Mindful Intensity
Mindfulness and Flow
Let’s continue to unpack Jon Kabat-Zinn’s definition of mindfulness:
Mindfulness is “paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, and nonjudgmentally, to the unfolding of experience moment to moment.”
Photo by Ana Flavia
In her delightful blog Learning Out Loud, my friend Jessica describes the “on purpose” aspect of mindfulness in her recent post “Quieting the Monkey Mind,” where she writes about taking a yoga class:
1 in…2 out…3 in…4 out…downward dog…blossoming butt! ha…that’s funny…k, moving…to the next…pose…ahhhh….1 in…2 out…3 in…4 out…i want some of that chocolate in the other room…5 in….6 out…I wonder what we are going to do tonight? 7 in…8 out…9 in…10 out…ssshhhhhhhh…1 in…2 out…Dominic is reading at church tomorrow! I have to print that..SSSSHHHHHHHH! okay…3 in…4 out…5 in….6 out…7 in…8 out…9 in…10 out…this is good…1 in…2 out…3 in…4 out…5 in….6 out…7 in…8 out…9 in…10 out………………..okay…letting go into the pose……1 in…2 out…3 in…4 out…5 in….6 out…7 in…8 out…9 in…10 out………………..i am doing it! shoot, I just blew it by doing that…
By the way, she is just as fresh and adorable in person. 
Jessica’s experience of paying attention on purpose caused me to wonder whether mindfulness is the same as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s concept of Flow (of which I’m a big fan):
The optimal state of inner experience is one in which there is order in consciousness. This happens when psychic energy—or attention—is invested in realistic goals, and when skills match the opportunities for action. The pursuit of a goal brings order in awareness because a person must concentrate attention on the task at hand and momentarily forget everything else…. “Flow” is the way people describe their state of mind when consciousness is harmoniously ordered, and they want to pursue whatever they are doing for its own sake. (from Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly, Harper Perennial, 1991, p. 6)
In other words, we become so wrapped up in an activity in which our skills are a perfect match for the challenge that we become one with what we are doing and, in a way, lose the weight of self-consciousness. Think of a runner’s high, or even the undivided attention of video game players who are “leveling up.”
Flow and mindful living are sometimes discussed in the same breath, but it seems that, while each is valuable, they are different. Flow occurs because we are pursuing an activity or goal or skill—”invested in realistic goals”—which then results in a sense of well-being, focused attention, and loss of the sense of time. We don’t consciously have to bring our mind back to anything, as Jessica did, because the activity eventually propels the mind so that we don’t have to think about paying attention.
Mindfulness, however, is about awareness or attention itself, even if no outer activity takes place. Perhaps we could say that Flow can happen as the result of pursuing mindfulness, or that we can be in Flow while practicing mindfulness, but is being in Flow necessarily the same as being mindful? I don’t think so.
I’m reminded of a parent who once wondered whether too much Flow could result in distraction from certain aspects of life, especially for intense learners who become addicted to the pursuit—the doing—at the expense of being. This is from Talented Teenagers: The Roots of Success and Failure, by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Kevin Rathunde, Samuel Whalen:
[T]he flow experience is so enjoyable that one wants to repeat it. If one experiences flow in scuba diving, then one will want to dive again so as to have a similar experience. If one reaches the flow state by solving a mathematical problem, then one will keep seeking out more problems to solve. (p. 15)
Parents may think to themselves, I’d love it if my child sought more math problems to solve! But we can also easily imagine an adult who finds and craves Flow in work or running marathons or any other doing activity but is unable to find joy in the simpler moments of being: spending time with his or her young child or listening to a friend or having to recuperate from an unexpected illness. Maybe the practice of mindfulness can complement moments of Flow by helping us to pay attention on purpose regardless of whether we are doing what we prefer to be doing or, for that matter, doing anything at all.
What do you think?
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Great post! I’m a psychologist and often teach mindfulness skills to my clients, as well as try to help them achieve “flow” in their daily performances. I like to look at flow as one aspect of mindfulness. When I use the approach Dialectical Behavior Therapy by Marsha Linehan, I teach six mindfulness skills, and one is called “Participation” which I liken to flow or being “in the zone”.
Jennifer, I can definitely see how flow could be viewed as an aspect of mindfulness, and I’m eager to look into Marsha Linehan’s work. Thank you for your thoughts and resource tips!