11 Activities and Exercises to Induce a Flow State

With many things in life ostensibly out of our control, it is easy to consider our fate as being determined by external factors.

However, consider times when instead of being driven by extraneous forces, you have felt in complete control of your actions – the master of your destiny!

The positive emotions accompanying such experiences can create such a sense of escapism, exhilaration, and enjoyment that it becomes a marker for how life can be.

This is what is meant by optimal experience or flow state – the subjective condition in which a person functions at their most total capacity with their attention so focused on a task that factors such as fatigue and boredom do not interfere; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will participate for the sheer sake of doing it (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

Flow state is losing yourself in the moment; when your abilities are well matched to an activity, the world around you quietens, and you may find yourself achieving things you only dreamt possible. These science-based exercises will explore fundamental aspects of positive psychology, including strengths, values, and self-compassion, and will give you the tools to enhance the well-being of your clients, students, or employees.

What is a Flow State?

Flow state encapsulates the emotions experienced when an activity is going favorably – have you ever felt ‘in the flow or ‘in the zone?

Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (2005) conducted interviews with rock climbers, chess players, athletes, and artists to address why people perform time-consuming or difficult tasks for which they receive no apparent extrinsic rewards.

The study concluded that respondents reported a similar subjective experience, one they enjoyed so much that they were willing to go to great lengths to experience again – several respondents described a ‘current’ (or flow) that carried them along effortlessly throughout the activity.

The defining feature of the flow state is the intense experiential involvement in moment-to-moment activity; it can only be achieved based on an individual’s effort and creativity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990).

While research has primarily focused on the flow of experience within structured leisure activities such as sports, education, and artistic pursuits (Nakamura & Csikszentmihalyi, 2005), it is essential to recognize its applicability to many other aspects of life, including a route to wellbeing.

Fritz and Avsec (2007) looked at the relationship between dispositional aspects of experiencing flow and the subjective well-being of music students. Their findings confirmed that sharing flow is an essential predictor of personal emotional wellbeing. Flow plays a vital role in subjective well-being (Myers & Diener, 1995) and the relationship between well-being and healthy aging (Ryff, Singer, & Dienberg Love, 2004).

Payne, Jackson, Noh, and Stine-Morrow (2011) explored the nature of flow in older adults and its role in cognitive aging. Their research indicated that older adults could experience flow when mental capacity and intellectual demands are in synch and, as such, may be an essential factor for theories of cognitive optimization, health recommendations, and lifelong education programs.

Mills and Fullagar (2008) examined student engagement in learning and found that flow correlates positively with motivation, with highly motivated people experiencing high levels of flow. An activity with high enjoyment, inspiration, and concentration can facilitate the subjective experience of flow (Bonaiuto et al., 2016).

Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (2009) postulated that the flow state experience was comprised of eight key dimensions; these dimensions are broken down into the optimal conditions for entering the flow and the characteristics of being in a flow state. So that we can better understand the factors associated with the flow – and make this mental state more accessible – let’s look at these in more detail.

The optimal conditions for entering flow:

1. Challenge-skills balance

Flow state requires a balance between one’s skills and the challenge at hand: if the challenge is too demanding, we become disheartened and can experience negative emotions such as anxiety. Conversely, if a task is too easy, we become disinterested and indifferent – when we experience flow, we are actively engaged but not overwhelmed by a challenge.

Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi (1988) suggested this dimension occurs when an individual’s skills are at just the right level to manage situational demands. The challenge–skills balance is an influential contributor to flow, this ultimate sense of competence results in a state of engagement whereby a task is enjoyed through enthusiasm for the job itself (Elias, Mustafa, Roslan, & Noah, 2010).

2. Clear Goals & Unambiguous Feedback

To enter a flow state, we must repudiate the sometimes conflicting demands of a task and focus on the next step. Having clear, well-defined goals fosters an understanding of what actions must be taken to accomplish the activity.

