The Benefits of Introducing “Flow” into Workouts, and into Life

We often times hear athletes reference being “in the zone” when recalling some of their better performances on the playing field. Being “in the zone” has become a common explanation for extremely high-level performances in sports, training, and business. But what “the zone” is exactly has been hard to pinpoint. Even more elusive has been figuring out how one gets in it.

What is Flow?

In the field of Sports Psychology, the “zone” is synonymous with the term “flow” coined by world-renowned psychologist Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. “Flow” can be defined as a heightened state of consciousness in which one is completely focused on and absorbed in what one is doing to the point where mind and body seem to function in perfect harmony without conscious effort. As sports psychologist and former USOC committee chair Dr. Shane Murphy notes, this effortless yet completely focused and exceptional performance often leads to a blissful enjoyment of the activity. One of the best basketball players of all time, Boston Celtic legend Bill Russell, once described flow as beyond physical or mental into a magical state of bliss where pain would disappear and performance would be maximized.

It is our belief at Mindful Muscle that flow can also become an integral aspect of one’s strength training. Perhaps you can recall a moment of ecstasy during your own workout when bench-pressing a personal best. Or maybe during a run you felt you could continue going forever without the usual pain you normally experience. It was “flow” you were experiencing in those moments. Imagine being able to recreate that level of performance and connection in every workout.

Increasing the Chances of Experiencing Flow?

At Mindful Muscle we are working towards developing a process to help increase the likelihood of flow occurring during workouts and life. One obstacle to achieving that goal, however, is the consensus among researchers that “flow” seems to occur with some degree of grace. In other words, one does not induce flow, but flow seems to induce itself. Bill Russell noted that these moments of flow were spontaneous and often times “fragile.” In other words, being able to fully induce flow on command seems unlikely.

But increasing the chances of one getting into a state of flow seems very possible. Many successful athletes seem to be able to experience flow more than others. Through the research and observations of Czikszentmihalyi and many other sports psychologists we now can start to elucidate some key qualities associated with flow.

12 Qualities of Flow

From our research thus far on scientific studies, case studies, and other athlete and researcher descriptions, we have found several nearly universal qualities of the state of flow and of the experiencer at the time of flow. We have found twelve in particular. It should be noted that you don’t need every quality to be in “flow,” these are just observations we have noticed from people’s recorded experiences.

1. Mentally relaxed/clear mind
2. Physically relaxed despite being in action
3. Positive thinking
4. Focus on the present moment/the NOW
5. High energy
6. Heightened awareness
7. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi’s labeled paradox of control (feeling in control while action seems automatic)
8. Mind-body connection
9. Feeling of effortlessness
10. Feeling of ecstasy
11. Detachment from the outcome
12. Connection to higher energy and possibly to others around

While several of these qualities such as the feeling of effortlessness, ecstasy, paradox of control, and the high energy of the state seem to be qualities that come as a result of entering flow, many of them can be cultivated. A clear/relaxed mind can be developed through a consistent, daily meditation practice. This can just be simple breathing meditation (described below). Meditation also can help one focus more on the present moment with an increased awareness of body, mind, and surroundings. Body Scan meditation can help physically relax the body as well as increase the mind-body connection. Maybe the most important of these qualities is positive thinking. Positive thinking can be cultivated by consciously making an effort to rid our mind of the negativity that often surrounds us in our society. Instead of complaining and finding fault with the weather, acknowledge that it has to rain sometimes and let yourself be at peace. Instead of complaining about work or a job remind yourself how grateful you are to have one while so many in these times are unemployed. All in all, come to peace with your living situation instead of filling it with negativity. Transmute negativity into positive thoughts and energy.

Flow in Life

These are all very tangible ways we can increase our chances of entering flow not only in workouts, but also in day-to-day life. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi has written a number of books on how flow can increase our happiness in day-to-day life even beyond workouts and performance. In one speech, Dr. Csikszentmihalyi showed how flow is the source of much happiness for us in all walks of life from creativity, to business, to sports, and even relationships. Csikzentmihalyi challenges the audience at the end to find a way to get more “flow” in our everyday lives in order to increase our happiness and purpose.

Challenge-Skills Balance

The reason strength training workouts can be a great tool to induce flow is because of what Dr. Csikzentmihalyi calls the Challenge-Skills balance. Through his forty years of research, he has found that flow is most likely to occur when we have the combination of highly developed skills and an extraordinary challenge. In order to have the most productive workouts we have to constantly play with and optimize this challenge-skills balance. If you set the challenge too high for your skills, you likely will be discouraged and fail to stay on a routine. If you set a challenge too low, you probably will not make much progress and see a workout as a boring means to an end instead of an end in and of itself. We believe it is crucial to find the best possible balance in every workout where we challenge our skills to the highest challenge they can handle. Yes, it can be a very delicate boundary, but that is what we are seeking to do.

