The other night I had a new student come to my yoga class. After class, she approached me to tell me that the class was “amazing.”
It’s always nice to receive a compliment, but I like to understand the why behind it — that’s where my growth opportunity lies.
So I asked her what made it amazing.
She responded that the class challenged her in a good way — and in a way that she isn’t often challenged in a yoga class.
She explained that in other classes she had attended, the flows often go so fast that she is racing through poses. The challenge for her in those classes is in keeping up with the flow, or even getting into the pose in the first place if it’s a complex pose. She said that by the time she got into one pose the teacher was already on to the next. She felt stressed keeping up and fear of injuring herself.
I teach at a slower pace, with a focus on alignment. I give explicit cues to direct my students into the poses unambiguously, and I often have them hold the poses for a few breaths to give them time to find their way within the pose. Although the pace might be slower, my classes aren’t easy.
My new student said she felt the challenge of being in the pose properly and of holding the pose for a few breaths.
She repeated something other students have said: I never knew the basics could be so hard.
Fundamentals — both on the mat and in life — are of course harder than most people give them credit for.
The Overlooked Element of Flow State
My student’s feedback speaks to an often overlooked fundamental of flow state — whether on the mat or off.
Research on flow states shows that to get into a flow state requires that the task challenges us to some degree.
But to find flow, the challenge has to be the right type of challenge. Not every challenge will lead to flow state.
For example, learning a new skill is crucial for growth, but the challenge involved in learning a new skill is unlikely to generate flow state. Learning a new skill tests the limits of frustration tolerance, which means it is best done in small chunks, ideally padded with confidence-boosting activities on either side.
What is “the right type of challenge” for flow state?
This will vary based on the individual, but there are 3 general principles.
Related Reading: 11 Elements to Create Focus and Flow — Especially for People with ADHD
3 Principles to Find the Right Challenge for Flow State
(1) Competency
Flow state comes when we have a certain level of competence in a task. One feature of flow state, is that the active, attentive mind disengages as we do the task. We are focused, but not hyper-vigilance. If your mind is worried about technique and form, you are by definition not in a flow state.
For a task to generate flow state we must practice technique until we gain competency.
In my yoga classes, I often repeat a small sequence of poses in the flow. The first time through we will go slowly to focus on alignment. Each time we repeat that sequence, we pick up the pace slightly. With repetition, the students feel more competent in the sequence, allowing them to let go of their fears and be in the moment with the flow.
(2) Confidence
It’s one thing to be competent, but we also need confidence in our capacity to execute the task. Without confidence, your mind goes to a place of self-doubt and questioning every move. That’s the opposite of flow state.
We need confidence in our physical strength and capacity, but that alone isn’t enough. We also need confidence in the techniques of the task.
To gain confidence requires repetition of the proper technique with feedback. It’s the feedback that assures us we are executing the technique properly, and this knowledge creates confidence.
(3) Comfort/Safety
In my physical practice — especially in my workouts — nothing takes me out of flow state faster than physical pain.
Pain, or unexplained sensations, send signals to the nervous system that something is “wrong.” When the nervous system doesn’t feel safe, it shuts down movement, leading to a form of “paralysis.”
Many people with ADHD have hyper-vigilant nervous systems that can create physical paralysis in movement.
The same principle applies to cognitive work. Hyper-vigilance is the opposite of flow state.
It is, of course, important to expand your comfort zone. But, just like with learning new things, the process of expanding your comfort zone will not put you in a flow state.
Comfort zone expansion is best done with support to reinforce your safety.
Flow state requires that we have a certain level of comfort with the task and feel safe in executing it on our own.
Related Read: 7 More Elements to Create Focus and Flow
Find the Right Challenge
To get into a flow state requires that we have a certain level of challenge. But the challenge needs to be one where we also have competency in the task, confidence in the underlying technique, and feel a sense of comfort or safety in executing the task.
The particular challenges that lead to flow state will change as you learn new skills and develop your competency, boost your confidence, and expand your comfort zone.
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