M, B and C flows

Flow is a useful metaphor for what happens with thoughts and feelings. Like water, they proceed from a source and move along in a stream. Sometimes they gush, spout, or spurt sometimes they just trickle in a small, gentle stream, and some times the flow disappears into the background and seems to have stopped (for example when dosing or sleeping).

There are many approaches to the concept of flow but I have found three of them to be particularly useful for training my mind – Meditative (M) Flow, Brande (B)Flow and Csikszentmihalyi (C) Flow 

M-Flows

Meditation and Mindfulness go back at least 3000 years. There are many variations on the basic theme of stopping (Shamatha) and seeing (Vipassana). People who have trained their minds to Olympic standards can do wonderful things but I am not interested here in being an Olympian.

Ordinary people can set aside some free time in a quiet place where they just sit. Thoughts and feelings will flow. The trick is to avoid being caught up in the particular thoughts and feelings by becoming a witness to them. Not “I am angry”, but “Anger is arising”. In time attachment to the mental formations gets less and you become free of them. The peace that results causes empathy and compassion for others. One of Eckhart Tolle’s books is called “Stillness Speaks”. It does.

B-Flows

Dorothea Brande (1893 – 1948) was a well-respected writer and editor in New York. Her book “Becoming a Writer”, published in 1934, is still in print and offers advice for beginning and sustaining any writing enterprise. I have returned to this classic many times over the years.

She recognises that the professional writer has to be able to dive into the flow of ideas passing through mind in a controlled way. Techniques include (a) waking half an hour early and writing non stop for 20 minutes, and (b) setting a time later in the day (say 12:00) and writing for 20 minutes with no excuses. Do this for a month. Patterns emerge and the problem of writer’s block does not arise.

C-Flows

According to Mihály Csíkszentmihályi  flow is completely focused motivation. It is a single-minded immersion and represents the ultimate experience in harnessing the emotions in the service of performing and learning. In flow, the emotions are not just contained and channeled, but positive, energized, and aligned with the task at hand.

Flow theory notes three conditions that have to be met to achieve a flow state:

•  One must be involved in an activity with a clear set of goals and progress. This adds direction and structure to the task.
• The task at hand must have clear and immediate feedback. This helps the person negotiate any changing demands and allows him or her to adjust his or her performance to maintain the flow state.
• One must have a good balance between the perceived challenges of the task at hand and his or her own perceived skills. One must have confidence that he or she is capable to do the task at hand.

"Repression is not the way to virtue. When people restrain themselves out of fear, their lives are by necessity diminished. Only through freely chosen discipline can life be enjoyed and still kept within the bounds of reason." Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

The hallmark of flow is a feeling of spontaneous joy, even rapture, while performing a task although flow is also described as a deep focus on nothing but the activity – not even oneself or one's emotions.

Buzz terms for this or similar mental states include: to be in the moment, present, in the zone, on a roll, wired in, in the groove, on fire, in tune, centered, or singularly focused. There is also the notion of the muse talking through the poet or novelist.

Subjective Flows - non-egoic and out of space and time

I have practiced mindfulness meditation off and on for more than forty years. It has a calming effect and through my own suffering I am reminded of how other people are suffering and compassion thus arises. These days, if I begin to get anxious, I have faith that ‘just sitting’ and being the witness will have a calming effect.

I have been a Brande fan for more than 20 years. For some reason I hesitate to set a timetable for the writing which thus goes through phases. I was at my peak about 10-15 years ago when I could easily crack out 40 words per minute for 20 minutes. These days I rarely manage more than 30 words per minute. In the main I have been disappointed by the triviality of the stuff that emerges. But the exercise of pumping words against the clock is therapeutic.

I have been aware of flow and of positive psychology for more than 10 years. I think of it as being in the zone when writing my more disciplined and professional works. The mind state used to keep up for 2-3 hours when I was non-egoic and out of space and time. It was effortless action (wu-wei). I would sit at the computer and stuff would happen. There might have been joy and bliss at being so absorbed but it was non-egoic – there was no ‘I’ present to experience the bliss. But it was a great way to escape the troublesome ego and profitably use time.