The extrodinary effort and arduous dedication that professional athletes, performing artists and adrenaline junkies are willing to endure for the ecstacy of flowstate expression is apparent proof of a novel and quintessential state of being that literally defy belief. Words associated with the experience are mostly superlative and incredulous, and research subjects often rated it better than coitus. 'Impossible!' I hear you say dear reader, but bear with me as I tell you a tale of the man who discovered the key to unlocking effortless ardour, suspended animation, optimal productivity, and religious ecstacy, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
Csíkszentmihályi documented the process of Flowstate Entrainment, defined the principles that endear entrainment, and identified the incidental relevance of his findings to related fields of human endevour. Why I believe he deserves a place in the annals of history is his recognition of the common neuro cognitive brainwave pattern evident in a wide range of seemingly disparate means of flowstate expressions. His research on the theory of Flow and its application to optimal productivity, creativity, inspiration and ecstatic expressions and patented principles for engaging and maintaining flow state expression is largely un-recognised. The lack of general uptake and application of the common principles that manifest flow and endear entrainment is likely due to a combination of disbelief and the threat his findings poses to proprietary purveyors of flow state entrainment. With proponents ranging from Big Business to the whole of the Health and Vitality Industry, and his findings suggesting that proprietary methods are obselete it easy to see why nobody knows the name of Mihaly. In addition it is worth noting that it was the application of Mihaly's principles that made the Wii gaming platform such a addictive gameplay console, unrivalled in the eyes of any gamer who ever finished one of the epic Guitar Hero tracts.
Realising that the OBE (out of body experience) of getting to 'The Zone' that drive gamers to immersive gaming platforms is akin to the addictive features that make players spend weeks in artificial flowstate suspension and display the same neurocognitive, metabolic and physiological profile as long distance athletes, ravers, and performance artists raises a number of pertinent questions. Not the least of which why people prefer to participate in proprietary activities when there are numerous applications that not only practice flowstate entrainment without the inherent challenges of online social platforms, but appropriate the benefits of flow in creative, innovative and inspirational endeavors.
The ambient experience of awe, wonder and amaze is a vested feature of flow. Whereas the science is still lacking, our experience of the entrainment effect is clearly evident in the entertainment industry. The most obvious illustration of the effect is seen in programmes like X Factor and performances like Alex Boye and Susan Boyle who leave a tangible and lasting impression on the audience, and the viewers who watch the production. The same is entertainment principle apply to programmes like So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing With The Stars where the flowstate that make performers excel at their craft entrain the awe of the audience and inspire the change that follow in the wake of each production. Acknowledging that the rapture of religious fervor and the trance of a rave is the same as a Sufi or Swami or Oracle experience is a baffling realisation, but a fact that is apparent by the wide variety of experiences that many of the research subjects reported. After following the same experimental induction of flowstate entrainment the response of participants ranged from meeting alien beings in astral travels in non believers, to the rapture of religious ecstasy in devout subjects.
Most of the participants described the time they spent in flow as a suspended animation, often as "having the best time of their life", and the feeling of being at one with the universe. From Zen Buddhism to Japanese Tea Ceremonies, Aikido, Cheng Hsin, Judo, Kendo, Ikebana, and transcendental meditation, they all apply the same principles of flowstate entrainment the Csíkszentmihályi documented.
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