness – or self-consciousness – slip away in a larger pursuit. We become our action, our intent, our doing. It’s a union of sorts, as the samadhi concept suggests.
We can experience it when skiing down a mountain, climbing the face of a rocky cliff, playing frisbee with the kids, rowing across a quiet lake, creating music or art, practicing yoga, or building a cabinet. We can encounter it either in an individual activity or as part of a collective group.
The father of flow research is Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a Hungarian professor and researcher. His research and analysis of flow experiences have been applied to everything from educational theory (PDF) to business management. Csikszentmihalyi’s basic premise is this: we most enjoy life when we’re presented with – or seek out – manageable but creative challenges that tap into our individual curiosities and interests – challenges that give us immediate feedback for our improvement and success. They’re enough to stimulate our biochemical triggers without setting off the whole fight or flight cascade. These constructive trials of choice and circumstance offer a stark contrast to the getting and spending, passive entertainment and personal pampering modern society often promotes as self-fulfillment. (It gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “just do it,” eh?) Csikszentmihalyi says it best: “When a person’s entire being is stretched in the full functioning of body and mind, whatever one does becomes worth doing for its own sake; living becomes its own justification. In the harmonious focusing of physical and psychic energy, life finally comes into its own. It is the full involvement of flow, rather than happiness, that makes for excellence in life.”
In short, a life marked by flow has the power of “good” stress, of healthy, nurturing challenge that feeds our sense of self-purpose as well as our self-affirmation.
In the hectic pace of modern life with its disjointed rhythms and constant interruption, our daily existence is too often defined by menial errands, tasks, and chores. It’s easy to become distanced from these flow states. In the process, I believe, we become distanced from ourselves, our experience of life in a bigger frame. When we allow ourselves to think about it, we can feel on the fringe, outside of life looking in, pining to return to the center. (Can we say life crisis?) Ennui, Csikszentmihalyi tells us, is the acute opposite of flow (a state few of us, I hope, experience). With ennui, we’re somehow left with little but the self – detached from the indivisible human context of purpose, action, community.
Although most of us probably wouldn’t put ourselves in that most discouraging category, we all can lose touch now and then with transcendence in our lives. We “forget” how to slip into these flow states. Some 20% of participants in one study reported flow experiences each day, but another 15% said they never felt them. Research suggests, however, that we can, indeed, train ourselves to get back in the groove. As Csikszentmihalyi explains, “One of the most important active ingredients here is the refinement of attention…. Training attention to come back over and over again to a complex task allows awareness to become increasingly absorbed in the task at hand.”
In one study, professional musicians who received yoga training for a summer reported less performance anxiety than control individuals. In a subsequent study, musicians who participated in an ongoing yoga program experienced less self-consciousness during performances and reported an easier time slipping into autotelic or “flow” states.
We all, I believe, have that craving for transcendence in our lives. There are days when we feel the weight of our self-consciousness as a burden. As I’ve mentioned before, we’re a curious, high maintenance, but fascinating lot of a species. A healthy life with all the wholesome trimmings – nourishing food, vigorous exercise, adequate sleep – only gets us so far. That’s why I harp on the concept of vitality as much as I do. It’s a different animal altogether, I think. There’s a major divide separating surviving versus thriving. Self-actualization, in all its myriad of forms, isn’t luxury. It’s downright obligatory. It’s instinctual. Whether we consciously prioritize it or not, we seek it out. It’s at the heart of our humanity, our evolutionary imperative. It behooved our ancestors, after all, to push themselves beyond mere subsistence living. Instinctive, adaptive curiosity was likely the mother of invention more than a preconceived notion of necessity was. How do we feed that instinct today? How do honor the need for concentration and competence? How do we lose ourselves to achieve that contentment and quiet center?
In the busyness of life, it can be hard to carve out time and focus, but perhaps our ability to experience flow depends less on separate efforts than on a mindset and organization we bring to many of those daily demands – work, hobbies, or fitness related endeavors. Flow isn’t about doing a particular thing as much as it is losing ourselves in it. The rhythm of snow shoveling (yes, even that with a little imagination), the creative inspiration of cooking, the abandon of a good hike or run, the precision or inventiveness of our work can all become fodder for flow. When we let go of the extraneous commentary in our heads, the resentment of the task at hand, the impatience with ourselves, we can bring a new engagement to the moment – and in the process perhaps be surprised.
Good readers, how do you feel flow in your life? What do you think about Csikszentmihalyi’s theory and the role of flow in a good Primal life? I’ll look forward to reading your thoughts.
