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MEDITATION + FLOW

Reasons Everyone should Meditate 

(according to Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu - a western Buddhist Monk.)



  1. ​Meditation purifies the mind.
  2. It helps to heal mental illness, such as anxiety and insomnia.
  3. Meditation diminishes pain and suffering of both mind and the body.
  4. Allows you to move yourself onto the right path.
  5. Meditation makes you 'free'. Otherwise known as Nirvana.

Flow

Halcyon Nights



"A man takes part in a new energizing activity on the streets of London."

Meditation is not something purely practised by the religious or very alternative. It is a practice that trains and focuses the mind. In contrast with how many believe meditation is accomplished, it does not necessarily involve sitting in the 'lotus' position. Meditation techniques include sitting, standing, walking and carrying out meditative tasks. The latter is what this thesis will investigate and explore.



Meditative activities include anything that allows the mind to focus on one achievable goal, such as craft work, art, dancing etc.

Two notions that are achieved through meditation according to Buddhism are;



  • Serenity (steadies, composes, unifies and concentrates the mind).
  • Insight (enables the brain to see formations). 



Both of this notions are also included and relevant to the theory of 'flow'.



Flow is a theory on a mental state of complete immersion in what you are doing. It is often known as being 'in the zone'. Flow can be achieved regardless of education, age or culture, and is the result of high challenge matched with high skill for that challenge. The challenge, or goal, must be achievable, and one will only reach flow if they feel they have the ability to reach the goal. Flow can come to us in many activities, but it is often what we most enjoy doing. For many people, work is the perfect opportunity to achieve the state of flow, but we must enjoy it, or enjoy the task at hand.



Flow allows us to reach a high level of efficiency and self reward, and has the power to 'leave our ego behind' and become part of something bigger.



However, flow can be interrupted by other emotions, thoughts, or exterior influences such as emails, texts or other people. Once flow is broken, it is thought to take 15 minutes to reach the state of flow again, if at all.

 

The notion of Flow was proposed by psychology professor Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He states that there are seven aspects to how it feels to be in flow;



  • Completely involved in what we are doing - focused, concentrated.
  • A sense of ecstasy  - of being outside every day reality.
  • Great inner clarity - knowing what needs to be done, and how well we are doing.
  • Knowing that the activity is doable , that our skills are adequate for the task.
  • A sense of serenity - no worries about oneself, and a feeling of growing beyond the boundaries of the ego.
  • Timelessness - thoroughly focused on the present, hours seem to pass by in minutes.
  • Intrinsic motivation - whatever produces flow becomes its own reward.



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The Csikszentmihalyi Flow Model

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Buddhist meditation can achieve a state of flow 'access concentration'. It is used to strengthen concentration and develop insight.

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T​he ultimate question for this is, how do we put more of life into flow?



Most theorists acknowledge that flow is an intrinsic activity, but Csikszentmihalyi was the first to suggest that there are extrinsic notions of flow that include designing for flow. For example, a playground may be designed to elicit the experience of flow.



This potential allows it to be applied within the discipline of architecture. 

B​elow is a short film that addresses the notion of flow.

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