Finding Flow in Training and in Life.
“The key to happiness lies in the way one manages attention”
- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Back in 1990 when Professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced: chik·sent·mee·hai·ee) first published his seminal work titled “FLOW: The Psychology of Optimal Experience”, I don’t think he or anyone else could have fathomed just how different the world would be just 30 years later and how novel the idea of managing your attention would become.
In a relative blink of an eye, we have gone from managing attention to managing distractions as waves of dopamine-inducing stimulus bombard every sense at a practically non-stop pace. Everyone, everything, is vying for our very limited attention these days and it seems that collectively, society has embraced this new way and accepted distraction from life as the new normal.
I personally look back on my childhood in the early 90’s with such a sense of nostalgia and gratitude for the way things were. Maybe it was the fact that I was just a kid in my pre-teens but the world definitely seemed simpler. Our phone was attached to a wall, not our hand; at my house, the TV only had about 12 channels; and the internet wasn’t exactly a thing yet…I look back to my parents and grandparents’ time and often find myself envious of the even simpler life they were privileged to enjoy. It wasn’t as “easy” as we have it today but it was infinitely more simple. I know it’s the old soul in me that feels this way but I cannot help but think that although we are living in a wonderful technological age, we are missing out on a lot of what makes us human.
Prof. Csikszentmihalyi defined “Flow” as the “process of total involvement in life”. I don’t think you need me to tell you that if you are constantly checking and responding to notifications popping up on your “smart” phone, endlessly scrolling Instagram, and browsing thousands of streaming video programs, and never choosing one…your involvement in life is at best marginal.
Is it any wonder why the number of people experiencing depression, anger, anxiety, confusion, lack of belonging, and all-around feelings of detachment and dissatisfaction in life is at an all-time high…it can be traced back to a lack of Flow, a lack of internal experience that gives reason and purpose to our being. The fact is that we have collectively chosen to allow all the distractions to take us away from ourselves.
Of course, I am a coach and an optimist, so I want to tell you that hope is not lost. As Prof Csikszentmihalyi reminds us - “ Attention can be invested in innumerable ways, ways that can make life either rich or miserable”. So, as is the case with all things in life, you do have a choice.
Many people overlook the fact that one of the best opportunities to experience “Flow” on a regular basis is when they are exercising. It is one of the myriad benefits of exercise itself and why it can be so effective in combating many mental health disorders. To experience Flow in training, however, the right conditions must be present. You’re not going to experience Flow if you’re mindlessly bouncing around from machine to machine, texting or scrolling between sets, or pretending that you’re not watching the half-nude person on the elliptical while you pump up biceps. These conditions won’t bring you any more in tune with yourself than lounging on the couch eating Cheetos while you “Netflix and chill”.
To experience the wonder of Flow in your training, to make your training an opportunity to deepen the experience of being you, here are a few practical tips:
1: Recognize that you are training, practicing a skill…not working out. Get out of the weak pop-fitness mindset that encourages randomness and mindless variety. It is only another attempt at distracting you. Having even a basic plan going into your session will do wonders to keep you locked in, focused, and flowing nicely.
2: Tune out distractions. Leave your phone in the locker and if you must wear headphones to tune out the crappy gym music, try Brain FM Focus or other binaural focus beats. Music has been shown to significantly affect the way people exercise but it can also adulterate the outcomes of a training session. Music that is too aggressive, you’ll overdo it and burn yourself out; too mellow and you’ll take it easier than maybe you should have and leave improvements on the table…Leave it off, listen to your body and follow your plan.
3: Choose 1 or 2 exercises and set a timer. For example: Set a timer for 10:00 minutes, start the timer and perform 8 reps of Goblet Squats; put the kettlebell down and rest until the timer gets to 9:00, then repeat, performing your last set when the timer gets to 1:00. You can do this for 10, 20, 30 minutes or longer…the longer you go, the more Flow you will likely experience. Training on the clock will zero you in, and performing only one exercise at a time will allow you to really focus on and feel your movement through the exercise as you seek to improve from set to set. There are many ways to use timed sets, be creative but keep it simple.
4: For a time, forget about your goal. Professor Csikszentmihalyi stressed that “Flow will be uncatchable if you are preoccupied with victory and don’t enjoy the process of self-improvement” - Learning to love the process and seeking mastery is, in my opinion, the surest way to success both short and long term. Focus on improving from one training session to the next. Day by day, week by week, month by month, year after year. Incremental improvements add up to massive change over time. Obsessing over the outcome is what pop-fitness influencers and slick marketing tell you to do…Those who own their mind and live in flow, stay focused on and fall in love with the process. Remember the old saying … It's the journey, not the destination.
These are just a couple of ways to start to bring more Flow into your training and hopefully into your life.
Realizing that no matter how many distractions the world tries to throw at you, your time is your time, decide that your mind and the real estate within it is not for sale. Take ownership of your mind and the ideas you allow to take hold within it. Tuning out the noise that keeps us from internal experience is a superpower and it’s worth fighting for now more than ever.
What you may find if you follow the points above is that your training can become more meditative, you can go deeper within your movement practice and within yourself. The awareness you develop will begin to bleed over into other areas of your life and you will begin to see that so much of what is making you anxious, fearful, dissatisfied, or detached is nothing more than manufactured distractions and we don’t need them. We can live a life full of FLOW and find the contentment, joy and happiness that has been so elusive for so long.
To sum things up, I’ll leave you with one more quote from the very wise Professor C. -
“People who learn to control inner experience will be able to determine the quality of their lives, which is as close as any one of us can come to being happy”.
Stay Strong, Stay Supple.
Coach Q.
