What is your favourite flow activity?

Mirna·May 09, 2022

Posted in:Health & Wellness Lifestyle Personal Growth

What is your favorite flow activity?

Flow is that feeling of being "in the zone", feeling immersed in an activity, forgetting about the time passing by and about everything else.

It most often happens when we are involved in an activity we really care about, which involves a meaningful, worthwhile yet difficult goal.

Often it happens in leisure activites such as sports, artistics endeavours, playing music or in great immersive conversations.

Would love to hear what is your favorite flow activity?

Do you feel you have more of flow at work, or in leisure activities, or something third?

What kicks you out of flow and sabotages it sometimes?

In which domain of your work would you like to have more flow?

teresaman·May 09, 2022

There's a particular stretch of trail in New Jersey where I bike that makes me feel very happy and in flow whenever I'm there!Perhaps somewhat of an odd answer, but on a leisurely basis, "smells" kicks me out of flow quite quickly. And then I suppose in a work setting, context-switching between meetings definitely makes me feel not "in the zone".What about you @Mirna?

Mirna·May 10, 2022

:) for me the main ones are sports - horse riding, sailing, diving, hiking, skiing, rollerblading.... and especially nature, anything in nature, especially around sea. Sometimes running (but only if it's in beautiful nature - road running, no way :D). Another strong ones are work (workshops design and workshops delivery), meaningful conversations, reading a good bookWhat breaks it? rushing.... and distractions (eg phoneee - the murderer of flow :D)curious to hear what else shows up in the list of comments, quite an interesting list so far :)

Iynna·May 11, 2022

Really good point on limiting the phone and other electronic devices! How long have you been horseback riding? And any great book you’ve recently read?

Mirna·May 11, 2022

From recent books, I looooveeed the book How to think more effectively by school of life :))) totally flow, such an easy read yet such a beautiful language and interesting ideas :)How about you, any good reading recently? :) For riding, on and off for quite many years (14, perhaps?) but am not super regular with it - I super enjoy trail rides, natural horsemanship style of things, where both you and horse are very free (preferably that horse also has free mouth and not having that metal thingy that I cant think of the what the word is right now :D), that aspect of having it as an activity that is horse-friendly is super important for me (and is not that many places that you can find that kind of riding, unfortunately :/ ) so usually I will have periods when I ride more (eg sometimes planning travel around it, such as in Jordan, Montana, South Africa...) and then other periods when I am doing other stuff :) Are you fan of horses? Or have other preferred furry friends? :)

Iynna·May 12, 2022

So nice and thank you for this book recommendation! I feel like I just added a new one to the list :) As for horseback riding, you are a pro at that! Is it easy to have access to horses where you are?I don't mind horses much, though they are not a favorite animal. I do like dogs and lately I have learned to appreciate kittens. My friend just got one so it's always so refreshing to play with it! :)

Mirna·May 12, 2022

hmmm not so easy to find good horseriding places around here, but I find something super magical about them so dont mind putting in the effort to find right chances to engage with them :) :D we are totally on the same page with dogs and kittens - adore the first ones, and recently learned to appreciate the other ones :D

Iynna·May 12, 2022

Oh nice! I hope in your travels you can find some horses to play with hehe!And yes I was always a big dog person but they are a lot to care for and I don't have time for it, kittens seeem a little lower maintenance!

Mirna·May 13, 2022

yeah, makes sense, especially living in New York, doing wouldn't be simple :/ and I dont think they would enjoy city life so much :)

amandajude·May 20, 2022

I also do natural horsemanship and when life gets hard, they are exactly what puts me in flow-focus. Also running. So happy to connect and find a fellow horse-flow-friend on Elpha:)

Iynna·May 20, 2022

Awe what exactly is natural horsemanship bu the way?

Mirna·May 24, 2022

it's the approach to working with horses that is much more partnership and communication based, then "classical" approach that included more of domination over the horse

teresaman·May 25, 2022

learnt a new concept today! Thanks @amandajude & @Mirna :)

Jannay·May 09, 2022

Running

Iynna·May 11, 2022

YES Running!

BrianaBrownell·May 09, 2022

Coding. If I can spend an entire day doing that, I know I'll feel great at the end of the day.

Iynna·May 11, 2022

I love it! Did you study CS in school or taught yourself?

BrianaBrownell·May 16, 2022

I took a couple programming classes (I majored in math) but really got into it after graduation.

