“I can’t meditate” – everyone in my life who inquiries about stillness.
Ok, perhaps “everyone” is a slight exaggeration, however it continues to astonish me how many people in my life ask me for advice about relaxation techniques, anxiety prevention, and basic self-care only to follow up my response with something like “oh well I can’t meditate sooo.” A meditative state is simply a level of awareness that takes you outside of your current state of consciousness; it is meant to be something beyond the self that helps shift cognitions and inadvertently shift perspective, emotions, and behavior. The exciting part is that this level of awareness and peace can actually be achieved through engaging in almost anything that you enjoy doing so much it takes you beyond the self while also emptying your thoughts; it doesn’t necessarily have to follow the classic “sit in stillness and listen to your breath” method (side note: if you find that you are afraid to sit in stillness and be with your deepest self I encourage you to explore why – this could be transformative for you).
It is my personal belief that most well celebrated mental health interventions surround the same general theme: distractibility – in other words distracting yourself from your negative, intrusive, or critical thoughts long enough for your cognitions to shift and thus feelings, perspective, and behaviors shift as well. This level of awareness has been referred to as “a state of flow” … an optimal state of consciousness that cultivates creativity, focus, and total mental freedom. Often intense emotions manifest with physical symptoms or ailments, the state of flow links physical and mental states allowing for a release of tension in both areas. It can be so easy to spiral downward in a state of self-deprecation leading to intense negative thoughts, however this idea of engaging in an action plus heightening awareness on only the present moment creates space for the mind to “empty out” and all other thoughts to melt away.
So how exactly does this work? The state of flow allows for a temporary deactivation of the prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain responsible for higher cognitive functions such as self-regulation, impulse control, attention, executive functioning, and planned response. The prefrontal cortex is often referred to as the “voice of reason” in the brain as its job is to link past experience with current situations while also considering future consequences of choices and actions that may be made. During the state of flow the brain also releases enormous amounts of “feel good” chemicals that flood the system; this rush of elation mixed with the distraction from troubling thoughts leads to a level of consciousness where performance, focus, and self-confidence are at an all-time high (pretty rad huh?).
For me the state of flow is most often reached through yoga; pairing breath with body movement shifts my entire focus, listening to an instructors cues directs all of my attention, and feeling the music dance through my body makes me feel f*cking amazing! I’m down with just about anything that quiets my inner voice and creates space for growth and expansion. My hope that this post will help inspire others to find their state of flow and access it more frequently … remember: action + awareness = freedom!
I’ll leave you now with a quote that always reminds me of the philosophy of flow from one of the greats, Bob Dylan: “I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from.”
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