Imagination can ignite flow states simply by seeing yourself step into them first. Being in the zone triggers your neurochemistry to accelerate and magnify the experience. At the same time, time and space appears to collapse, reducing hours to minutes.
There are 8 natural gateways that you can use to activate flow states.
- Peaceful zones: meditation and mindfulness.
- Breath-activated focus.
- Visualized flow.
- Nutritional flow- shifting consciousness with nutrient dense foods.
- Exercise: gentle and intense.
- Prayer.
- Creativity.
- Balance.
Peaceful zones.
When you become more mindful and present, your focus shifts inward. As you expand your awareness and become more peaceful, just BEING can act as a trigger for flow states. Mindfulness is a meditation practice and a discipline. But, would it surprise you to know that it also can be learned through sensory experience? As an experiment, try learning how to experience how mindfulness feels. The more present you feel, the more you will be able to recognize it as a kind of serenity or even, as a bliss.
Whether you learn to find your peace zone through meditation or through a sensory experience, is equally ok. Creating a peace zone, a psychological fortress and a place of stability that you can fall back on during periods of intense change or stress are some of the advantages to learning mindfulness and meditation. It is also an excellent avenue to tap into high performance flow states.
Breath-activated focus.
Deep, controlled breaths can activate focus and improve mental sharpness. The fastest way to shift physiology is through breath. This can be done whether you are sitting still in meditation or moving gently in Tai Chi.
Breath-activated flow can be cultivated through practice and by being more present. Use it to relax and to energize. The laser-like focus and high performance productivity people aspire to is possible by using breath as your gateway to creating FLOW. Need to concentrate on something? Try breathing deeply and notice the “shift”.
Visualized flow.
Visualizing flow before you step into it and imagining yourself being there, in flow already, can trigger FLOW. As you align and focus, you can create greater mental clarity, clear out mental clutter, improve memory and move into a high performance state of FLOW.
Science has verified there are noticeable changes in memory and physical performance from experimentation with imagined states. Visualization is a conduit for flow states. But is imagination, just a theatre?
Using your imagination is not a childish activity. It is a powerful tool that has the potential to transform your physiology if the visualized result is managed and focused on through simple visualization techniques. This is another building-block in self-mastery and one more step in understanding visualized-flow.
Nutritional Flow.
You can enter into flow through improving your diet and your overall health. There are many levels of well-being, just as there are many levels of toxicity. Finding a place where you are more receptive to and aware of your own energy will change your focus. This is like mindfulness. Getting to know how excellent focus feels and how your nutritional state turns the dial on how well you can be present and focus on details will make all the difference.
It is possible to shift your consciousness and improve your cognitive abilities through consuming organic, nutrient-dense foods. Foods that are saturated in minerals, trace metals, micronutrients and vitamins will improve your well-being. The positive shift in your neurochemistry will improve focus and concentration and open you more to flipping the Flow switch.
Exercise-induced Flow.
Athletes that over-reach physical limits can step into another place and time, and experience FLOW states on another level. The runner’s high that floods the body with dopamine and norepinephrine, shifts focus as well as perception of time and space.
Triggers to flow can be activated under stress such as extreme sports or due to physical stress initiated by endurance sports. It is not unlike meditation and other avenues to flow. Repetitive movements for instance can create a mind-space similar to meditation where presence and focus are triggered and your perception of time collapses.
Prayer.
Sitting still and in prayer opens a conduit to divine guidance and a connection to divine Flow. By remaining open and present, it is possible to listen inward and step into flow states through prayer. Try connecting on a consistent basis to experience divine flow. Stay open. The way to a more productive, high performance flow state just might be through a spiritual path.
Creativity:
Art, music, architecture, cooking and writing are creative pursuits that make it possible to lose oneself in the task and enter into flow states through focusing on colour, sound, drawings, food and words or story-telling. The gateway to FLOW is through focus and being present.
Another gateway is through the senses. Touch, sound, smell and taste can be the object of the creative experience. And, by focusing on one of the senses and expanding that experience, another doorway to flow can be created.
Balance.
Meditation and visualization, nutrition, creativity, prayer and exercise are all triggers to flow states. But finding a place of balance will open the gateway to flow much faster. Discovering ways to release stress and become more present fosters a more powerful starting point. And, learning to initiate focus through mindfulness by how it feels might be more natural to you than hours of meditation practice.
These 8 gateways ensure it is possible to find one that is natural to you. It offers you an opportunity to flip the switch to FLOW and enjoy the moment on a deeper level. It expands your experience of life and being alive.
Add more life and living to your life with a simple change in your daily routine. Learn to be present. It is a powerful place to be and an essential step for triggering flow.
Have a great week!
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