The author Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes about creativity and getting into a state of flow. If you’ve heard of flow, or his books, listed below, you’ll have some idea of why being able to achieve a state of flow is so desirable.
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
- Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention
- Finding Flow: The Psychology Of Engagement With Everyday Life
- Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
Achieving A State Of Flow Is Like Having Superpowers
If you have actually observed yourself in a state of flow, you’ll definitely want to return. You can tell from the titles of those books that being able to achieve a state of flow improves your experience, engagement and creativity. Flow is often described as being effortless. You’re focused, but not rigidly or tightly.
How Does A Flow State Feel?
Getting into a flow state helps you avoid or simply disregard distractions. Some of the descriptions of a flow state include:
- relaxed concentration
- creative visualization
- acute awareness
- being in the zone
- effortless performance
- peace and tranquility
- enhanced insight
- complete engagement
- optimal experience
- total involvement with life
“It’s as if time slows down and you see everything so clearly. You just know that everything about your technique is spot on. It just feels so effortless; it’s almost as if you’re floating. Every muscle, every fiber, every sinew is working in complete harmony and the end product is that you run fantastically well.”
– Mind Games, Grout and Perrin, 2006
Neurofeedback Can Teach Your Brain To Create Flow States
A state of flow is characterized by cooperation between the left and right hemispheres of your brain. This results in high levels of measurable gamma or alpha wave states. Using neurofeedback, these gamma and alpha wave states can be encouraged, and as your brain learns to create them, it also learns to induce them and maintain a flow state. No drugs and no meditation… which haven’t proven as effective for athletes trying to train flow states anyhow. Instead, a non-invasive chance to give feedback to your brain that allows it to enhance its performance. That’s neurofeedback.
Want to know more? Read Dr. David Sortino’s excellent article about using neurofeedback to achieve a state of flow here.
Better Performance For Work, Play or Competition
Whether you want to improve your golf swing or your Scrabble performance, enjoy more creativity or score more goals, neurofeedback is a proven tool for helping your brain give you what you want. If you’ve experienced flow but found it elusive, or would like to learn what a state of flow is like, neurofeedback sessions are a safe and exciting way to teach your brain to reach flow regularly.
If you’re in the greater Toronto area, you can experience professionally supported neurofeedback in our nearby Richmond Hill office. We’d love to help you train your brain to achieve a state of flow often, and help you perform better with less effort.
Sign up for a FREE Personal Peak Performance Consultation here. You’ll get a chance to find out anything more you want to know about using neurofeedback to achieve a state of flow.