Mitchels (2015) found positive correlations between flow state and performance goals within academic and athletic contexts. Receiving detailed feedback (often from the activity) allows us to adjust our responses to meet the required demands constantly.

While positive feedback can come from various sources, the meaning is the same, i.e., information that one is succeeding in one’s goal (Csikszentmihalyi & Csikszentmihalyi, 1988).

Under these two conditions, an individual can enter into the subjective state of flow, often exhibiting the following characteristics:

i. Action-awareness merging

In a flow state, we are entirely absorbed in the here and now to the extent that involvement in an activity is so absolute that it becomes second nature – almost automatic.

Jackson (1992) analyzed the flow descriptions of athletes, finding that there was no real awareness of being separate from the action being performed, with some describing flow state as being “in the zone” or “in the groove.”

ii. Concentration on the task at hand

Total concentration or immersion is one of the most frequently mentioned flow dimensions. Focusing on the present moment allows us to better enter into a state of flow by directing our attention and enables us to circumvent superfluous distractions. In a flow state, we are fully engaged with an activity – only aware of what is relevant and dismissing unrelated factors.

iii. Sense of control

In flow, a sense of control is present without being consciously exerted. Rather than being ‘in control,’ Csikszentmihalyi (1993) suggested this dimension is more of a ‘sense of control’ where individuals feel like they are unstoppable or can achieve anything.

The sense of exercising control in difficult situations is central to the flow experience; Keller and Blomann (2008) found that individuals with more robust control characteristics were more likely to experience flow, whereas individuals with weaker internal levels of control often failed to achieve a flow state.

3. Loss of self-consciousness

We can spend ample time and energy monitoring how we appear to others; however, during flow, any concerns for the self dissipate as we become one with the activity.

Put in a flow state, we are too involved in the moment to be concerned with protecting our ego – when freed from self-consciousness, we can do things intuitively and with aplomb.

The absence of self-preoccupation allows us to shift our focus to the task at hand while rejecting extraneous and egocentric distractions.

4. Transformation of time

Have you ever been so immersed in something that you lose track of time? The experience of a flow state can perceptibly distort our sense of the ordinary passage of time as we are entirely absorbed at the moment.

A transcendence of time can occur when one is deeply involved in an activity, we can experience time as slowing down, speeding up, or in some cases, it becomes completely irrelevant (Hanin, 2000).

5. Autotelic experience

Autotelic experiences (endeavors carried out for their own sake, with no expectation of a future benefit, from the ancient Greek’ autós‘ meaning ‘self‘ and ‘télos‘ meaning ‘result/outcome/end‘) are some of the most rewarding.

Csikszentmihalyi and Robinson (1990) examined sensory aesthetic experiences within museums; their findings suggested the consequences of deep and autotelic involvement are characterized by feelings of personal wholeness, a sense of discovery, and a sense of human connectedness. Within this setting, the intense involvement of attention in response to a visual stimulus was for no other reason than to sustain the experience.

This dimension is described by Csikszentmihalyi (1990) as the result of being in a flow state, with potentially entropic experiences being transposed into the flow.

6 Examples of Flow in Action

A flow state can be experienced in almost any activity with clearly defined goals and a balance between the challenge’s difficulty and the individual’s skills.

While certain activities likely encourage a flow state, such as games, sports, and the arts, you can also experience flow within the Workplace and other day-to-day activities.

Activities known to inspire flow are generally those in which you feel involved, do not experience boredom or anxiety, and in which you feel involved and interested. With this in mind, let’s examine some examples of flow in action.

1. Flow in Music

We have probably all, at some time, experienced a sense of complete absorption in an activity that involves music – whether the action is listening to or playing music, it is a pursuit in which many experiences intrinsic enjoyment.

Indeed, Chirico, Serino, Cipresso, Gaggioli, and Riva (2015) noted a significant relationship between music and flow experience. Consider a musical performance; the orchestra knows precisely what they are doing at the moment – they seem to flow together, and the players are entirely absorbed in the music with their intense concentration allowing them to enter into a state of flow.