Iynna·May 16, 2022

That's terrific! And what has been your career so far leading up to your startup?

codev91·May 09, 2022

Love getting to design / write code, white boarding and brainstorming with team members. From a leisure perspective experiencing great live music, doing something fun and engaging outside (e.g. snowboarding, hiking), making music.Things that get me out of flow: context switching! Meetings, gchat, etc.Depends on the day / week whether I have more flow at work or in leisure activities.

WenCoaching·May 09, 2022

Cooking. Hiking. Having a laugh with my family or friends!

Iynna·May 11, 2022

Laughing is the best!!! Even on your own hahaAnd what do you like to cook?

Mirna·May 10, 2022

Hiking is definitely on my list too :) and cooking has sooo much potential, but somehow I always end up rushing with it.... a good reminder that I might do it differently ;)

Iynna·May 11, 2022

Laughing is the best!!! Even on your own hahaAnd what do you like to cook?

jennywhichello·May 10, 2022

Building models in Excel. Sometimes writing, but I have to be super passionate about the subject.

Mirna·May 10, 2022

wow, seems like you totally discovered your passion :) brilliant :) thanks for sharing :)

Iynna·May 11, 2022

Will you teach me Excel modelling? I learned this year in bschool and it’s hard :(

rebeccale·May 14, 2022

I'd love to get some pointers from you. I'm trying to work on a chargability and project profitablity report wondering if my format should change and if there is a way to automate it.

smriti·May 10, 2022

Catching up with a good friend. The other one for me is gardening ie watering, weeding, pruning, cutting flowers.

Mirna·May 10, 2022

oooh what a relaxing list :)

schow·May 10, 2022

Dance class 💕

Iynna·May 11, 2022

Nothing beats shaking your body!

caleighdrane·May 10, 2022

I’m a musician, so nothing feels more in the flow than drilling a difficult passage of music and having it start to click. When the transition in my brain moves from “this is confusing” to “ok I know I can master this” it becomes irresistible to play it over and over. It’s really intellectually rigorous but so rewarding, especially if I’m going to eventually perform it - then I know I get to rock it in front of an audience! 🤘🏼

Mirna·May 11, 2022

wow, sounds so amazing :) do you write music or play? what instrument?

caleighdrane·May 26, 2022

Thanks! I mostly play and write a little. :) I'm a cellist, primarily, but also play synthesizers and sing.

Mirna·May 27, 2022

wow cello, must the the most beautiful of all the instruments :) but does not look like it's easy to play it, well done :)

Iynna·May 11, 2022

Oh such a good question! I don’t think I have any because I can get sidetracked quickly but definitely NOT when I run! It’s one of my favorite things to do and also perhaps being on Elpha and responding to these kinds of posts!

Mirna·May 11, 2022

wow, well done on the running :) might be a great question what can you take from your running practice (in terms of mindset, habits, attitude) that you could also apply to other activities (so they also go closer towards flow)? :))Loving this thread so far, thanks so much for throwing in your thoughts :)

lsheehy·May 12, 2022

In a literal sense, yoga! I love vinyasa style yoga especially, tapping into body and mind connection. Often get lost in movement.

LeeGarverick·May 14, 2022

Designing anything - a user interface and workflow, a business model, a team. Uninterrupted time when thoughts coalesce.

amandajude·May 20, 2022

You sound like a PM after my own heart! I love that stuff, too. I connected on LinkedIn, as well:)

jessicap·May 20, 2022

saaaameee!! this exact feeling is what helped me transition from data science to PM. I thought I liked machine learning and coding, but then I discovered PM work and I was like -- oh, I don't think DS work compares in satisfaction to me! I managed to marry the two in my professional life which is a double win!

cassielowell·May 15, 2022

Comically, the activity itself is called "flow arts"! :) If you've ever seen fire spinning at a luau type event, "flow arts" is the overarching umbrella that describes that type of prop-based dance that evolved out of the original Maori tradition.I pop some headphones on, I pick up my prop (these days it's rope dart), and I just kind of... go. It's a little like dancing with yourself, but there's an object to focus on that will naturally want to move in certain ways as you move your own body with it. It's a bit like puppeteering or juggling crossed with tai chi or other martial arts. When you practice, it's easy to start and stop and move however feels right. When you actually light that thing on fire, there's this immediate adrenaline rush of knowing that you're holding something extremely powerful in your hands that you start wrapping around your limbs and body. The wooshing noise of fire has an uncanny ability to drown everything else out, and I've really never experienced anything else quite like it.

Mirna·May 18, 2022

wow, that's pretty cool :) I can imagine it would pull you right into deep focus needed for flow