Getting in our own way, it turns out, is the condition of most people most of the time. ![]() “Which is why, 25 years later, I find myself sitting in a tight blue cap with a 120 electrical leads wired to my head, while four scientists of the Therapeutic Neuroscience Lab scurry around me tweaking knobs, rattling keyboards, and testing gear.” The reason that we can’t get into flow is because we get in our own way. It totally sucked: a classic experience of choking. Instead, I was over thinking every move, second-guessing all my instincts, and found myself utterly unable to perform. It seemed like no matter what I did, I just couldn’t get back to that state of flow. The pressure was on, but something was wrong. I had done so well in that bout that now the teacher and other students expected me to perform at that level every time, never mind that I expected it of myself. I learned the painful answer to this question during the months of clobberings that followed that one magical day in karate class. So why can’t we be in a flow state all the time? Top athletes and musicians, and even hackers, stockbrokers, and poker players all report taking advantage of this condition of peak performance, focus, and clarity. Flow is also associated with the highest levels of human functioning and achievement. Flow feels good-smooth, masterful, concentrated calm-and at its peak, it can be intensely pleasurable. There is a wealth of colloquial terms we use to talk about flow: being in the zone, on a roll, in the moment, in a groove, in tune, on fire, centered, in the now. Though it was first clinically defined by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (Chik-zent-mee-hi) in the 1970s, we have known about the flow state for millennia. DaydreamingĪ “flow state” means to be fully absorbed in an activity to the point of losing yourself in the joy that comes with doing it. Those are the stakes, but getting there won’t be easy. I’m playing the role of lab rat in a groundbreaking test intended to teach us how to find that same state of flow on call using real time EEG brain scanning, state of the art signal processing, and theories from psychology, neuroscience, and Eastern religion. The clues these scientists hope to uncover are small steps in a massive project that could forever change the way we cure addiction, treat anxiety and depression, and even teach meditation-eventually making the flow state easily available to everyone, with potentially world-changing ramifications for the human race. Which is why, 25 years later, I find myself sitting in a tight blue cap with a 120 electrical leads wired to my head, while four scientists of the Therapeutic Neuroscience Lab scurry around me tweaking knobs, rattling keyboards, and testing gear. That moment of being in a flow state remains one of the most powerful and beautiful things I have ever experienced. All that mattered in that moment was that timeless flash when there was no sense of self, no me, just a body effortlessly flying through space toward the inevitable goal. Somehow I had scored a point against the best in the class, but paradoxically I didn’t care. When the coach shouted, “Go!,” my body shot through the air like a lightning bolt, my fist connecting to my opponent’s ribs. ![]() The room, the other students, and everything else faded into irrelevance, leaving my awareness filled only with my opponent in his white gi. Nervous anticipation disappeared and I snapped into total focus. But nanoseconds before the fight began, something shifted. I was moments away from sparring with the top student in my karate class in Japan: a fast, coordinated monster who had defeated all challengers. ![]() ![]() Heart racing and fists shaking, I stood ready to fight. How one scientist is blending ancient philosophy with modern neuroscience to fight addiction
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