Get the Primal Blueprint Fitness eBook, Free Health Tips and Primal Recipes Delivered to Your Inbox
Posted By: Mark Sisson
Inchetucknee Spings, Lake City, FL.
A spring fed river that is an attraction for people to ride tubes on, like a lazy river. Scenic, with fallen trees in the water. When I swim there I climb onto one of the fallen trunks and sit there, watching the gentle current under a clear, blue sky. Flow, just thinking about it, haha
Mark,
Funny you should write about this – I’m taking a class related to Movement and Mindfulness. Flow was one of the books we had to read and I LOVED IT! We’re doing yoga in the class as well, and it’s a great way to meditate and ground oneself in the body, as well as provide a flow experience. I find for myself that physical activity is one of the easiest ways to achieve the flow experience – it’s one of the reasons I’m so excited for my Pacific Crest Trail Thru-hike!
I love this post! How cool to see a blog discussion about flow! The flow-state is why I love climbing so much. I’m learning to find it in other activities as well these days, but climbing seems to create it easily — at least for me.
It’s such an amazing and sublime state. At he risk of sounding ridiculous, I really feel “at one” with everything when I’m in flow. Actually, I can’t even say that “I” feel that way — because in flow “I” disappears.
Your writing is marvelous. Thank you for sharing to us your experiences.
Trail running while practicing tai chai does it for me, with sometimes some zen thrown in.
Flow is a fascinating area of positive psychology research. For those interested, check out:
http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)
Happy reading! (It too is a flow activity.)
I’ll just leave this here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKizrvTeO1A
Ennui and depression go hand-in-hand.
I reached Samadhi trying to pronounce ‘Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’
Hi Mark,
I had to drop you a note to tell you how much I enjoyed this post. I’ve been reading quite a bit the last few years on this very subject. In my search for something more, I’ve learned I had “it” all along. Being present, being grateful, being mindful of even the most mundane, everyday, ordinary tasks, has allowed me to feel this flow, this energy of being grounded in the moment. I appreciate your wisdom!
It is an amazing thing when you become one with what ever you are doing. I have had the experience several times in my life. There is nothing that explains it. But it is lost when I realize what is going on and try to grasp it, it then merely becomes smoke in my hands. It has happened to me while illustrating, running, CrossFitting, during western martial arts drills, and just being in nature.
Two daft quotes:
‘Awareness, awareness, awareness’
from a Buddhist master
&
‘Relax and sink (let go)’
from a tai chi master
I definitely get it when I’m shooting the basketball around by myself. I’ll hit a bunch of jumpers in a row without realizing until all of a sudden…”damn, why can’t I do that every time?”
I have started doing bikram yoga for the past few weeks and I feel like I’m more focused.
Originality when writing creatively places me in the flow… I call it birthing… Something entirely it’s own results.
When staying calm in acceptance of how life is unfolding, I remain in the flow…
I call it peace… But more… Fulfillment
reading this post I was trying to work out where my flow had gone, I used to find it in my race car, i could just zone out and be on a different level. but when you mentioned shoveling snow I realized that lately my flow has been happening in the activities of household chores, water blasting our drive way – which i did over the course of two days, was strangely cathartic and relaxing. the same sensation happened when I cleaned out several big cupboards in the house, and reorganized. but the most common one for me these days is still behind the wheel, I don’t notice people waving I am fully aware of traffic conditions just blissfully unaware of the other people around because I get such calm fulfillment driving my little beast that I waited a good many years to purchase, and I continue to thoroughly enjoy the ride! thanks for bringing this up Mark! Im off to get my flow on!
Good god I wish I had more flow. Alas, however, I have a two-year-old interrupting whatever I’m doing and demanding my attention 24×7. Some days I feel that any flow I used to have in my life is gone forever. *sigh*
Have you considered taking a yoga class with your child?
This will pass…
Maybe you could find some time for yourself during naptime.
Will s/he sit in a jogger or stroller or backpack or bike buggy while you get some exercise? Some times of day can work better than others. Can you experiment?
As manager of a horse ranch near Seattle…at the foot of the Cascade mountains…I feel this flow daily…riding…grooming the horses…looking at the mountains, the eagles overhead…or cleaning a stall…I am both humbled and awed every day…part of the flow.
Mark, I don’t have much to add other than this was an absolute great post. I really enjoy your thoughts on subjects like this, and always look forward to reading them.
I was cleaning my room the other night, and came across a book I bought a few years ago “The power of now”. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read a book like that right now since reading a book like that demands a certain amount of mental energy that “easy” books don’t. I read the intro to get a taste, and he talked about letting go of the self.
