{"id":202852,"date":"2016-10-03T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.secretenergy.com\/?p=202852"},"modified":"2019-10-05T11:32:20","modified_gmt":"2019-10-05T11:32:20","slug":"flow-state-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/secretenergy.com\/flow-state-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Flow State Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

The best way to describe a flow state is to use the example of practically every action movie released since The Matrix.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Experiencing flow is similar to being in bullet time<\/em>, where\u00a0a person in flow obtains the ability to keenly hone their focus on the task at hand so that everything else disappears.<\/p>\n

\"18ft704ny4go0jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Steven Kotler is an award-winning journalist, a\u00a0New York Times<\/em> bestselling author,\u00a0and co-founder and director of research for The Flow Genome Project<\/a>. His books include the non-fiction works The Rise of Superman<\/em>, Abundance<\/em>, A Small Furry Prayer<\/em>, West of Jesus<\/em>, and the novel The Angle Quickest for Flight<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Kotler explains that beneath a flow state lies a complicated mass of neurobiology<\/em>.\u00a0 There\u2019s a common myth that humans only use about 10% of their brains.\u00a0 If we were to assume this (and we wouldn\u2019t, because it\u2019s bogus), an optimal performance would then mean the brain works harder and faster to achieve 100% efficiency.<\/p>\n

\n

As Kotler explains, the 10% myth has it all backward.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cIn flow, parts of the brain aren\u2019t becoming more hyperactive, they\u2019re actually slowing down, shutting down.\u00a0 The technical term for this is transient, meaning temporary, hypofrontality.\u00a0 Hypo it\u2019s the opposite of hyper, it means to slow down, to shut down, to deactivate.\u00a0 And frontality is the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain that houses your higher cognitive functions, your sense of morality, your sense of will, your sense of self.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The prefrontal cortex also calculates time<\/a> and this is the part that needs to be shut down.\u00a0 When we experience transient hypofrontality, we lose the ability to assess past, present, and future.\u00a0 As Kotler explains it, \u201cwe\u2019re plunged into what researchers call the deep now<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/em><\/p>\n

So what causes transient hypofrontality?\u00a0<\/em> It was once assumed that flow states are an affliction reserved only for schizophrenics and drug addicts, but in the early 2000s, a researcher named Aaron Dietrich realized that transient hypofrontality underpins every altered state \u2014 from dreaming to mindfulness<\/a>\u00a0to psychedelic trips and everything in-between.\u00a0 Sometimes these altered states involve other parts of the brain shutting down.\u00a0 For example, when the\u00a0dorsolateral prefrontal cortex disconnects, your sense of self-doubt and the brain\u2019s inner critic get silenced.\u00a0 This results in boosted states of confidence and creativity.<\/p>\n

While researchers have been studying flow for over 140 years, recent advances in brain imaging technology have led to significant neuroscientific revelations and should lead to many more.\u00a0 Whether or not we\u2019ll be able to develop a \u201cNeo switch<\/em>\u201d so that bullet time can be all the time\u2026 well, I suppose it depends on just how far the rabbit hole goes.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The best way to describe a flow state is to use the example of practically every action movie released since The Matrix.\u00a0\u00a0Experiencing flow is similar to being in bullet time, where\u00a0a person in flow obtains the ability to keenly hone their focus on the task at hand so that everything else disappears. Steven Kotler is … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":268803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"subtitle":"","web1url":"","linkedin_url":"","fburl":"","twitterurl":"","instagram":"","youtubeurl":"","tags":[],"ratings_average":"","ratings_users":"","sc_name":"","sc_title":"","sc_description":"","sc_social_links_instagram":"","sc_social_links_secretenergy":"","sc_social_links_youtube":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[969],"tags":[2253,2254,2255,2256,2257,2258],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFlow State Research • Secret Energy<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/secretenergy.com\/flow-state-research\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Flow State Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The best way to describe a flow state is to use the example of practically every action movie released since The Matrix.\u00a0\u00a0Experiencing flow is similar to being in bullet time, where\u00a0a person in flow obtains the ability to keenly hone their focus on the task at hand so that everything else disappears. 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