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First coined by psychologist Mihály Csíkszentmihályi in 1970, the concept of “flow” and/or achieving “flow state” has become one of the most talked-about topics in the well-being space. Colloquially known as being “in the zone,” flow is the state in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus and mental clarity. You’ll often hear how long-distance runners, artists and people who meditate find themselves totally consumed by the task at hand and lose track of time. In the Handbook of Positive Psychology, there are six factors that encompass the “flow” experience:
- Intense and focused concentration on the present moment.
- Merging of action and awareness.
- A loss of reflective self-consciousness.
- A sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity.
- A distortion of temporal experience, as one’s subjective experience of time, is altered.
- Experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, which is also referred to as “autotelic experience”.
Public figures from across industries came together at South by Southwest 2023 at the SHE-Media Co-Lab from March 11 to 12 to talk about flow, how they achieve mental clarity and focus, and the challenges facing women of certain life stages, including ageism and other social stigmas.
Katie Couric. Image: SHE Media
“To me, flow is when you’re firing on all cylinders; when you are super engaged in the world when you’re learning something new every day, and you’re stimulated by everything around you and your senses are operating at full throttle, whether it’s a nature, whether it’s reading an incredible book, whether it’s looking at the news, and what’s happening, whether it’s talking to a friend about a problem, to me, flow is just being alive and being there for whatever it is you’re doing. I feel flow all the time, wherever I am. Honestly, I like to be an active participant in life. So, there’s not one place where I feel that all is well in the world. I sort of look for things being well in the world, wherever I am.”
Jude Greer. Image: SHE Media
“Flow to me, just off the top of my head, would mean to have no anxiety, to feel confident that everything that’s happening is what’s supposed to be happening, and I can manage it. I don’t often have that feeling. But when I do, I’m often walking my dog. I think that’s a really good time for me to press the reset button. It’s hard for me not to worry and to not be anxious. And to not just spiral the thoughts in my mind. So, I need to do things that are like meditating, taking long walks with my dog and trying to take a beat between activities. Sometimes it feels like we’re just rushing from one thing to the next. Even if it’s like one minute, setting the timer on my phone for one minute and just sitting there.”
Rep. Lauren Underwood. Image: SHE Media
Flow to me means there’s an alignment between my goals and what I’m able to accomplish and what the world receives from my output. And so when that’s all aligned and meeting that same intention, I think we’re in flow. And it’s really magical. I find flow when I’m doing maternal health work, and doing health equity work, and connecting with people to live healthy, well lives.
Maria Shriver. Image: SHE Media
“I don’t think about flow every day, necessarily, but I think about how I’m in sync with myself. How do I start my day? What is the intention of my day? And how do I end my day? And I think that what helps me do that is ritual practices, intention, and the ability to return to myself throughout the day. When I start my day, and when I do a meditation, and when I go slow in my day, and when I keep it simple. And when I’m in conversation with one of my adult children or a friend or when I’m at work, and we’re exchanging ideas, when I’m in the community, that’s when I feel in flow.”
Jamie Wheal. Image: SHE Media
For me, flow means those moments where I experience selflessness, so my inner critic just finally goes quiet. timelessness where I actually get to zero in on just this moment that I’m experiencing and nothing else. effortlessness where everything ceases to be a struggle and becomes intuitive and easy. And richness, where ideas and concepts and connections just form fully in my mind’s eye. The last time I experienced flow was 48 hours ago, dropping in on a big mountain heli-skiing in the Chugach Mountains of Alaska.
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