In The Flow
What if there were a place where your dreams become manifest? There is such a place and it resides in you. It is called the Place of Flow. When you are in this place, in The Flow, life conspires to support you and works with you to make your dreams come true.
Being in The Flow is not some mysterious state of being. The Flow State has been widely accepted by psychology for many years. Noted psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi devotes three works to this and related topics. He describes this state of “flow” as:
“Over and over again, as people describe how it feels when they thoroughly enjoy themselves, they mention eight distinct dimensions of experience. These same aspects are reported by Hindu yogis and Japanese teenagers who race motorcycles, by American surgeons and basketball players, by Australian sailors and Navajo shepherds, by champion figure skaters and by chess masters”.
I have restated Csikszentmihaly’s eight dimensions of experience as follows:
1. Clear goals and objectives – living on purpose
2. Empowered action
3. Focused awareness and action
4. Clear focus in the now – no worries or concerns
5. Sense of dominion
6. Sense of growth and connectedness to Source
7. Altered sense of time – each moment is full yet one does not feel rushed or overwhelmed.
8. Experience becomes autotelic – what a person does has meaning and purpose in and of itself, regardless of the external world. A person is internally driven instead of externally driven.
(Csikszentmihalyi, pp. 178-179)
(these contain differences from Csikszentmihalyi’s originals, to read his originals, please refer to his book listed at the end of this article)
When you are in the Flow, you live in the powerful now moment. It is at this place that your Source Energy resides. You may have heard of The Law of Attraction, which states that you attract to you those things that resonate at the same place as your state of being. So, if you are in The Flow, enjoying life, living on purpose, doing those things that are most important to you, you will attract enjoyable things that are fulfilling to you as they are in alignment to your purpose.
When in the Flow state, you are free from worries and stress. Living in the now moment, you are not future tripping, wondering what is going to happen, nor are you rehashing unpleasant situations from the past. It is in this place that you are the most connected to your Source.
You often hear about co-creating your reality with your Source. When you are in the Flow, because you are connected to your Source, co-creation happens in the most powerful way possible. You have, not only your own creative resources freed up and operating at their optimum capacity, but you also have the unlimited power of Source working hand in hand with you. It is in this state of Flow that your dreams really do come true.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1994). The Evolving Self. Harper Perennial.
I love number 2, Empowered Action. Without action, nothing will work! Stay educated on LOA also. They out this program. I’ve been doing it for 5 weeks, and I am seeing results!
http://www.accessyourwealth.com/success
Hi, Thanks for article. Everytime like to read you.
Have a nice day
Thanks for the article! I spent about eighteen months studying Creativity and Flow for both personal and professional goals. It was my conclusion that Flow was what I used to call Grace – not in the Christian sense of the word, but that experiential place of being Connected with no worry, no doubt, no attachments.
In my healing practice, Flow is where I go to access the best results. If I am not able to access it at that time, I know the effect will be minimal.
Nothing so powerful as being in the Now.
Love and Light,
Joey
Very well said. Thank you sharing the attributes of the state of Flow!
Hi. I had a career counselor once, who was also a degreed psychologist, tell me that various studies showed that about 95% of Americans were extroverts in the sense that they took their cue for their values and behavior from the external environment.
I thought then, and still do now — if it is true — how very said that is.
I think what you (and Csikszentmihalyi) are talking about isn’t just a powerful state of being. It is, really, a lot of what being a complete and maturing human being is all about, i.e., co-creating your own reality, being connected to a sense of your own purpose and taking your cue from the reality within, not from the external reality around you.
Oh yeah. I guess I’m saying I enjoyed the post.
Obviously, I meant ‘sad’ not ‘said,’ as in ‘how very sad that is.’
Truly being in the now is a knowing and can only be experiemcedand not conceptualized.
Yes, this being in the zone is where it really needs to be, where we really need to be. This is so much more than wishing for something..hoping that this or that will change. We need to take more active rather proactive actions that demonstrate that we really do co-create our world. Dr Wayne Dyer calls it getting in the Gap. When we are there we can create and allow more love, more abundance, more health into our lives at will. Very nice article, many thanks.
enjoy this post. law of attraction is a very powerful tools in life.
http://www.blog.successmagnet101.com/blog/?p=164
The new year is a perfect time for change and self improvement. Make 2010 the year that you attract the life you deserve. Let positive thoughts lead to productive actions and then to the perfect life!
This was well written and well said, thanks! Keep writing.
I read Csikszentmihalyi’s book and it was a very good read. Infact , it’s on my re-read list.
There is so much to this subject , I’m not sure if a digest version can be useful.
Splendid articule…may you always remain within the #flow.
According to the book “THE SECRET”: No rules according to the universe. You provide the feelings of having it now and the universe will respond.
The manifestations of your goals and dreams is up to you to act on them. Always be positive indeed and the universe will conspire to guide your way to success.
I appreciate your post and I will definitely read Csikszentmihalyi’s book.