State of Flow

What is 'flow'? Is it possible to experience the state of 'flow' more frequently throughout the day?

It's an interesting question, coz it makes one think how infrequently one is in a state of 'flow'.
It happens with me at times, when I'm unaware of it - that is the very nature of the state of 'perfect flow', when your mind is so plugged into the activity/task at hand that you lose awareness of time and your surroundings and enter a zone that is much more expansive than your own presence.

You become completely disconnected from the mundane tasks of day to day life. Some common moments that induce such a state are while watching a seat-gripping thriller or any other riveting film, when you're so absorbed in the movie that you lose yourself in it completely.

It also happens when you read a book that is so engaging that it grabs your attention like a steel grip, or on a holiday taken after a long time when you completely switch off from work and just be in the moment.

It can occur while performing household chores like scrubbing the window panes, mopping the floor, even while dancing.

Time spent relaxing on a beach watching the waves crash against the shore and soaking in all the sights, smells, and sounds of nature around us...suspends the thinking of our minds automatically, so that we are merged into the moment so fully that it relaxes us on a very deep level.

That is a classic example of being slowed down to gradually enter a state of flow. Such activities that induce a state of flow nourish our souls, enable us to centre ourselves and instill a sense of peace and harmony, which resonate at a very deep level at our cores.

I so enter a state of flow while writing - words seem to flow unbidden and I'm as detached as I can possibly be from 'real life'. When I resume my daily activities after a compelling spell of writing, it feels like 're-entering' the real world.

On an everyday basis such moments can occur more often if one tries not to multi-task while sipping a cup of tea or coffee and just savour the taste of the hot beverage and the soothing comfort it provides.