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The Craving Mind Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits Chapter 9. On Flow
Author: Judson Brewer Publisher: New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. Publish Date: 2017 Review Date: Status:📚
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described flow as “being completely involved in an activity for its own sake.” When that happens, wonderful things occur: “The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz.”2
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Elements of flow include the following: Concentration being focused and grounded in the present moment The merging of action and awareness A loss of reflective self-consciousness (for example, self-evaluation) A sense that one can deal with whatever arises in a given situation because one’s “practice” has become a form of implicit embodied knowledge One’s subjective experience of time becoming altered so that the “present” is continuously unfolding An experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding3
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Flow is at the opposite end of the spectrum from habit. Mindlessly watching TV or automatically saying, “I’m fine; how are you?” when someone greets us are examples of responses that are triggered by a stimulus, yet are disengaged. We can feel as if we are on autopilot, almost floating somewhere (but don’t know where), with a daydreamy, spaced-out quality of awareness. In contrast, awareness during flow experiences is vivid, bright, and engaged. We are here: so close to the camera, so engaged with the action, that we forget we are separate from it.
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At times when I was mountain biking, I would sometimes lose all sense of myself, the bike, and the environment. It wasn’t zoning out; it was more like zoning in. Everything would simply merge into this amazing fusion of awareness and action.
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Are there other clues about (less dangerous) conditions that support flow? Csíkszentmihályi emphasized that a balance must be struck between the difficulty of the task and the skill of the performer.
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From a brain perspective, this idea of balance fits with what we currently know about self-referential networks. The default mode network gets quiet when someone concentrates on a task, but lights up in circumstances that promote boredom. In addition, it is activated during self-evaluation and other types of self-reference.
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And of course, the DMN gets really quiet during meditation. DMN deactivation may correspond to the “loss of reflective self-consciousness” that Csíkszentmihályi referred to.
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Relatedly, many of the other elements of flow sound surprisingly similar to aspects of meditation: Concentration focused and grounded in the present moment. Subjective experience of a continuously unfolding “present” moment. Intrinsic reward.
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As we have explored throughout this book, these descriptors apply to mindfulness, too, whether we are in formal meditation or just being mindful as we go about the day. When we get out of our own way and into the momentary flow of life, it feels pretty good.
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Not surprisingly, Csíkszentmihályi even mentioned meditation as a way to train flow.
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Yet as part of establishing the conditions for flow, he emphasized one’s attitude or motivation for partaking in the activity: “The important thing, however, is the attitude toward these disciplines. If one prays in order to be holy, or exercises to develop strong pectoral muscles, or learns to be knowledgeable, then a great deal of the benefit is lost. The important thing is to enjoy the activity for its own sake, and to know that what matters is not the result, but the control one is acquiring over one’s attention.”7
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One way of interpreting Csíkszentmihályi’s focus on attitude is how it affects the elements of flow. For example, if we meditate in order to reach some fantastic state or to “be holy,” there is an implicit self-reference in the equation.
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As the self contracts or grabs onto an experience, “we” become separated from “our” experience. The two can’t be merged at that point. In other words, “I” am riding “my” bike. I can’t describe some self-transcendent experience unfolding in the now because I am not in it.
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In other words, the more we work to achieve flow, the more the contraction of excitement may be holding us back from reaching it. Our “me” is in the way.
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Another way to look at attitude and its effects on flow is to see how it might engender worry or self-doubt. If we worry that we might crash on a mountain bike descent, the more likely we are to crash.
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self-defeating attitudes such as worry or doubt can get in the way—they are still self-referential, after all. If we stop wondering or worrying whether we can do a task, as long as it is within our skill set, it gets done. The self is optional.
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The following are a few of the highlights as they relate to flow and reward-based learning, which can be applied beyond music to anything we are learning:
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Don’t beat yourself up. Not surprisingly, as any musician can attest, we can become our own worst enemies: berating ourselves when rehearsing, getting performance anxiety, or beating ourselves up for flubbing a performance. The more we fall into these habit loops, the more we practice failure instead of success.
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Take it slow. Focusing and carefully learning how to play new pieces from the beginning can feel tedious at first, yet we must make sure to learn the proper technique and mechanics of the music. Rushing to play an entire movement of a piece without first mastering all its parts can be a sign of restlessness or laziness.
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Don’t take it personally when you mess up. Learning to drop the errors as soon as they come up helps us not compound them. Analyzing what we did or wondering whether anyone noticed are forms of self-consciousness. Ignoring such potential distractions prevents a slipup from becoming a major trip up (or worse).
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Quality over quantity. Learning to stop when we are tired or not focused is key. Our ego often says to keep going so that we can boast to ourselves and our fellow musicians that we practiced six hours that day. This suggestion likewise applies to not feeling guilty if we are “supposed” to practice a certain number of hours.