Journal Exercise: Think back to your past experiences of extreme joy in athletic competition, training, hobbies, profession, and relationships. Pick one that really stands out as a moment where you were fully absorbed in the moment and joy. Describe that joy and how you felt during it.

• Does that joy you felt fit some of the qualities listed and described above?
• Do you think that flow was possibly at play in that moment of bliss?
• Would it be nice to experience that joy more often?

6 Week Personal Trial:

Combine that desire to recreate the transcendent feeling of being in flow with your desire to make great strides with your exercise and strength training practice.

1. Challenge-Skills Balance:
Try and pay more attention to the design of your workouts. If you are not pushing your muscles to exhaustion and therefore find yourself somewhat bored, try upping the resistance or reps. If you have been pushing yourself too hard lately and find yourself discouraged, tone down your workouts a little bit. Try to find that optimal balance between your current skills and the challenge and goals you set for yourself. It is crucial to set goals for yourself. Just make sure they are goals that challenge your current ability. Give yourself a big push, but at the same time you are not going to make a hundred pound increase in bench press over a few weeks.

TRUST YOUR INTUITION. There is a part of you that knows what a doable challenge would be. You know yourself better than anyone else does. Hold yourself accountable and go for it.

2. Clearing the mind and increasing your present awareness:
Perhaps start a meditation routine of sitting for just five to ten minutes per day where you try to only witness your breath. Do not try and control your breath, just calmly watch and observe every in-breath and out-breath. Notice if and how it changes in depth and rate. Do not attempt to change it any way, just observe it. Any time your mind wanders to other thoughts, slowly bring your attention back to observing your breath. It’s ok if your mind wanders, because IT WILL! It is all part of the practice. The important thing is that when you do notice your mind has wandered, gently bring your attention back to the breath. Don’t beat yourself up about it. Again, it happens to everyone. Your thoughts will wander, but the more you practice the easier it will be to keep your mind quiet and focused.

Through this practice we begin to fully appreciate each and every moment/breath of our life. Each moment, now, is not a means to an end, but an end in and of itself.

As Hall of Fame Basketball Coach and Zen Buddhist Phil Jackson says, “In basketball—as in life—true joy comes from being fully present in each and every moment, not just when things are going your way… The trick is to experience each moment with a clear mind and open heart. When you do that, the game—and life—will take care of itself.”

Sometimes we may feel that our mind takes control of us in life. But Olympic gold-medalist sprinter Michael Johnson reminds us: “The first thing an athlete has to realize is that you are always in control. And you need to maintain that control of both the body and the mind.”

3. Positive Thinking:
Anytime a negative thought arises regarding your exercise routine or any aspect of life, step back and let go of that negative thought and think of the things that you have to be grateful for in your life. Trust me, there are many if you really think about it. Many world-class athletes have spoken about positive thinking as being the most important aspect of maintaining high performance and flow.

Olympic Gold Medalist Sprinter Michael Johnson’s Quotes from Time Magazine:
“If you have a disappointment, you need to ask yourself, ‘Why didn’t I perform well today?’ Then you need to get yourself at peace with the situation.”
“You can’t stop those negative thoughts from coming. The only way to stop those thoughts is to replace them with something else. If you’re going to replace them, you might as well replace them with something that’s going to help you.” Johnson used to visualize himself in the upcoming race pushing through his weakest part of the race successfully.

Michael Jordan (arguably the greatest basketball player of all time):
“Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”

World Champion Boxer George Foreman:
“That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.”

Thinking positive starts in everyday life. Make a commitment to speaking and thinking more positively. This will make you better able to handle the days that don’t go as planned in the weight room, the boardroom, or in any facet of life.

Try paying attention to these three practices for the next six weeks and see if you notice an increase in what is described as ‘flow’ above. In other words, have your workouts become more enjoyable and ecstatic.

• Have you made progress as far as the amount of weight you can lift or reps you can do?
  
• Have you broken through any barriers you may have previously had?

Just Try It!

You’ll never know if you don’t try. At Mindful Muscle we are trying to see how much our minds can help us if we let them. Chris (the founder of Mindful Muscle) and many others have already noticed a significant elevation in their workouts by incorporating meditation and positive thinking into their lives. Working out can become a deeply enjoyable experience, instead of only a means to better physical and better health. If you’re intrigued, give it a try.

Flow is something that can increase our happiness in daily life. Mindful strength training is an ideal opportunity to experience flow. We are going to continually research and experiment on our own to try and come up with a pre-workout process to maximize our chances of getting into flow. Those updates will come, but in the meantime we would appreciate your help and feedback. Let us know about your experiences with flow, and our challenge if you are up for it.

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About Author

Rushi Vyas is an advocate for the integration of alternative medical therapies in the world of Western medicine, and is a research assistant for Mindful Muscle (http://www.mindfulmuscle.com). He is also a pre-med student at the University of Michigan exploring the diversity and similarities of various religious traditions around the world.

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