Exploring the Art of Being ‘In the Zone’ – A Buddhist Perspective

Mitali Bhavsar

Mitali Bhavsar MIT World Peace University

Keywords: Flow, Buddhism, Mindfulness, Consciousness, Focus

Abstract

Coined by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1975), the concept of Flow or ‘In the Zone’ is defined as a fully immersed, pleasurable experiential state that occurs when an individual is fully absorbed in the process of an activity. The experience of flow to be influential in the development of an individual requires an ongoing balance of challenge and skill, immediate feedback and clear goals. Since our self-image is a psychological construct, it requires effort and time to build, develop and maintain a skill. Buddhism as a religion was originated in India 2,500 years ago. Studies in positive psychology, neuroscience and cognitive science have yielded numerous findings from this ancient wisdom tradition, both collectively and personally, that can contribute to the improvement of our world. The principles of flow as listed by Csikszentmihalyi can be observed in the scriptures of Buddhism - attention to the present moment, decreased attachment to self and cultivation of calm emotions. Cultivating mindfulness, attention with practice, is likely to increase an individual’s chances of experiencing flow state. During the flow state, a sense of self disappears yet there is a vivid feeling of experiencing present moment. Paradoxically, there is an experience of ‘no self’ and ‘only self’ referred in Zen Buddhism as ‘not two but one self.’ This concept was further termed as Mindflow. The present study aims to explore the concept of flow, it’s components and their connection with respect to the concepts in Buddhism and most importantly, how can one cultivate the art of flow.

Author Biography

Mitali Bhavsar, MIT World Peace University

Mitali Bhavsar is a final year undergraduate psychology student of MIT World Peace University, Pune. Her interest in psychology and interdisciplinary disciplines developed as a result of extensive reading and educating herself with different topics throughout the course. She believes that the aim of scientific activity should be to identify new psychological realms in which people might need our help. Buddhist philosophy has led her to cultivate skills to mindfully follow through her tasks and has substantially contributed to her scientific pursuits.

Email: i.mitalibhavsar.28@gmail.com

References

Abuhamdeh, S., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2012). The importance of challenge for the enjoyment of intrinsically motivated, goal-directed activities. Personality & social psychology bulletin, 38(3), 317–330. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167211427147

Beck, L. (1992). Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Journal of Leisure Research, 24(1), 93–94. https://doi.org/10.1080/00222216.1992.11969876

Biasutti, M., Mark A. Runco, Steven R. Pritzker (2011) Flow and Optimal Experience, Encyclopedia of Creativity (Second Edition), Academic Press, Pages 522-528, ISBN 9780123750389, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375038-9.00099-6.

Bloch, C. (2000). Flow: Beyond Fluidity and Rigidity. A Phenomenological Investigation. Human Studies, 23(1), 43–61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/20011260
Cacioppe, R. (2018). Mindfulness in Flow: The next generation of mindfulness theory, research and practice in higher education. https://Mandala.Library.Virginia.edu/.
Cassaniti, J. L. (2014). Buddhism and positive psychology. In Religion and spirituality across cultures (pp. 101-124). Springer, Dordrecht.
Cheron, G. (2016). How to Measure the Psychological “Flow”? A Neuroscience Perspective. Frontiers in Psychology, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01823
Cooper, A. (2020c, February 20). The Transcendent Imperative. Tricycle: The Buddhist Review. https://tricycle.org/magazine/transcendent-imperative/#:~:text=Its%20characteristics%20include%20joy%2C%20deep%20concentration%2C%20emotional%20buoyancy%2C,subjects%2C%20Csikszentmihalyi%20named%20this%20optimal%20human%20experience%20flow.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1975). Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York, NY: Harper and Row.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2004). Flow, the secret to happiness [Video]. Ted. https://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_flow_the_secret_to_happiness

Csikszentmihalyi, M., Montijo, M. N., & Mouton, A. R. (2018). Flow theory: Optimizing elite performance in the creative realm. In S. I. Pfeiffer, E. Shaunessy-Dedrick, & M. Foley-Nicpon (Eds.), APA handbook of giftedness and talent (pp. 215–229). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000038-014
Dietrich, A. (2004). Neurocognitive mechanisms underlying the experience of flow. Consciousness and Cognition, 13(4), 746–761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2004.07.002
Fadel Zeidan, Susan K. Johnson, Bruce J. Diamond, Zhanna David, Paula Goolkasian (2010) Mindfulness meditation improves cognition: Evidence of brief mental training, Consciousness and Cognition, Volume 19, Issue 2, Pages 597-605, ISSN 1053-8100, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.concog.2010.03.014.
Gold, J., & Ciorciari, J. (2020). A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World. Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland), 10(9), 137. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs10090137

Grant, A. (TED). (2021, September 28). How to stop languishing and start finding flow. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3zPgyvCiJI
Landhäußer, A., & Keller, J. (2012). Flow and its affective, cognitive, and performance-related consequences. In S. Engeser (Ed.), Advances in flow research (pp. 65–85). Springer Science + Business Media. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2359-1_4
McIntosh, W. D. (1997). East meets West: Parallels between Zen Buddhism and social psychology. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 7(1), 37–52. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327582ijpr0701_5
Nakamura, J., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2002). The concept of flow. In C. R. Snyder & S. J. Lopez (Eds.), Handbook of positive psychology (pp. 89-105). New York, NY, USA: Oxford University Press.
Peterson, B. J. (2018) Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping. In 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (pp.71)
Privette, G. (1983). Peak experience, peak performance, and flow: A comparative analysis of positive human experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(6), 1361–1368. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.45.6.1361
Šimleša, M., Guegan, J., Blanchard, E., Tarpin-Bernard, F., & Buisine, S. (2018). The Flow Engine Framework: A Cognitive Model of Optimal Human Experience. Europe's journal of psychology, 14(1), 232–253. https://doi.org/10.5964/ejop.v14i1.1370
Wright, J. J., Sadlo, G., & Stew, G. (2006). Challenge-skills and mindfulness: An exploration of the conundrum of flow process. OTJR: Occupation, Participation and Health, 26(1), 25–32. https://doi.org/10.1177/153944920602600104