Chasing flow

I work as an interpreter between American Sign Language and English. When I am working, my mind and body are fully engaged. My mental chatter falls away and I become fully immersed in the challenge of working between two languages. My head gets “in the zone” and it’s one of the reasons my job is so rewarding.

Psychology researcher Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls these immersive experiences “flow states.” He describes a flow state as a time of intense concentration involving both your mind and body. During these work periods, people feel an appropriate amount of challenge and they feel like the way they experience time is altered. These states of flow are intrinsically rewarding to the people who experience them.

When I look at the elements I intentionally include to add color to my life, many of them are working towards increasing the number of flow experiences in my life. Creative activities, such as quilting, involve both my mind and my body and are the times in life where time flies and it’s sometimes hard to stop working. Exercise can also bring me into states of flow, but not always. During some runs, I zone out mentally. While spacing out to a podcast or an audiobook is rejuvenating, it’s not a flow state. The more engaged and challenging workouts, such as a race, allow my mind to focus on what my body is doing and not float into podcast land. The focus on movement and engaging with my body are what I need to get into the state of mindful engagement that is required for flow.

When you are looking for elements to include in your full-color life, ask yourself what kinds of experiences bring you into a flow state. Where can you lose yourself in what you are doing? Look for activities that have just the right amount of challenge and that engage both your mind and your body.