Perfect Flow -- And How You Can Make FLOW Work For You
Have you ever been 'in the zone?'
Athletes like Michael Jordan say they are 'in the zone' when every three-pointer, slam- dunk and pass, feels absolutely effortless. When everything, 'just comes together."
Have you felt like that when you're at work, in a social setting, at play? I'm sure you have when you were working towards an important deadline, talking with your good friend, or playing your best game of tennis.
Professionals call, 'the zone' -- FLOW.
FLOW is a term used to describe intense concentration without exercising a burden of effort. It is like meditation, but different in that FLOW requires you to be aware of your outer environment and perform real tasks. You can learn how to control FLOW and make it work for you. New techniques have evolved in the field of applied psychology that can change your life for the better and for the best.
It is especially important for depressives to know how to tap this FLOW, that inner power, because we often lack the concentration and drive to access that power. FLOW is better than happiness because that powerful feeling of safety comes from within, rather than feeling from the outside. A sunny day could storm within an hour but that power is always accessible given the appropriate motivations.
Depressives, we, can't pay attention to our boss's long-winded spiel, we don't care to listen to Aunt Wilma's hap-hap-happy experiences, we don't care to win at meaningless sports like basketball since the symbolic gains aren't worth the energy exerted. We don't care about these things while in process, but we do care about the outcome.
How does it feel when your boss asks you to re-iterate what he's said? It feels terrible -- you're forced to lie to him because you were thinking about dinner. How does it feel when you suddenly realize your Aunt Wilma is waiting for your reply while you've been staring at a crossword puzzle? It doesn't feel good when your friend wonders why, when he is talking to you, you contort your face because you're dreaming about an old memory. You can lose friends that way. The consequences of paying poor attention can be awful.
But with a little practice, everything becomes easy. Studies show that the painful thoughts and feelings that depressives feel come from an area of the brain that zaps our emotional centre when we are least busy, staring into space, watching television, scribbling poetry, counting sheep, etc. You get the point, we feel bad when we aren't busy. I rarely feel depressed when I'm writing these articles because I am forced to concentrate -- the same goes
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