The Flow State

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today we're going to explore how we can tap into the flow state, both in our meditation and also in our lives. So from time to time, you've probably found yourself in a state of flow, right? You might've been doing yoga, surfing, maybe riding a bike. Maybe you were cooking, making love or writing poetry. And you might've had that feeling of time kind of slowing down a little, your sense, perceptions heightened, and your mind was really clear and focused.

And it was like, you were just able to do what you were doing without thought, just with intense focus, ease and enjoyment. Can you remember a time like that? And we see depictions of this flow state in movies. You know, when somebody suddenly kind of shifts into this heightened state of awareness and they slow down the filming and depict this kind of laser like focus, the person is experiencing. And we see examples of flowing sport and music and dance. And when someone's in that state of flow there, they're not in their heads thinking at all about what they're doing.

They're simply fully present at the moment, at one with the moment and they're doing is infused with awareness. You can kind of feel it. So flow is described as an intense absorption in the present moment. A one-pointed, undistracted focus on what's happening. So one of the ways we can unlock the flow state is to have our absolute undivided focus on what we're doing.

But that intense focus is not at the expense of ease or lightness. You know, we don't have to overly focus and get tense. It's a kind of relaxed, highly focused attention. So in today's meditation, I'm going to guide you through how to unlock the flow state in your meditation, but in daily life too. Try inviting moments of flow into what you're doing by infusing the moment with a heightened focused attention.

It could be something as simple as just sweeping the floor or walking down the street. And so in those moments, just see if you can be completely engaged in the movements, the sensations, the aliveness of it all. Just be completely there in the moment, absorbed, alive, attentive. And the research shows by inviting more of the flow state into each activity of our lives, we're also inviting in a lot more joy, aliveness and connectedness. And with repeated practice, you'll enjoy better performance at whatever you are doing and a life infused with more vibrancy, peace and passion.

So as always, thank you so much for your practice and your presence here. And let's settle in for today's meditation.