Hi Everyone, I’m hearing that a lot of you are already feeling overwhelmed after just one week back at work, so my next few posts and tips are here to help you to: 1. Find your flow to minimise overwhelm & anxiety. 2. Heighten your awareness so that you notice when you are actually in a state of flow & can therefore deepen it. Finding flow makes your life better, you stop feeling like you are always fighting against a strong current and instead your are going with it. As always I will be keeping things simple, as they should be. #1 ENGAGE IN MORE FUN ACTIVITIES WITH AWARENESS of HANDS, FEET & EYES. I wrote about the importance of fun in my January 1st post and how it contributes to a Peak Performance State, are you remembering to have fun regularly, it may be more important than you realise? The addition here is that I now want you to place some of your awareness on particular areas of your body when engaged in the fun activity - including your hands, feet and eyes. I am sure this sounds very strange to some of you but please let me explain. Hands & Feet - Awareness of what they are doing & feeling whilst you are having fun activates the front lobes of the brain, enhancing the brains ability to tune into what you are doing even further, allowing for greater mood, balance, motor skill & co-ordination. The more you become aware of the hands & feet, the more you can tune into the state known as flow. Interestingly, science is now suggesting that for some time post activity (with added awareness) you will have a greater capacity to be creative and solution focused on whatever you may be tending to. Eyes - Become aware of going from sharp, narrow focus (looking intently at things close to you) to open focus (awareness of the bigger picture e.g the surrounding environment) this is more like gazing rather than sharp focus. Sharp, narrow focus directly affects the brains threat response, the more we stay in narrow focus the easier it is to become overwhelmed, anxious and foggy-brained - think staring intently at your computer screen all day/night without taking a break. It’s important to periodically go from narrow focus to open focus, this reduces the brains response to threat and allows a greater state of flow. If you are stuck on or highly stressed about something it pays to get outside and into a wide open space to help with new ideas and calming your state. As your focus changes, the visual centres of the brain actively affect your brain wave state in the following ways: ~ Prolonged narrow focus leads to a Beta/Stress brain wave pattern ~ Open focus or peripheral awareness leads to an alpha/theta/non-stress brain wave pattern and a zone-flow like state. So when you are doing a fun activity/hobby see if you can remember to engage in open focus more often whilst tuning in to the actions & sensations in your hands and feet. In the attached footage you will see what I often do when I take breaks from my computer. I am practicing Wing Chun Kung Fu on a Wooden Dummy, I am placing my awareness on the my hands & feet and I have my favourite tunes playing. In these moments I forget all else, its an amazing process. If you’d like more detailed information on this point, there’s a great book called The Open-Focus Brain - Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mond & Body by Dr Les Fehmi & Jim Robbins which looks at how focusing on these areas of the body during activity creates a brain wave pattern that allows amazing flow and performance. ADDITIVE: MUSIC - If the fun activity allows, add music to the moment and tune into the rhythm. Music that you enjoy directly activates the dopamine receptors in your brain allowing greater expression of this happy hormone, you have even more fun and your ability to focus is also heightened. Music will help you synchronise to flow, deepen the state and heighten your experience of being in the ‘now’. All Work & No Play = No Flow Go with the Flow, Nam
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 09:00:00 +0000
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