Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi – Flow The Psychology of Optimal Experience

In his seminal work, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihalyi outlines his theory that people are most happy when they are in a state of flow. The idea of flow is the same as the feeling of being in the zone. The optimal state of motivation is the flow state, where the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing. This is a feeling everyone has at times, characterized by a feeling of great freedom, enjoyment, fulfillment, and skill, and during which temporal concerns (time, food, ego-self, etc.) are typically ignored.

Flow is being completely involved in an activity for its own sake, according to Csikszentmihalyi. The ego is gone. It seems like time flies. Like playing jazz, every action, movement, and thought follows the previous one. You are using your skills to the fullest, and your whole being is involved.

A balance must be struck between the skill of the performer and the challenge of the task to achieve a flow state. Flow cannot occur if the task is too easy.

It has been noted that yoga, meditation, and martial arts can improve a person’s capacity for flow. The activities train and improve attention.

Flow could be described as a state where attention, motivation, and the situation meet, resulting in a kind of productive harmony or feedback.

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