2. Flow in Sport

Have you ever experienced time going by quickly while playing a sport? Or been so wholly absorbed in the game that afterward, you can’t remember the details of what happened?

If you participate in a sport, whether it is athletics, mountaineering, or golf, it is likely that you have entered into a flow state at some point.

Reports of flow state within sporting activities are more common than in many other contexts; athletes frequently describe experiencing increased confidence through a sense of control and less self-consciousness due to their absorption in the activity (Hanin, 2000).

3. Flow in Gaming & Technology

For many, a flow state can be experienced through video games. Klasen, Weber, Kircher, Mathiak, and Mathiak (2012) examined the flow state during video game playing. Their findings suggested the emergence of flow during gaming was partly due to the balance between the player’s ability and the difficulty of the game, concentration, direct feedback, clear goals, and control over the activity.

Furthermore, game designers Jenova Chen and Nicholas Clark developed a game called ‘Flow’ based on Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory – wherein the game automatically adjusted its difficulty and reactions based on the actions (skills) of the player.

Through this personalized challenge-skills balance, less skilled players reported increased control over the gameplay that was necessary to feel more immersed in the game and achieve flow.

Pilke (2004) studied the impact of flow experiences within the use of technology, indicating that flow is experienced frequently while performing various technology-based tasks ranging from word processing, programming, visual design, and online searches.

4. Flow in the Workplace

Have you ever felt your work day was dragging by? You can’t stop watching the clock; an hour seems like five. Maybe you’ve experienced the opposite, where you have been so absorbed or challenged by a task that it’s suddenly home time.

Flow has many benefits in a workplace; a flow state encourages creativity and cultivates innovative thinking (Pearce & Conger, 2003). It may seem unlikely, but the Workplace is not too dissimilar to training/playing sports or video games. Most places of work have goals, immediate feedback, and, ideally, equip an individual with the skills required to complete a task.

5. Flow in Education & E-Learning

E-learning has become an essential tool within educational institutions and businesses – engagement with e-learning tools can aid the negation of issues related to departmental budgets and the employment of trainers.

With this type of learning, we can assume that setting clear goals and working within your skill level is essential; in the absence of face-to-face training, individuals must self-regulate their concentration on the task at hand.

With this in mind, Choi, Kim, and Kim (2007) tested an e-learning success model based on flow theory to examine data from a web-based e-learning system. The results suggested a significant relationship between e-learning and flow experience, with flow playing a positive role in learning outcomes.

6. Flow in Hobbies

Have you ever lost track of time while reading a book? Or been so involved and focused on an activity that you are unaware of anything else until you stop and gather your thoughts?

Hobbies are a prime example of autotelic activities; whether art, gaming, dancing, or sport, we all have something we are intrinsically motivated to participate in regardless of external rewards.

Taking a break from the mundane to engage in enjoyable creative activities can boost self-esteem, increase motivation, and enhance wellbeing (Burt & Atkinson, 2011). So why not reacquaint yourself with the joys of downtime, pursue a musical instrument, learn to knit, take photographs, or try to write?

7 Activities to Achieve a Flow State

As previously mentioned, the state of flow occurs under optimal conditions.

Individuals who achieve a flow state more regularly tend to pay closer attention to the details of their environment, seek out opportunities for action, set goals, monitor progress using feedback, and put more considerable challenges to themselves – Csikszentmihalyi (1990).

So what activities can you participate in to help achieve a flow state?

Csikszentmihalyi (1990) suggested achieving flow in the following ways:

1. Focus on the body

The body’s capacity for enjoyment is often overlooked; taking control of your physical capabilities and understanding your level of skill in an activity encourages increased confidence while simultaneously experiencing a loss in the self-consciousness barrier that often impedes entering a flow state.

