Who doesn’t want to be more creative, able, and effective? And, even more so if the process 
is captivating, energizing, fluid, and serene. If you’ve experienced this, you know what it’s like to achieve flow, or what’s also known as “getting into the zone.”
But, maybe you’ve never had the fortune and pleasure. Or, perhaps you have, yet you can’t seem to intentionally get it back when you want.
Whatever your current experience, if you want to intentionally encourage flow, it’s time you learn some tricks to increase your chances of getting into the zone, and reaping the benefits of greater perspective, creativity, productivity, and ability: all with smooth seamless agility and apparent effortlessness.
What Is Flow
Wigmore defines flow for an individual as “…. working at the limits of his capabilities, envisioning steps forward almost simultaneously with taking action. The activity is intrinsically enjoyable and there is a sense of effortlessness. Satisfaction in the actions and immediate internal feedback about their success are also pleasurable…” (I. Wigmore, TechTarget, 2018).
The neurophysiology of flow is somewhat counter-intuitive. Both active and effortless, astutely aware but unattached, and focused but open. While calm, the state is definitely not relaxed. In fact, the sympathetic autonomic nervous system response (better know as fight or flight) is switched on as the person who is in the zone hovers at the outer edge of her capacities in a bodily state called eustress (A. Fogel, 2021). Another contributing factor is the inhibition of key areas of the brain allowing for a reduction in mental crosstalk and distraction (van der Linden, Tops, and Baker, 2021; and Oppland, 2016).
For some people like athletes and artists, flow is a regular intentional but intermittent aspect of their training, work process, and performance. Typically, flow lasts about 30 minutes. Though, it’s possible to sustain prolonged periods of time, maybe even hours.
But, unfortunately for the majority of people, getting into the zone is a rare euphoric yet elusive state.
What’s clear is you don’t make flow happen, but rather, you create the conditions and personal state that allow it to ignite.
A Little History of “Flow”
A University of Chicago researcher, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi coined the term flow in 1975; however, the phenomenon is likely as old as humankind. What he was interested in was the nature of the experience chess players, athletes, dancers, and other experts had when they were singularly engrossed in an activity and functioning at peak performance (S. Kotler, Time, 2014).
Finding significant similarities, he expanded his research to include a wide range of ordinary people. For example, factory line workers, farmers, elderly women, and teenagers were among them. This diverse group’s experience was similar.
He concluded, therefore, flow or being in the zone can be experienced by anyone with the right conditions. That means you too.
What It’s Like to Achieve Flow
The literature suggests some variation in the experience of flow. But, there’s significant overlap and agreement as well. In one illustrative article in Positive Psychology, the author highlighted eight characteristics of Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of flow (Oppland, 2016). There are:
8 Characteristics of flow:
- Complete concentration on the task;
- Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback;
- Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down);
- The experience is intrinsically rewarding;
- Effortlessness and ease;
- There is a balance between challenge and skills;
- Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination;
- There is a feeling of control over the task.
But, the basic question for most of us is how to create these conditions. Or, what can a person do to cultivate and ultimately achieve flow?
3 Practices Facilitate Flow and Getting Into the Zone
Taking all these characteristics together, I can readily identify three common practices that directly encourage one or more of the listed beneficial characteristics of flow. The practices are centering, grounding, and cultivating presence.
These practices are well-known to those familiar with meditation, inner-relating, embodied practices, yoga, tai chi, energy healing, and other deeply reflective practices.
Other people, such as chess players, artists, and athletes, may not be aware of them by name or the associated states of being they promote. But they still have the experience.
1. Centering
What Is Centering
Being centered can be defined as an alignment of mind, body, and spirit; calm and clarity of mind; emotional stability and security; and an ability to fix one’s attention steadily toward a central objective while maintaining an open focus.
Because a centered state implies mind-body-spirit alignment, it further supports integration across bodily systems as well as cooperation between the head, heart, and gut; the body’s three meta-processing centers. These synergies support fluidity and the merging of actions and awareness. Mental and emotional clarity means fewer distractions and self-conscious rumination. This, in turn, encourages an accurate and honest assessment of one’s abilities.
Centering to Achieve Flow
Thus, centering cultivates five of the eight characteristics of flow: one, two, three, four, and seven. (For more on centering and how to get centered, see my blog post Get Centered to Get What You Really Want.)
2. Grounding
What Is Grounding
Grounding builds energy and internal focus. There’s a lessening and, at times, even an absence of both external and internal distractions. This inspires clarity and confidence in one’s objectivity toward and ability to handle inherent challenges associated with the state of flow and creativity. Grounding also provides an anchor and a resultant sense of security and control.
Grounding to Achieve Flow
Therefore, grounding directly induces numbers one, six, seven, and eight of the characteristics of flow. In addition, its focused energy feeds and helps maintain eustress. (For more on grounding and how to get grounded, see my blog post Get Grounded to Anchor and Expand Your Potential.)
3. Cultivating Presence
What Is Presence
In ordinary terms, presence is simply attentiveness. But, it means a lot more to meditators, individuals interested in spirituality and consciousness, soul seekers, embodied practitioners, athletes, and others.
A simple single-sentence definition of presence would be woefully insufficient to capture all the meaning and nuance this group of individuals intends. Here, for simplification, we focus on its application to flow.
For example, one important aspect of presence is being in the moment. This means undistracted by, not concerned with, or focused on the past or future. In other words, being present implies timelessness, one of the eight characteristics of flow.
Another aspect is heart-centeredness. And, the guiding force of heart-centeredness is love, compassion, openness, and nonjudgment. Therefore, heart-centered actions tend to be autotelic, i.e., possess intrinsic purpose and value.
Think about it. When a person gestures the words “me,” “I,” or “myself,” she points to the center of her chest, in other words, her heart center.
Yet, when you ask someone what they want, she tends to think about it. She may even use the word think to explain feelings and wants. That’s because she thinks she knows what’s important to her or what’s her purpose. But, if she placed her attention on her heart and sensed it or listened to her gut, she’d find something quite different.
Being Present to Achieve Flow
In sum, presence directly cultivates six characteristics of flow: numbers two, three, four, five, seven, and eight.
Encouragement of Flow
These three states (centered, grounded, present) cover all the characteristics of flow. However, like flow itself, they’re dynamic and fleeting. One has to constantly attend to them.
This may seem like a great deal of effort for an uncertain outcome. But, actually, each practice facilitates the attainment of the other. Plus, often simple and quick breathing, focusing, and energy techniques are sufficient to cultivate these states of being.
More importantly, practicing centering, grounding, and/or presence contribute significantly to emotional and mental clarity, mind-body-spirit alignment, self-awareness, authenticity, and personal power. Furthermore, they collectively foster all the desirable characteristics of flow.
Therefore, each is intrinsically beneficial in its own right even if they only sometimes collectively manage to help you achieve flow or get into the zone.
For Help With Achieving Flow, See:
- Starchaser’s Mind Body Spirit Blog, and, in particular those blogs under the Transform Yourself and Energy Healing and Wellness categories.
- Closely related blogs posts:
- FREE guided meditation Relax, Ground, and Clear the Mind
