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Submitted by: Angie Aristone
According to Harvard Medical School Psychiatrist Ned Hallowell, Flow naturally transforms a weakling into a muscleman, a sketcher in an artist, a dancer into a ballerina, a plodder into a sprinter, an ordinary person into someone extraordinary. Everything you do, you do better in flow, from baking a chocolate cake, to planning a vacation, to solving a differential equation, to writing a business plan, to playing tennis to making love.
Unfortunately, flow is an elusive state of consciousness. To my knowledge, there are three reliable, scientifically proven methods of getting into flow. One is a helmet that uses electromagnetic fields to shut down parts of the brain. Designed by DARPA, the research arm of the American military, and tested on snipers in training, its not likely to be widely available to the general public anytime soon. Biocybernaut training, which utilizes advanced and expensive neurofeedback equipment designed by Dr. James Hardt is another option. Requiring a week or more of intensive training, its not an easily accessible option. The third way in is simple, put yourself in a life or death situation where your skills match the challenge. Again, not something that most people are willing to do.
As a psychic-medium and animal telepath, my work depends on flow. Its only in flow that we gain access to latent extra-ordinary abilities that allow us to do anything better, and the seemingly impossible. I have to slip into flow on a daily basis, often several times a day, to do my work. Theres no faking it. What I do is impossible! Except in flow. In flow, we begin to access and integrate telepathic information about the task at hand, which is why I can do what I do and super-human performance is possible in flow states.
I taught myself how to access flow, and anyone can do it. Most of us do, or have experienced flow, in sports, hobbies, meaningful work, or a great conversation. I go through the same stages psychologists understand athletes and performers go through to get to flow: struggle, release, flow and integration. As the name implies, struggle isnt fun, but its helpful. Adrenaline flows, anxiety increases, but so does focus. Flow is all about focus, about fully losing yourself in whatever youre about to do. Risk or vulnerability helps to narrow our focus. I dont like it, but the magic and pure joy we find on the other side is worth it.
I sometimes say that slipping into flow feels like youre dying. Part of you is dying: your ego. Our rational, thinking, survivor minds have to shut off before we can access the power of flow. Even though our egos only temporarily disappear from existence in flow, they sure dont like it. Admittedly, sometimes we come back from flow experiences transformed, and parts of our egos that no longer serve us have died in a way. Thats why we need integration time after a flow experience.
The process of getting into flow gets easier with practice though, and practice can be indulgent! You can practice and get more comfortable in flow in safe, fun and easy ways, then take your skills into whatever you want to do better. So here are my top three tips for slipping into flow:
1. Lose yourself in your senses
Take the time to really, really notice and savor every sensual detail of anything and everything you experience. Enjoy a great cup of coffee, glass of wine, or a meal. Notice and describe every nuance and subtlety. Having a buddy to describe your experiences to can deepen your noticing, and make the process even more fun! If you love fashion, take yourself shopping. Feel fabrics, and how outfits feel. Take a bath with essential oils, visit a flower shop or smell the herbs at the farmers market.
Notice where sensations and smells take you, the images and memories they elicit. Youll be exercising discernment, the ability to pull more and more meaningful information out of subtler and subtler cues, even telepathic cues. Youll also be getting your ego more comfortable with the process of losing yourself in focus.
2. Play
Child and adolescent brains are naturally wired for flow, thats why we learn so fast when were kids. Letting our kid parts out to play can be fun and indulgent, but there is a huge upside! The more you can relax, be in the moment, and bring a playfully creative attitude to anything you do, the more likely you are to slip back into your natural childhood state of flow.
3. Daydream
Flow is a dreamlike state of consciousness, and can feel very much like a dream. Time dilates, we lose our sense of self, our attention goes where its needed, and creative, sometimes strange associations and insights spring to mind. Daydreaming has received a bad rap as unproductive and frivolous, but its a flow state we can practice in, use to jump into flow, and can be harnessed towards productive ends to gain valuable insights and ideas. Daydreaming through creative visualization has also been shown by psychologists to be almost as effective as actually practicing an activity. Creative visualization is standard practice for elite athletes and olympians for good reason!
Of course, losing yourself in your senses, play and daydreaming can be applied directly to almost anything you want to do better, as well as for practicing flow, once you appreciate the value these practices offer. Happy indulging!
About the Author: Angie Aristone is a Conscious Living Coach, Psychic-Medium, Animal Telepath and Speaker. Angie and her partner Rod are co-authors of the book Consciousness Becomes You, an intimate exploration of consciousness and extra-ordinary abilities. More information at
angiearistone.com
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