Through practice and the development of skills required by activity, we can find pleasure in our abilities while simultaneously receiving feedback on our successes or failures.

2. Focus your mind

Csikszentmihalyi (1990) suggested the normal state of mind is chaos – it is relatively easy to concentrate when external stimuli structure our attention. However, the mind reverts to a disordered state when left to our devices.

Our tendency to focus on the negative means it is essential to gain control over our mental processes and steer our thoughts in a positive direction. Meditation is a great way to become more mindful; it quiets the mind by focusing attention and calming emotional interferences such as anxiety.

Through meditative practices, we increase mental awareness while at the same time decreasing physiological tension (Belitz & Lundstrom, 1998).

3. Leverage memory

Leveraging memory can assist in flow state achievement, mainly if it involves recalling the fulfillment of a goal and the positive emotions accompanying it. By taking some time to think about previous successes, we can confidently assess our skills concerning the task’s difficulty and set appropriate goals that meet the challenge-skill balance required to achieve a flow state.

4. Focus on your thoughts

Have you ever been so ‘lost in thought’ that time seemed to alter? Philosophy and deep thinking flourished because we consider them to be innately pleasurable. We are motivated by the autotelic enjoyment of thinking rather than any perceived rewards it would gain. By consciously focusing on our thoughts, we can avoid distractions that may impede flow state achievement.

5. Communicate

Communication, whether through conversation or writing, is another way of encouraging flow by improving our understanding of past experiences; essay, in particular, gives the mind a disciplined means of expression and self-feedback.

Observing and recording the memory of an experience fosters an understanding of our capabilities, particularly about the balance between the challenge in question and our skill level.

6. Lifelong learning

Learning aims to understand what is happening around us and develop a personally meaningful sense of what one’s experience is.

Csikszentmihalyi (1990) suggests the end of formal education should be the start of a different kind of intrinsically motivating education.

The continuation of learning, whether within an educational institution or otherwise, allows us to understand our skills and limitations, which consequently assists our sense of personal challenge-skills balance.

7. Focus on the job at hand

In the Modern Workplace, there is often an emphasis on productivity rather than wellbeing. People may consider their jobs a burden imposed upon them. However, an employee who finds variety, appropriate challenges to skills, clear goals, and immediate feedback within their career can find flow in the Workplace.

Knowing that goals are being achieved allows us to tailor our actions to meet the demands. There are ways we can approach work that alters our perception of the mundane and encourage a flow state.

You could try taking on a challenge you haven’t attempted before or ask your employer to trust you with an important task – by taking a calculated risk where you know your skills are suited to the job, you can push your limits and achieve flow.

4 Exercises to Help Trigger a Flow State

As previously discussed, Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (2009) suggested the optimal conditions for entering flow are the challenge-skills balance, clear goals, and detailed feedback.

With this in mind, Sawyer (2015) and later Kotler (2014) expanded on these dimensions of flow, suggesting that these are just some of how we can trigger a flow state.

According to Kotler, flow can only arise when all our attention is focused on the present moment. To focus on the present, we may need complete exercises to help trigger a flow state by guiding our attention to the here and now.

These flow state triggers suggested by Kotler can be divided into four categories:

  • Social: the collective or group flow happens when people enter a flow state together, e.g., within a sports team.
  • Creative: thinking differently about your challenges and approaching them from a different perspective.
  • Environmental: external environmental qualities that drive people deeper into ‘the zone.
  • Psychological: internal triggers that create more flow.

Here we will examine these categories in more detail and suggest some exercises you can put into action to focus your attention and trigger a flow state.

1. Social Triggers

Flow state is more than just an individual phenomenon. Van den Hout, Davis, and Weggeman (2018) noted the potential for group flow to enhance a team’s effectiveness, productivity, performance, and capabilities.

