Flow is an optimal experience in which people feel deep emotions of gratitude and elation while deeply engaged in a desired activity. Dr Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a psychologist and author of the book “Flow – The Psychology of Optimal Experience” had succinctly characterized what is Flow. He studied Flow in chess players, dancers, mountain climbers, and surgeons and found a set of characteristics that were common to the Flow experience.
Guess what, I've got news for you. These are the 5 characteristics common to a Flow experience:
Complete absorption in the activity and diminished awareness of the external environment
A sense of oneness with the activity
Total immersion in the present moment and a loss of sense of time
Lost fear or anxiety – everyday worries fade as people become increasingly engrossed in the activity
Immense feelings of personal satisfaction – the activity is rewarding in itself.
Flow can be experienced when people are occupied in activities like knitting, needle work, gardening, hiking, and cooking. Based on Csikszentmihaly’s study, Sharon A Gutman of Columbia University also explained that a plausible reason is that Flow experiences results from activation of the brain's reward system and increased level of dopamine. Most pleasurable activities increase dopamine levels in the brain’s reward system and brings about benefit for our emotional wellbeing. A lot of research has already documented on how Flow is similar to meditation and that both activates the brain’s reward system. In particular the left frontal lobe of the brain which is associated with elevation in mood.
This means that not only engaging in meditation could be associated with elevation in mood, there are also other things that we can do to enjoy similar benefits from activities like meditation. For example, engaging in Flow enabling activities like knitting, gardening, hiking, amongst others. If these activities are aligned with our interest or hobbies that’s great. Otherwise, we can already try something new like a new hobby or embark on an activity that we have put off previously, until now - so we can be totally immersed in the present moment and for Flow to start. For me its writing and sharing about things that we can do that could enhance our wellbeing, developing tools like Apps that could support our wellbeing journey, or simply working on a creative adventure like a art & craft project.
The idea is to firstly do something that you enjoy, have some variety of activities so you can randomly choose or swap them around depending on your preference on any day. On some days, I would love to do one but probably less of the other, so having some variety of activities to choose from may ease our transition into and starting some Flow enabling activities going. Secondly staying in the flow may involve gradually increasing the difficulty level of the activities over time and continually realizing how your skill level has improved. Through this approach of gradual increase in activity difficulty and self-monitoring of skill level, it would help you achieve Flow with more regularity.
The choice of activity that could naturally cultivate Flow would be rather unique for you as each of our own life experience plays a special harmonic melody which over time would naturally shape our interest and how we pivot towards certain decisions.
These are some activity ideas that I have found that could promote the characteristics of Flow. Let me know how your Flow activity goes, scroll down to share your comments at the trailing edge of this page.
If you like to support Wellness Chums or cheer on our on-going efforts in sharing evidence based positive psychology research that could enhance wellbeing for you and also the society at large, do subscribe to our email mailing list by scrolling to the bottom part of this link, Subscribers will also receive complimentary latest email notifications of new Wellness Chums blog post.
Flow Activities - A Total Immersion in the Present Moment
1. Origami
This Origami Princess Youtube channel is a popular Origami resource that has easy to advanced Origami objects, cute animals and flower themed creations. Good for beginners as well as people who would like to up their Origami game.
2. Creating Music
Many have said that creative pursuits like music creation is a truly self-empowering experience, but on the other hand there are also perceptions that most of us are not adept at doing so This online platform Singing Bowls turns that perception around on its head. Simply by setting the parameters of a few slider bars, anyone can now create their own personally customised relaxation music. I have used this to produce background music sound tracks for relaxation, weekend readings or an evening walk in the park. When you feel comfortable to level up your skills, try creating other genres of music using Soundtrap by Spotify. Choose the free plan when you sign up with Soundtrap and start exploring the introductory videos which offer great starter tips for beginners. You can also invite friends to create music together with you with Soundtrap.
3. Jigsaw Puzzles
This online jigsaw puzzle website “Jigsaw Explorer” is another one that you may like to check out. It has many puzzles (mostly < 100 pieces) and varying levels of difficulty, thus suitable for everyone including children and elderly. Try setting a completion time goal for yourself and see if you can complete the jigsaw puzzle within your time goal. For increase in difficulty, choose a challenging one or set a shorter time goal. Good luck and have fun starting your Flow journey!
You may also like to explore the next Wellness Chums blog post on “Hidden Wellness Powers in Your Hands Right Now” and discover the nascent power of your music playlist for improving wellness at work.
Have a great week. 😊
Comments