Why Flow States are a ‘Bit of a Blur’ & How TRE Can Help You Get There

For anyone who watched the BBL cricket final recently we were privileged to see Mitch Owen reach the holy Grail of high-performance  – a peak performance ‘flow state’ of extreme mental clarity with a body intuitively reacting with highly-trained responses to each & every moment.

The question for any of us working in the field of high performance is how can we help our clients access these flow states on a more regular & repeatable basis?

“Every gold medal or world championship that’s ever been won, most likely, we now know, there’s a flow state behind the victory.” Michael Sachs, Sports Psychologist, Temple University Sports.

One of the key reasons peak performance states are often experienced as “a bit of a blur” (as expressed by Owen immediately after his innings) is because flow states are not created by our cognitive mind.

When someone ‘has a night out,’ is ‘on a roll’ or is ‘in the zone,’ it’s not because of their ‘mindset’ or the way they are thinking in those moments - but rather its opposite.

In the deepest flow states we are not consciously thinking at all.

“During flow, the brain shifts from fast-moving beta waves down to the slower alpha and theta waves. We also see transient hypofrontality, meaning portions of the prefrontal cortex temporarily shut down, silencing our inner critic and creating the ultimate feeling of focus and fluidity.” Steven Kotlter, author of ‘The Rise of Superman’

During flow our ‘system’ takes over & our body (or subconscious mind) responds to each moment from a deeper (& faster) place than our slower-processing cognitive mind will ever be capable of.

Flow states therefor are not so much something we actively do, as much as something we passively allow ourselves to ‘fall into’ – just like falling asleep.

During flow we fall into a subtle kind of ‘trance,’ where our thinking mind is liberated by the spontaneous movements of our highly-trained system - while our conscious mind simply becomes present to our experience & comes along for the ride.

Flow states therefor are not something we ‘think ourselves into’ as much as states we stop ‘thinking ourselves out of.’

And while we can trigger flow states by altering our experience of gravity or putting ourselves into environments with a serious risk of injury or death, in my experience there is nothing that allows people to access & entrain flow states more easily & effficiently than spontaneous 'neurogenic' practices such as TRE.

During TRE we use simple exercises & muscle fatigue to invoke our body’s natural spontaneous movement response – from individual parts of the body shaking & trembling independently of each other through to full body fascial stretches being organised & coordinated via strength & flexibility well beyond the limits of our cognitively thinking mind.

“Your dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is your ‘inner critic’ & that also turns off – this is why your sense of self goes away, creativity goes up & you free yourself from yourself. Essentially, you get out of your own way.” Dr Isaac Jones, www.superhumanentrepreneur.com

While huge advancements have occurred through the recent explosion in ‘mindset’ training  the holy grail of peak performance is not actually about our mindset at all  - but rather what our body is doing instead.

When our ‘muscle memory’ (as it is commonly known) organises our movements unencumbered by the muscular tension & tightening commonly associated with conscious thoughts of technique, strategy & outcomes – including those outcomes we don’t desire.

States when our body takes over & leads our process free from thoughts, worries or ideas.

States commonly experienced during the ancient martial art of Seiki Jutsu (practiced by Samurai Warriors renowned for their seemingly super-human powers) when their bodies began to spontaneously move after meditating themselves into a state of surrendering their breath & their consciously directing mind.

A state at the heart of the eastern concept of ‘Wu Wei’ (the art of non-doing) & a state that modern day ‘warriors’ including Elite Soldiers, First Responders Olympic Athletes & AFL Footballers experience the moment their body begins to spontaneously shake & tremble using the contemporary practice of TRE.

Spontaneous movements that in just a few minutes release muscular tension, still our mind, deepen our breathing & rebalance our neuromuscular system in a way that would otherwise take a life-time to master or control consciously.

With TRE, it’s the movements themselves that ‘meditate the mind’, opening a doorway to entraining flow on demand & providing you with a practical pathway to fall into flow whenever & wherever you need to.

For videos & more information visit TRE for High Performance or to learn TRE for yourself check out my online course at www.trecourse.com