Social triggers are influential in shaping our social conditions and encouraging group flow. Intense concentration, clear group goals, and communication (including close listening) were encapsulated by the conditions proposed by Nakamura and Csikszentmihalyi (2009), namely the challenge-skills balance, clear goals, and detailed feedback.

Kotler suggested that familiarity and equal participation – specifically, equal skill levels within the group – negate problems that may arise from disparity in team members’ abilities and ensures each member is on the same page.

An element of risk pushes our abilities further and acts as a means of focusing concentration, “There can be no genuine creativity without failure, which means in turn there can be no group flow without the risk of failure.” (Sawyer, 2015, p. 10).

Additional social flow state triggers include the blending of egos. In a group flow state, there is no room for an overbearing ego, and each member must merge their needs into those of the group while retaining their sense of control.

Finally, always say yes! In reality, this shouldn’t be taken. Instead, it should be understood in terms of encouraging positive group interactions rather than argumentative to create momentum and amplify team ideas and actions.

Social Exercises:

  • Try making your group interactions more positive; a positive approach can encourage a feeling of togetherness. Say “Yes” to that new challenge and revel in it.
  • If you feel your skill level isn’t where it should be about a task – practice! With familiarity comes confidence.
  • Take calculated risks and push your abilities to the very limit.
  • Be aware of the group goals, familiarize yourself with what is expected of you from others, and focus on playing your part as best you can.
  • Speak up! If you are hesitant to voice your opinion or convey an idea – go for it. The elevated risk level of taking yourself out of your comfort zone is a good flow trigger.
  • Listen! Try to engage fully at the moment by giving companions your undivided attention.

2. Creative Triggers

Kotler suggested that creativity can trigger flow, increasing creativity in a positive feedback loop. We are hardwired to recognize patterns and are attracted to taking risks – combining the skill of linking new ideas with the confidence to present these ideas to others is liberating and a great way to trigger a flow state.

Creative Exercises:

  • Try taking a different approach when tackling a new challenge, stretch your imagination, think outside the box and look at problems from a different angle than you would normally.
  • Raise the bar for yourself – allow yourself to believe you can do better. When you achieve your latest goal, set another!
  • Take a risk and trust that you will succeed – when you take a chance, and it pays off, you encourage more of the same. Successfully tackling a problem nurtures your confidence, allowing you to believe in your abilities.
  • Immerse yourself in situations that would ordinarily be outside of your comfort zone. The unfamiliar encourages us to see things from a different perspective and devise solutions we may not have previously considered.

3. Environmental Triggers

When an activity or task has some perceived physical, mental, social, or emotional risk (high consequences), it is essential to navigate the potential risk and understand that values are relative.

Often, with risk comes reward – consider a mountaineer successfully scaling a dangerous summit; the elevated levels of risk drive them to their limit and deeper into a state of flow. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone (but not so much that your challenge-skills balance is upset) will help you focus and achieve flow.

Likewise, a rich environment and deep embodiment (total physical awareness) in activity can capture our attention through novelty, unpredictability, and complexity. We learn through doing and by engaging multiple sensory streams simultaneously. Routine may be the cornerstone of productivity, but it is not the cornerstone of flow (Kotler, 2014). The following exercises can help foster an environment in which you are challenged to reach a flow state.

Environmental Exercises:

  • Immerse yourself in new experiences and environments – unpredictable situations make us pay more attention to what is happening. Why not try playing a new sport or joining a social group online or within your local community?
  • Take part in activities that have high consequences for you personally – whether they are emotional, intellectual, or social risks; try pushing yourself to achieve things you never thought possible. Never taken part in a marathon before? Sign up! Too intimidated to speak up in that meeting? Clear your throat and go for it!
  • Take a walk – remove yourself from the familiar and immerse yourself in nature. Be mindful of your own body and movements to encourage complete physical awareness.

4. Psychological Triggers

We can trigger a flow state with psychological (or internal) prompts that hone our focus and allow for greater concentration at the moment.

