Flow State

Viswamitra · Feb 16, 2019

Dear Sri Thyagarajan,

Thank you for your visit to this thread. When there is focus, one experiences flow state. The war fought with significant intensity between Arjuna and Karna can be described as flow state as well. When Vidhura pronounced right action in the kingdom, he might have experienced flow state as well. Even when Panjali called for help to the Lord, she might have experienced the flow state ignoring the humiliation she had experienced.

Viswa

vidhyalakshmid · Feb 17, 2019

Viswamitra said: ↑

Even when Panjali called for help to the Lord, she might have experienced the flow state ignoring the humiliation she had experienced.
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Good insight! I love the Panchali sabatham written by Bharathiyar. We have read that she surrendered herself to God. But now your insight motivated me to think from different level. Thanks.

Thyagarajan · Feb 17, 2019

GeetaKashyap said: ↑

@Viswamitra Sir,

Being in zone or flow is an amazing meditative experience. Many people, without realising, achieve this wonderful state when all their senses come together on the chosen task and the concept of time doesn't exist anymore! This is pure bliss. This also has a tremendous healing effect on the body. Thanks for writing about it.
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Viswamitra said: ↑

In positive psychology, a flow state, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state of operations in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in feeling of energy, focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one’s sense of space and time. – Wikipedia

I asked a question to @Gauri03 and she responded affirmatively to my question about hiking and associated great sense of fulfillment and energy. I did some further research on the said subject and bumped upon some very interesting content. When one climbs the mountain, high above the ground, one cleaves to the rocks and move very deliberately, aware of every placement of one’s foot, the angles of one’s body and how one’s hand grips every protruding stone. Apparently, there is no room for error and one elapse in attention can cost one’s life. The focus is intense and nothing else exists but the climber and the mountain. In that circumstance, the mind shifts into a new space. A sense of vibrant aliveness, connectedness and peace infuse one’s being. One feels in tune with life, moving with a precision and poise one doesn’t understand but at the same time relishes in. One is in the zone and in flow. Those who experience this feeling would like to go back again and again to experience it.

Something happens during the moments of unbridled bursts of rampant creativity that is difficult to quantify. A jittery warmth swells throughout the body down to the extremities. Emotions like “fulfillment”, “satisfaction”, and “optimism” have been proven to feel like they are affecting the physiology of the whole body. Abraham Maslow explains these sessions as “extraordinary experiences”. According to him, one feels most fulfilled, unified and aware. It is the physical manifestation or one’s true potential. The imagination is so present that time and space become illusive. This tunnel-vision phenomenon is reported by athletes, creatives, and psychologists alike as a hyper-focused, sometimes spiritual, state of mind where anything is possible. It is where one becomes most productive, creative, and powerful self.

Bill Russell of the Celtics (NBA player) said, “It was almost as if we were playing in slow motion. During those spells I could almost sense how the next play would develop and where the next shot would be taken”. Christopher Bergland, world-class endurance triathlete said, “I would visualize the jolt of pain entering my body through the soles of my feet and feel the energy coming from the core of the earth. My feet became a conduit that allowed my body to tap into an infinite energy source that propelled me forward like I was plugged into a nuclear reactor”.

Swami Vivekananda defined subconscious as, “Every work that we do, every moment of the day, every thought we think, leaves an impression on the mind-stuff (the internal organ or antahkarana), and even when such impressions are not obvious on the surface they are sufficiently strong to work beneath the surface, man’s character is determined by the sum total of these impressions.” Paramahansa Yogananda narrates super consciousness as “In meditation, you must go beyond thought. As long as you are busy thinking, you are in your rational mind, on the conscious plane. When you sleep and dream, you are on the subconscious plane, and in your astral body. And when your mind is fully withdrawn in super consciousness, it becomes centered in the bliss of the spine. You are then in ideational, or casual, body. That is the level of soul’s existence.”

Swami Rama in his “Perennial psychology of Bhagavad Gita” said, “The time factor is the prime conditioner in the human mind. It is the task of the aspirant to release himself from this conditioning and to attain timeless state in which there is neither fear nor death nor conditioning. That experience is possible if one systematically practices inward methods that lead him to the Source, instead of going towards the external world and becoming scattered. There are only three known methods explored by the sages such as prayer, meditation, and contemplation. No external method of knowing can lead one to the fountainhead of awareness, where infinite knowledge beyond measure resides. After attaining this infinite knowledge, one understands that the absolute Reality or Truth is never lost, no matter how many deaths one experiences in his physical or mental life”.

