Yin and Yang Flow States
Many people are familiar with the mindset and conditions necessary for the “flow state” put forth by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. It is summarized by others like Johan Hari, author of Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention – and How To Think Deeply Again, as a state of intense focus that occurs when an individual engages with a goal-driven challenge at the edge of one’s abilities. Johan also paraphrases Mihaly as saying that flow states cannot be achieved through deep relaxation, but only by pushing oneself to the edge of one’s abilities.
Having experienced this flow state myself (as I imagine many people have) during sustained periods of creative writing, martial arts practice, playing music alone or with others, and translating classical medical Chinese into English, I have also experienced flow during deep and prolonged states of meditation. I know this to be the case, because I have experienced one of the hallmark characteristics of flow during stillness-based meditation, which is the elasticity of time: some moments seem to go on forever (time dilation), while the entire experience seems to pass in the blink of an eye (time contraction).
I don’t think that meditative experiences should be excluded from the notion of flow, I simply believe that they belong to a different class of flow. The type of flow described by Mihaly is a yang flow state: one that involves strong effort and intensely focused attention. The type of flow experienced in deep meditation, and in some other mind-body practices, is a yin flow state: one that involves the experience of surrender while maintaining just enough intention to be present and aware. Much about the nature of these experiences is different, but one facet of them is identical: being on the edge of one’s abilities. In a yang flow state, one is exploring that edge through effort and maximalism, while in a yin flow state one is exploring that edge through surrender and minimalism.
In modern life, achieving yang flow is sold to us as the secret sauce to success; it makes us more productive, more efficient, more original, more, more, more… But without yin to ballast, yang will eventually float away or explode into chaos. True yang is born out of yin; one need only to examine the simple act of sleep: the energy you get from a good night’s rest is true yang, while the frenetic disorganized mania that results from a poor night’s sleep (even more so when fueled by stimulants) is false yang at best, and pathogenic yang at its worst. We all need more yin flow in our lives.
Recalling my own initial forays into the world of meditation, I would guess that sitting or standing in stillness with no other intention but to simply sit or stand for twenty, ten, or even five minutes is likely on the edge of most people’s abilities. As the complexity of modern human society increases, accelerated now by the growing pervasiveness of artificial intelligence, and the duration of interactions shortens while the pace of those interactions quickens, we need to experience yin flow more than ever. We need to choose to slow down, if only for ten minutes a day, and opt to engage in something that allows us to experience all the benefits of flow (joy, loss of self, mind-body unity) without pushing ourselves further and further towards the limits of effort.
While a yin flow state can be fostered by meditation (standing, sitting, or laying down), it can also be experienced during many other activities: taiji quan (tai chi), yin yoga, reading fiction, slow walks in nature, gardening, doodling, journaling, and cloud-gazing, just to name a few.
Finding balance begins with choice. Choose to incorporate more yin flow into your yang-excess life.