Kotler (2014) suggested that flow requires extended periods of intensely focused attentionclear individual goals, immediate feedback to understand better what is expected of us (and if we have been successful), and a balance between your skills and the challenge. Engaging these psychological triggers minimizes the potential extraneous factors that impede flow.

Psychological Exercises:

  • Consider your skill level and set clear personal goals – take a few moments to think about what is to be done, and try writing them down if it helps cement your objectives and get them clear in your mind.
  • Create your personal mission statement – consider your abilities and targets and ask yourself, “What do I want to achieve?”
  • Don’t look for external validation; instead, rely on your internal validation; the goals you have set and achieved are enough to legitimize your success.

Questionnaire for Measuring Flow

Over the past two decades, research into the occurrence of the flow state among employees in a work-based context has highlighted some significant positives, both subjectively in terms of elevated employee psychological wellbeing (Debus, Sonnentag, Deutsch and Nussbeck, 2014) and objectively in terms of enhanced job performance (Eisenberger et al., 2005).

Given the benefits of achieving flow, practitioners in the positive psychology space need to be aware of the critical methods at their disposal for measuring an individual’s flow.

The Flow Questionnaire (FQ): Composed by Csikszentmihalyi and Csikszentmihalyi (1998), the FQ poses three quotes that encompass the subjective experience of the flow state and ask respondents if they have experienced a similar condition; if so – how often and under what circumstances, i.e., what activity were they engaged in.

Example quotes include:

My mind isn’t wandering. I am not thinking of something else. I am totally involved in what I am doing. My body feels good. I don’t seem to hear anything. The world seems to be cut off from me. I am less aware of myself and my problems.

My concentration is like breathing I never think of it. When I start, I really do shut out the world. I am really quite oblivious to my surroundings after I really get going. I think that the phone could ring, and the doorbell could ring or the house burn down or something like that.

When I start I really do shut out the world. Once I stop I can let it back in again.

Using a Likert-like scale, respondents then rate their level of agreement with expressions such as “I get involved” and “I enjoy the experience and the use of my skills” alongside presentations relating to the level of challenge posed and the personal skill level of the respondent in the context of the challenge.

The respondents’ experience is then partitioned into one of three leading non-overlapping states based on the model of flow state (figure 1) – flow, anxiety, or boredom – with the flow state achieved when there is an equilibrium between the perceived challenges and the appropriate skill level held by the respondent.

While the FQ has stood the test of time, it’s not without its critics. While the flow state model provides a clear, unambiguous distinction between flow and non-flow (boredom and anxiety) states, Moneta (2010) suggested the state of flow could be categorized further into “deep” or “shallow” flow, with the former distinguished by subjective perceptions of isolation from their immediate environment.

The Experience Sampling Method (ESM): The Experience Sampling Method represents the most common method used to assess flow. Individuals undertaking the ESM must fill out an experience sampling form (ESF) five to eight times a day for a week. The ESF contains 13 categorical items (i.e., where, when, what are you doing, why are you doing it) to determine the context and motivational components of the challenge and 29 scaled items aimed at assessing the individual’s state of mind at the time.

Based on responses, z-challenge and z-skill scores are calculated and categorized contextually (i.e., one individual may have a z-challenge score for work and another for leisure) with the quadrant model of flow state used to determine the individual’s condition.

The notable difference between the quadrant model and the first model of flow state is the addition of the ‘apathy’ state, posited to be the most hostile state of the four.

A robust approach to measuring flow, the ESM negates the risk posed by the FQ in its reliance on the retrospective reconstruction of past events. However, the ESM has its drawbacks with the most notable being that care must be taken to avoid biases when recording respondent data and that the request to complete an ESF can interrupt the flow experience (Moneta, 2010)

The Experience Fluctuation Model [EFM]: Proposed by Massimini et al. (1987), the EFM – also known as the ‘channel model’ or ‘octant model’ – further partitions the potential mental states into eight arc sectors. By encompassing a broader range of states while effectively narrowing the arc of the flow state, the model provides a more significant distinction between non-flow states while reducing the chance for false positives – given the narrower flow arc.