I am taking this post as a sign that I should definitely keeping reading in that book!
Timely post man!
-Ryan Denner
Times I really connect, let go, and flow, and it’s easy:
- Mountain biking
- Road racing (cars)
- Painting
- Working on a design project w/ no distractions
- Working in the yard
Hardest time for me to ‘be here’ is when doing the mundane – dishes, shower, feeding the baby, cooking, etc. I’ve been practicing ‘being here and now’ when I take a shower, feeling the water on me, inch by inch as it cascades over me. It’s helping, as I find myself doing it more while doing other mundane chores.
I think that mental training of this sort is one of the hardest things to accomplish, especially for someone like me who’s always been prone to ADD, and who’s train of thought can resemble an octopus at times. Changing my diet has helped greatly, but it’s hard to make progress while waking up 3x a night to feed my baby girl… lack of sleep sure is a doozy.
Great post, though, thank you.
I find flow in pretty much anything; it just depends on my mood. I’m not saying I feel this way all of the time, but if I’m in the right frame of mind, even taking the Subway can be self-actualizing. I agree with the post–if I feel disconnected, all I need to do is re-focus and pay attention to the right aspects of a scenario.
I think Michael Franti’s song, Hello Bonjour, is all about flow …
“So you dance to the rhythm
bounce to the rhythm
shake to the rhythm
and you roll the rhythm
sweat to the rhythm
get wet to the rhythm
make love to the rhythm
clean up to the rhythm”
… song continues:
“when you movin’ you come alive
and when you grooving in rhythm we survive”
Ever since I read flow in 1998, I have tried actively to recognize when and how Flow happens for me. The best experiences I have had have been while engaged in drawing or painting, for though I also have the experience in meditation flow was the goal, while drawing/painting it was simply the result. I love recognizing times of flow in my life, even today while folding clothes using one arm (had shoulder surgery, and I’ve learned flow can happen just about anywhere doing anything. Though I heartily agree that hiking, biking, and such outdoor activities bring many other excellent physiological benefits along with the psychological flow.
I have been struggling with finding flow in life recently, but wanted to share a story about my husband finding a perfect moment.
A few years ago, after traveling to Colorado from Arizona via our motorcycles, on our way home we were caught in a major hail storm. He subsequently totaled his bike in the middle the San Juan mountains (read: nowhere near anything) and after hobbling his bike to a town 60 miles away we commuted two-up on my motorcycle. He sat on back, observing the coming afternoon summer storms just resting behind me. He still says to this day that was a perfect moment for him. He didn’t know where he’d sleep that night, weather we had a meal to look to or if we were going to even make it to the next town. He was just there, in the moment, one with himself and the world around him.
The closest I think I’ve ever come to finding this flow—a true zen experience—in life is sitting in the Monterrey Bay Aquarium looking at their seaweed pool. It was amazing.
Great post! Probably my favorite yet!
I often get “in the zone,” and for years I thought it was a bad thing… It wasn’t until a few years ago that I realized it was a GOOD thing! (I used to just call it “being deep in thought,” but that wasn’t exacylt it.)
Great post!
This is the beauty of the Primal Lifestyle…it’s not just about the food! Thanks, Mark, for teaching and writing on all of it!
Excellent. I wish I could get my parents and younger siblings to turn off their texting, TV, music and internet long enough for me to explain the value in focus and improvement of self. My sister will spend some time with me and she says it takes her several hours to get used to the quiet I “carry” with me. She thinks I’m mad, but really I’m just lost in thought, nature, etc. She ends up reveling in the moment once she adapts to it. But alas..she goes back home.
Really enjoyed this article. My favorite sentence– ‘let go of the…resentment of the task at hand.’ So true! When you remove the resentment, you can see anything as an opportunity to grow, learn, use your muscles. Ahhh I feel enlightened.
… playing piano – always – flow…. (after a med-rare steak is best
)
Great post Mark! I turned 54 this year and was aware of something missing in life that I used to feel. Twenty four years ago I gave up tournament chess because it did not fit under the umbrella of material sustainence, or persuit of luxury or the American dream. I started playing and studying chess again about a month ago and that emersion, that all out passion while engaged with the chess board has returned. The industrious side of my mind that has to see measurable compensation for all endevors is totally opposed to, in it’s opinion, this waste of
Valuable time. Now I don’t listen and go with the flow. (a term I had never heard of till this blog)
By the way Mark….I wonder if we are related?