In the Flow
Red coffee cup. Book review in New York Times. It bleeds, it leads.
The usual way I write this blog is by scribbling things at random, whatever comes to mind, to get myself into the flow. It might be a funny way to start, but I learned to write in newsrooms and it always worked there, too. Those newsrooms were populated by angry, gesticulating screamers, a few colorful drunks and people with dark circles under their eyes chanting “if it bleeds, it leads.” Concentration was required if anything was going to get written on my shift.
We all have our concentration rituals. My mother, who was a sculptor, would always begin a new project by drinking coffee out of a red mug. After she died, her yoga teacher asked to have that red mug, so we gave it to her. 
To get myself in the flow I turn on the Universe Machine. It’s an electronic practice tool for players of classical Indian music and it sends out a quiet, subtly drifting drone note.
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According to current research, concentration results when we get some neurons in the prefrontal cortex of the brain to oscillate in unison. The oscillations are called gamma waves. Scientists believe you can get them pumping together by looking at flashing pulses of light. Such neural harmonizing is probably what’s happening when people meditate and find that their powers of concentration have increased. They are putting the brain into a state of greater synchrony.
If you want to get into the flow you also have to cut down on distractions, particularly those coming in through your ears – like your iPod or the TV. According to Winifred Gallagher, author of Rapt, a book recently reviewed in the New York Times, it’s hard for the brain to avoid paying attention to sounds, particularly voices. That’s why the vibration of the Universe Machine helps – it simplifies the sonic environment.
To get in the flow you also have to drop any self-consciousness. (“That little yellow ball’s coming at me really fast. With my limited tennis skills, do I really think I can hit it? Hey, I missed it. I am so bummed out and I suck at tennis.”) To win at tennis you somehow have to merge action and awareness and silence your inner critic. That’s been the focus of a sports coach named W. Timothy Gallwey, a meditation practitioner who wrote “The Inner Game of Tennis.” When you mentally hit reset after every point you get in the groove and get on your game.
The state of “flow” itself has been studied by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of the seminal book, “Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience.” Time flies when you’re having fun, and time becomes elastic when you are in the creative flow. Completely losing track of time is one of the nine factors, according to Csikszentmihalyi, that are the hallmarks of flow. If you want to find your flow it’s best to try only while undertaking a task that is rewarding all by itself – pleasure in accomplishment helps flow happen.
Getting your groove on is not magic. You just have to set up the right conditions for it to happen: minimize distractions, cultivate a sense of focus (meditation would work) and sometimes you need to use the red coffee cup.