While the model is different, researchers have combined the ESM with the octant model to effectively assess the flow experience in individuals with validation of the model achieved through the replication of findings across a range of demographics, cultures, and life domains (Moneta, 2010).

Given the rising popularity of flow and flow state-related literature, it’s no surprise that researchers are finding and validating new approaches to assessing flow, meaning that while robust measures such as those mentioned above exist, many less prominent methods are also accessible and are likely to be forthcoming as flow literature gains mainstream traction.

A List of Activities Known to Induce Flow

By this point, you are probably getting the hang of the concept of flow and the conditions in which a flow state can flourish. Many activities compel an individual to focus their full attention on a task and present opportunities for all skill levels to be challenged yet achieve set goals. The following are just some of the activities you can embrace to induce flow in all aspects of your day-to-day life.

  • Swimming requires focus and practice; whether you are a novice or an adept swimmer, it opens you up to new challenges. If you are new to swimming or out, you might try setting smaller goals that challenge your skills, like swimming a full length. If you are a more experienced swimmer, try to fix a new personal best or complete more measurements than you’ve managed before.
  • Table tennis is a great activity to induce flow; much like swimming, a player needs to be fully immersed and focused – if you can find an opponent who matches your skill level, you will both avoid the negative impact of boredom and frustration.
  • Tai Chi is often referred to as meditation in motion and is known to enhance overall well-being and encourage a relaxed state (Sandlund & Norlander, 2000). Through physical action and the achievement of a meditative state, our concentration is focused and our minds clear from distractions. Tai Chi grounds you at the moment and teaches you to control external interference, and it is also ideal for people who prefer low-impact activities.
  • Cycling and running (especially over long distances) are great activities to induce flow; an intense focus on technique and pacing means that mental strength, physical strength, and physical ability are essential.
  • Mountaineering and rock climbing can be considered extreme sports, there is a certain amount of danger involved, but in the spirit of flow, there’s no reward without a bit of risk. While straying out of your comfort zone is an excellent way to enter a flow state, it is important to remember safety! Taking risks doesn’t mean putting your life at stake; it is enough to bring yourself outside of the mundane and into something challenging instead.
  • Osho Dynamic Meditation is an intense form of active meditation in which you must be continuously alert and aware. Each meditation lasts for one hour and requires you to keep your eyes closed throughout, forcing you to concentrate fully on your movements and into a state of deep embodiment.
  • Cooking and baking are excellent ways to induce flow. Once again, you must concentrate and focus on the moment – allow yourself to be lost ‘in the zone’ and whip up some cupcakes!
  • If you are finding it difficult to induce flow, why not consider the Pomodoro technique? While this doesn’t work for everyone, those of us with a propensity for procrastination may find it a useful way to achieve focus in short bursts. The premise of this technique is simple: set a timer – usually for 25 minutes – and focus solely on your task during that time. When the timer is up, you should have a five-minute break before you set another timer. While some may find that this technique obstructs the flow through interruption, for others, it helps gain focus and loosen up (Van Passel & Eggink, 2013).

These are just some of the activities you can get involved in that can help to induce a flow state; the important thing is to participate in a move that suits your needs. Almost any activity you find intrinsically rewarding that requires full engagement can guide you to your flow state.

A Take-Home Message

Given the myriad benefits of achieving a flow state across a broad range of contexts, including music, sport, art, and work, developing techniques to achieve flow affords us an exciting opportunity to work towards reaching our full potential and optimal levels of wellbeing.

You might already be familiar with the flow state but under a different name, i.e., ‘in the zone or ‘on the form.’ Clearly defining the flow state helps us to understand the prerequisites for flow better and, in turn, identify methods by which we can enter the flow state and push ourselves to achieve our maximum potential

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