In Pursuit of Flow (Or SHUT UP!!!)

My husband, Chris, is now retired and has loads of time to read (the precious gift of time). He routinely sends me articles. At first overwhelming me,  he has pared down to articles he finds really interesting or funny.

Last week he sent me an article titled: "Zap Your Brain into the Zone: Fast Track to Pure Focus"  Little did I  know that many researchers study the concept of Flow and what happens in the brain when flow occurs. A researcher named Csikszentmihalyi found that while playing, skilled chess players show less activity in their prefrontal cortex, which is where higher cognitive processes occur.

Hmmm, so quiet head = more flow?!

As a social worker I often talk to kids about the negative mind chatter in our heads and that it IS possible to quiet it, not focus so much on it, and enjoy life more as a result. They look at me like I have three heads!!

Of course, as I am talking to them about it I remind myself of the need to monitor my own negative thought patterns  :)

Another researcher, Wulf, found that better learning comes when you turn off conscious thought. Not thinking about what you are doing as much as focusing on the outcome. Ohhhh, so when I struggle (key word) to raise my cylinder walls to higher than 8" it does not go as well as when I imagine the shape of the finished piece? You mean, when I stop telling myself that I am a great, big loser, amateur, pathetic excuse for a human being, I actually make better pots??!!  (Big Duh Moment).

My mom is visiting from California and she joined me in the studio for the past two days. She has negative mind chatter too. Watching her struggle to listen to me through her internal dialog was quite something. However, she was out there trying something completely  new at age 72 and that's pretty cool.



Way to go Mom!

 The author of the article allowed herself to be hooked up for an experiment- something about a nine volt battery hooked up to her head. Apparently the zapping (?) depolarizes the neuronal membranes in a region of the brain, which makes the brain cells more excitable and responsive to input. In essence, creating a state of 'flow'.  Her comments are fascinating...though the point of the research (to train snipers) is more than disturbing. It got me thinking: what would my life be like if the negative chatter was turned OFF- silenced, done, nada.

Oh, the peace.

I hold myself back~ no one does it to me. I've been working to calm the critical voice inside myself even more after reading this and just allow myself to be who I am . I suppose it helps to be in my early 50's with some experience behind me. Only wish I'd known about this when I was younger.

However, if you'd told me this when I was a lot younger I'd probably look at YOU like you had three heads!!