Flow

 Descriptions of the phenomenon 'flow state' are vague. That is because flow states are personal experiences. Personal experiences are hard to quantify. Although analysis of personal experiences is hard, it is essential for an understanding of the Self. Without an understanding of the Self we cannot know what makes us tick. Once we know ourselves Mushin or flow state can help us live our lives in touch with the Self.

My first experience with flow states was not in the heat of battle, although I would come to experience it in these moments as well. My first  experience with flow states was while playing drums in my high-school punk band. We were playing a favorite song of mine. I got into the groove, as we call it, and a feeling of effortless self expression took me over. I didn't realize until I analyzed that moment years later that my world had become very small just me and my drumset. The guitarist faded out, almost completely. I just let go and played, tipping and tapping away with skill and intuition. After I finished my 'solo' and came back to the wider world, my band mate told me I had been playing for five minutes. In my Service career I experienced a  handful of times when the challenge presented was hard enough to be stimulating and easy enough to be fun. I will premise here however, I do not enjoy violence. Real violence is dirty, dangerous and animalistic. What I mean by fun is stimulating. Imagine you are struggling to protect yourself or achieve a law enforcement goal, the stakes are high and your adrenaline is pumping, trust me you'll be stimulated. In those moments there was nothing except myself and the subject. Now, don't go thinking that this can only happen during violent situations. Nope, it also has happened to me during de-escalation situations and during wonderful family moments. The trick is to maintain this clarity all life through. Some people who actively practice this are Zen meditation practitioners, martial artists, athletes, musicians and everyday people.

Mushin is Japanese for 'mind without mind', Wuxin in Chinese. It is a mental state in which a person's mind is focused on nothing except the task currently being performed. They mean absolutely nothing. The mind of a person practicing Mushin would lack discursive thought and judgment. They would be able to act or react with clear self-awareness, free from desires and assumptions. Flow state is the same thing as Mushin. A mental state where the person is completely focused on a single task or activity. Melting together of action and consciousness. Being fully immersed in a sense of energized focus. With full involvement and enjoyment of the process.

Now, how and why to practice flow state on the regular. Imagine going through life effortlessly. You aren't bothered by intrusive thoughts. You are in command of your emotions and you act without hesitation with full confidence in yourself and your abilities. Sounds nice doesn't it. It is possible, for those of you in my shoes four or five years ago. Now I am not perfect, but that is no reason not to keep at it everyday. First step is to learn about mindful meditation. We'll cover meditation more later, but know that mindfulness meditation can be practiced while doing anything and everything. The point of mindfulness meditation is to focus only on one thing, period. If you are walking you only focus on walking not spying on your neighbour's or judging their holiday display. In the beginning start by practicing mindfulness during specific activities. Once you catch on to being mindful, start to apply it to other activities, like paying attention to your family at the supper table rather than thinking about what a doink your boss was that day. Through Being mindful we can begin to explore our traumas, preconceptions and emotions through a calm and controlled lense. Through being mindful we can also work at tapping into our truest selves and we can begin living our truest lives. Once you can apply this mindfulness fully in your whole life you are in Mushin or in a flow state, living honestly and in command of yourself. 

I don't think I can say it enough. Mindfulness is the key to coming back from trauma, we can't heal if we don't understand what is ailing us. So, I strongly suggest exploring it. It is the biggest hurdle to living effortlessly.

If you would like to see the YouTube video companion to this article click this link to my Youtube channel, https://youtu.be/VLKb5S1pfSs. If you would like to hear the soundtrack to the video go to this to my SoundCloud channel, https://soundcloud.com/michael-doucette-514549408/knife-flow. 

Be well,

Sensei Mike