A huge part of flowstate, is being able to observe your own mind as it works. This sounds as if it is a contradiction in terms, it is your mind that enables you to observe the world, yet now I am espousing that you should be able to observe that very same mind in action!
In fact when we practice this method of observing our own thoughts, it can be a frustrating exercise, too fleeting to fully grasp.
However the pay off is an immense sense of well being, a feeling of calm and dare I say it; wisdom.
So how do we attain this nirvana? How can you turn your attention inwards and observe your own thoughts? Where does thinking end, and observing begin?
Read on my friend, and all will be revealed.
Exploring Your Mind Palace
The scientific name for what I'm talking about, is meta-cognition. Quite simply put, it is the art of thinking about thinking.
There is a very good reason that I am only just now introducing the concept of meta-cognition into the Incredible You! series. It is because if you are new to meditation and the concept of flowstate in general, then it is best to build up your meditative skills first.
Everything you have done up to this point will help you observe your own mind. To be able to detach and attach to your thoughts at any given moment. This will give you a deeper understanding of the flowstate process, and of your own mind and body.
In the very first article I wrote on the subject called; Incredible You! - Finding Your Flow State Superpower, we talked about how flowstate was just something that happened.
It is something that comes to you in the moment, through learning and repetition, and then finally through letting go we can achieve flowstate at any given moment.
Now it is time to go to the next level, to spend conscious time getting to know your personal mind palace, so you can become a flowstate ninja.
Prepare Thyself
Before we go on, just recognise that I will skip over certain meditative techniques, as I assume you have either read some or all of the Incredible You! series or you are already aware of mindfulness techniques, and know how to meditate.
If you haven't, or are new to meditation, these techniques will still be useful to you, however they will work much better once you have read and caught up with us in the Incredible You! series.
OK let's begin . . .
To start I want you to get somewhere comfortable and take up a seated position, hands on lap or the arms of the chair, whichever feels more comfortable.
Next get into your settling state, whereby you are simply breathing in and out. Sometimes it can be helpful using the counting down from 9 technique, where you simply count each out breath from 9 down to zero, starting again if you get distracted.
Then simply sit there and observe your breathing; it is important you are just letting your breath flow at this point.
Do not breath in or out any more or less deeply than you would when you're normally at rest.
As you feel your breath go in and out, start to observe the autonomy of the whole breathing process. Notice that with no conscious effort from you, your diaphragm still moves up and down, causing air to be drawn into your lungs and for your chest to expand.
Get into the feeling of focusing on something without being involved. It is at first a strange feeling, because of course on some level you are controlling your breathing.
When you first make these observations, you may find that it is hard to focus on your breathing without taking conscious control of it. However this will soon pass and you'll be ready to go onto the next stage.
The Stranger In The Room
OK so now you can concentrate on your breathing without taking conscious control of it. The feeling is almost as if you're watching someone else do the breathing, you are merely an observer.
Hold onto this feeling, as it is the key to meta-cognition . . .
As you sit there, I want you to think to yourself; in five seconds I am going to get up and go and get a glass of water. Then silently in your head, I want you to count down from five to zero.
However, when you get to the end of your countdown you are not going to get up at all. Instead you will observe what it feels like to have that thought almost carry itself out.
Perhaps you will notice particular muscle twitches in your arms and legs. Maybe you'll even see a little image of yourself in your mind's eye, pushing out of the chair and walking over to the fridge.
The point of this exercise is to show you, that like your breathing, thoughts can just happen automatically; and just as when you're watching your breath, so too can you casually observe the thoughts you're having, without becoming consciously engaged in them.
Once you have had and dismissed the thought for going to get a glass of water. Simply sit there and think of nothing . . .
Exactly, it is nigh on impossible to think of nothing; after not too long, a thought will drift into your head. Now rather than becoming consciously engaged in that thought, just observe yourself thinking about it, see where the thought goes, let your train of thinking go wherever it wants.
The trick here is to not engage, so for instance, you may be sitting there and an important bill, pops up in your head.
Engaging with it, is to start to think about when you have to pay it, how you'll get the money, etc.
Observing it, is to just simply wait and see where the thought goes. You'll find it will probably morph into another thought, as the brain is constantly attempting to get your attention somehow. If it can't, then the thought flips.
In this regard you are a stranger in a room full of friends, one by one, they come up to you and tell you stuff.
Nothing is stopping you from talking to responding to them and they don't get offend when you ignore them, you just watch and let each one say their piece.
The friends may interrupt each other, however you are not going to play mediator, you will simply observe without interfering as they interact with each other.
Getting Out Of Your Way
When you master this self-observing meta-cognition technique, you will be able to observe yourself doing all manner of things.
Whether it's driving to work or playing a sport, you will be able to watch yourself perform, as if you were spying on someone else.
This is handy because once we have learned a new skill, and perhaps become mega profficient in that skill, we can get to a place where we overthink the task at hand.
You may have heard top sports people talking about how they; got in their own way. They basically mean that they started overthinking, rather than just observing themselves do what they know they can do.
The beauty about getting into this state, is it isn't the same as autopilot. It is much more like being a conscious copilot. You trust the captain (you) to control your vessel, however every now and again, you might just jump in to adjust.
It may seem weird and even a bit schizophrenic at first; however all you're doing is recognising the distinction between your conscious and subconscious mind, something most people never ever get to do.
So practice meta cognition when ever you can; observe yourself thinking and doing. Before long you will be able to slip in and out of this mode at will; bringing you ever close to flowstate nirvana
WERE YOU AWARE OF META-COGNITION? HAVE YOU EVER TRIED TO TAP INTO THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS BEFORE? ARE YOU FOLLOWING THE SERIES AND FINDING YOUR FLOW?
AS EVER, LET ME KNOW BELOW!