I just wrapped up an amazing conversation with New York Times best selling Author, Steven Kotler on the value of a concept he calls Flow and it’s impact on our health. Our talk was incredibly fascinating, quite enlightening and can be found on the Align Podcast!
We got into several fascinating topics including impact of marijuana on mental performance, actionable ways to hack “flow” for optimal health and performance and much more. You are probably wondering what in the world is this concept of Flow in the first place.
Have you ever been in a car accident or any “extreme” situation and noticed a heightened sense of mental acuity? Ever wonder what in the world the experience actually looks like in the brain or perhaps how to harness it in day to day life? Well, we got into all of that in our chat.
Time will actually slow down when we go through certain extreme situations because our brain predominantly processes time in our prefrontal cortex which reduces activity in these instances. Another factor in this was shown in a study conducted at Baylor University of Medicine that showed our amygdala in the brain becomes more active during moments of danger or deep concentration which in turn lays down an extra set of memories on top of that created by other parts of the brain. This could be why as we get older time seems to fly by and as a young child a summer camp feels like an eternity! It could be linked to the novelty of the experience. Therefore, if you want to live longer (or feel as though life didn’t zap by), you need to fill days with new novel experiences to give your brain fresh information to wraps itself around!
Is it ok if we get slightly heady for a moment, we did talk about psychedelics in the interview after all. Our linear time model that we all have agreed to follow, as convenient as it is for scheduling lunches, is fairly arbitrary in terms of our felt sense of time. If a minute to you felt like a life time because your brain is packing in so much acuity to creating memories around every aspect of the novel experience, then you are extending your felt sense of your life line. My challenge to everyone out there…
Load your life with novel challenges and your brain will endow you with the felt sense of multiple lifetimes. Don’t be the guy who chose average and just wants to fit in and not make a stir. This guy is glued to his computer screen all day watching other people create novel experiences and extend their own felt sense of time while his days are zapping away. This guy is going to be an old man, and say wow it felt like just yesterday I was 18 years old and I got nothing of true value to show for this lifetime. Right now is your opportunity to start packing this lifetime with epic novelty! Your brain, body, relationships and everything else will be incredibly appreciative. If your job sucks, change it. If your relationship is draining, end it. If you at any point are hiding who you are to impress others, stop that! Life is a tear drop and if you blink you could miss it.
Alright, back to science talk…
This state of Flow is also tapping into the the theta brain waves which are associated with deep meditation and or REM sleep and is recorded around 4-7.9 Hz. Flow also plays in the alpha waves which is a calm, resting brain state recorded at around 8-14Hz. Why is this relevant? Because these states of mind are also optimal for healing and processing information. On top of that, these are fantastic for dropping our nervous system into more parasympathetic response (AKA rest, digest and heal).
Do we need a wings suit to drop into deeper mental clarity and organization? Absolutely not!
Meditation in various forms produce the same effects, playing instruments, art, dance and almost anything that take you out of thinking about the stresses or preoccupation of thinking about your day and dropping you deeply into the task at hand. These activities are apart of the fountain of youth. More time spent in these states equals greater tissue healing, mental organization and the felt sense of a longer more fulfilled life!
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