So, you’ve read about flow and should be familiar with it. How does it apply to you? A Flow state is a natural high brought about under certain conditions where you are totally absorbed in an activity, outside distractions are gone, and time is no longer a factor.
That’s great but I’m sixty years old, you say. I don’t do extreme sports. I may swim or play a little tennis but I don’t get into those types of situations.
Studies have been done about Flow and Older Adults and reported here. For non-athletic seniors, it says simply:“Yes, older adults have the ability to experience flow.” And if you go to the link, you’ll see that it doesn’t say much else.
But Seniors can get in flow and feel truly alive with all sorts of activities. Often mentioned are activities like gardening, writing, walking, playing chess, performing or listening to music, playing golf, tennis or “pickleball”. Any activity can involve flow if you become deeply absorbed in that activity.
We all know the benefits of exercise and fitness as it applies to seniors. You look better, you feel better, your muscles don’t atrophy, your circulation is improved, your lung capacity is improved, your joints are in better shape, and you are not as susceptible to long, lingering illness. But those are long term benefits. How do they affect those short term moments of intense focus on a singular activity? The answer is simple. The more fit you are, the easier it is to get into and stay in the flow state and the better you can perform whatever activity you are doing. It doesn’t have to be physical.
All activities are done better when in the flow state. Often, we drift in and out of flow and have to re-focus. There are a number of “triggers” that will induce flow. Here are a few of my favorites:
- Deep, focused breathing before you start an activity.
- Intentional focus on the Purpose of your activity. Having a solid purpose for performing an activity is important to getting into flow. For flow, you can focus on only ONE THING AT A TIME. Everything else will disappear from conscious thought.
- Set clear outcomes and goals. Set milestones to monitor your progress. A set goal is a feature of flow. Make sure the goal is actually within your skill level but challenging. Your skill level will improve each time.
- Eliminate physical and mental distractions before you start.
- Keep your energy level up. How? MOVE YOUR BODY before you start. You must have the physical and mental energy to FOCUS intently and stay on task. Time flies fast when you are in flow, but you need the physical energy to stay on task until completion.
To summarize, I would suggest that exercise and fitness have long term lifestyle effects. Flow is associated with “one thing at a time”, individual activities. When you are fit, it is easier to find yourself in the flow state, the state is more intense, and you are able to perform at a higher level then when you are not fit.
“Flow improves the quality of specific experiences. Fitness improves the experience of being alive!” — Me
Thank you for reading.