No wonder the “Flow State” gives us a glimpse of awareness and blissfulness that envelop the beings. One breaks the barrier of time and space during that experience resulting in unique emotions that makes us do that again and again. Can we call it as a longing for reaching the highest state of consciousness beating the conditioning of the mind?
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As I studied your brilliant blog FLOW STAT
I SEEMED TO HAVE experienced flow state during and afterwards of study.
The feed backs too gave me an exhuberance and rapture.
Cogent anslysis interspersed wigh solid examples from celebs and rishis of yore.
Regards.
God lends succour to those who surrenders at His feet with FLOW STATE.

ratan · Feb 17, 2019

Viswamitra said: ↑

@ratan

If surrendering to the action performed can be considered as Godliness, we can call it with that name. The joy experienced during and after the flow state is immeasurable and hence at least that could be bless. It is difficult to say which state is bliss.
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In my opinion , bliss is the state where we dont need any organs of this five elements body to experience happiness. Only mind and soul experience happiness.

Thyagarajan · Feb 17, 2019

Thyagarajan said: ↑

Watching the shadow in pond of the dangling fish from a tree Arjuna aims his arrow and hit the real one tied to the tree branch is also an example. Trapeze players in circus must be experiencing this flow state well in the beginning of their practice. Magicians throwing several balls into space one by one and hold all of it could be an example. I wonder.
Thanks and regards.
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@vidhyalakshmid
Thanks for clicking the LIKE.
REGARDS.
GOD BLESS.

Thyagarajan · Feb 17, 2019

ratan said: ↑

In my opinion , bliss is the state where we dont need any organs of this five elements body to experience happiness. Only mind and soul experience happiness.
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I am not sure I understood this because if mind and soul are not organs of the body then there is no picture of “experience “ in the normal contextual usage.
Thanks and Regards.
God bless.

Thyagarajan · Feb 17, 2019

Thyagarajan said: ↑

As I studied your brilliant blog FLOW STAT
I SEEMED TO HAVE experienced flow state during and afterwards of study.
The feed backs too gave me an exhuberance and rapture.
Cogent anslysis interspersed wigh solid examples from celebs and rishis of yore.
Regards.
God lends succour to those who surrenders at His feet with FLOW STATE.
Click to expand...

@GeetaKashyap
Thanks for liking my state(ment).
Regards.

ratan · Feb 17, 2019

Viswamitra said: ↑

@ratan

If surrendering to the action performed can be considered as Godliness, we can call it with that name. The joy experienced during and after the flow state is immeasurable and hence at least that could be bless. It is difficult to say which state is bliss.
Click to expand...

Thyagarajan said: ↑

I am not sure I understood this because if mind and soul are not organs of the body then there is no picture of “experience “ in the normal contextual usage.
Thanks and Regards.
God bless.
Click to expand...

Sir we cant see mind , intellect, and impressions because these are subtle faculties of a soul. Mind thinks, intellect decides and visualise, and impressions repeats actions automatically by all sense organs. Experiencing bliss is above all as we feel love but cant show its evidence physically. Its a matter of only and only to feel. Bliss is as well. Cant be describe in words.

Viswamitra · Feb 17, 2019

@vidhyalakshmid,

Thank you for the second response. You have clearly added one more to my reading list.

@Thyagarajan,

There is a slight variation between flow state and how our mind enjoys appreciation. The flow state passes the level of appreciation and the performance is the focus and not the reward.

@ratan,

I agree bliss is a state of transcending the mind and intellect. It is an experience of Anandamaya Kosha. However, a living being (with senses, mind and intellect) can experience bliss if one knows how to transcend the four other Koshas. Impressions will disappear if one experiences bliss. That is my humble view.

Thyagarajan · Feb 18, 2019

Viswamitra said: ↑

There is a slight variation between flow state and how our mind enjoys appreciation. The flow state passes the level of appreciation and the performance is the focus and not the reward
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I more agree with this statement.
Thanks & Regards.

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Flow State

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