Angelina Tran - Flow Class, Flow Grief, Flow vs Flow States?

     Professor Redick talks about the idea of “flow” in his book American Camino in chapter six and its relation to monastic practices. As Redick describes flow, it is the idea of when a hiker starts to focus their consciousness mostly on the nature surrounding them like the water flowing and crunching leaves. Along with the focus on nature, the body also becomes more conscious of bodily functions that were not recognized working like the lungs expanding and heart pulsing. Redick then compares this flow state as similar to monastic practices of having a silent absorption while hearing or saying softly repeated prayers like the Publican shortened prayer of “Lord have mercy”. With these ideas, Redick also describes them as “self-emptying” practices where people are in a state almost free of preconceived notions and limitations. In these states, the mind is let loose to ponder the immediate events close to them. All these ideas will be important to know in how they have played out in my observations and how they are important to have happened. 

When Redick started the class off about birds jumping around knocking snow off tree branches, Redick started the practice of flow. This example about starting a class off this way to start the practice of flow may have not been Redick’s intention at first but I could not help but think about this class after learning about flow. By showing a video of birds jumping around and knocking snow off tree branches, the class was in a sense only focused on the birds' actions. Redick would also then lead the discussion with a question about the reason for their movements: Why are the birds knocking snow off the tree branches? In leading with this question Redick was able to have our attention solely focused on the bird’s movements and why they were doing so. This is a simple exercise that allows us to just ponder on this simple idea instead of the many other tasks we may be doing and are worried about. A couple people answered the question with maybe they were just enjoying themselves or their feet would get cold. Finally, Redick would answer the question as well but conclude that he actually did not know himself either. This was a bit surprising because I assumed he did know and was why he was asking the class to see what type of answers he would hear to then relate to the discussion for today. Because this was not the case, I realize now that this was basically a little exercise to get our minds away from classes, hunger, and other activities for a bit. For a while we were in flow by focusing on some other simple idea surrounding us but subconsciously or unconsciously knowing that we will never get an answer. We entered a flow state of just being able to think about these birds knocking snow off. At the time, we were able to just let our minds wonder about these birds and nothing else really. Although there were still preconceived notions about why the birds were doing that, the flow idea still remained of being able to let the conscious focus on something else more simple and just observe, especially when watching the video. Redick would then go on with the class but I would remember that bird exercise more than the class discussion that day. It is interesting to note because it is a reminder to expect the unexpected. That exercise in hindsight was quite relaxing and helped reset my thinking for the day. The little surprise that Redick pulled added to that resetting as I could now appreciate more of the smaller things in life that I may have not noticed before. From an education standpoint, I could also be more open to observing what is happening in a class rather than constantly jumping on what is the catch or what is coming next. Although, I do question if this mindset will be any use in a math class. This mindset may be needed and better suited for certain situations to get the full effect.

Another example of this flow happening is when I attended the Buddhist temple for funeral practices. In the Buddhist funeral practices I have been taught, I am supposed to attend the temple for seven weeks after someone in my family passes away. During these attendances, we would listen to numerous chants, move to another room specifically done for the dead, and listen to more chants. During these listening sessions, I remember mostly just zoning out and realizing my tiredness and hunger that morning, admiring the beauty of the statues and flowers, or counting the jewels on the lights hanging from the ceiling. I realize now that in that state it was like flow and the monastic practices. The chants were there but I was able to let my consciousness take over and let the thoughts flow observing my surroundings. In that state I got to take notice of my physical body needs and how pretty the many floral arrangements were surrounding the golden Buddhas behind the monks chanting. I remember also constantly admiring the monk’s constant calm voice that was able to chant for what seemed like ten minutes straight without breaths. These observations and going into that flow state I realize now how helpful it was in the grieving process. Again, I realized all the little things in life and how much joy they could bring. For those moments I was able to let my mind breathe between the grieving and allow my mind to reset about processing death. 

Similar to flow, I have heard about an idea of a “flow state” in athletics that many athletes determine as the ideal state to compete in. They are similar states now that I think about it but I wonder if they are related or just share the same name? Going back to the flow state in athletics, it was described to me by a classmate that it is a state where athletes are in hyper-focus of the game and things are moving in slow motion. There are openings for shots and constant plans popping up to make up for mistakes or blocks. These plans also include constant counterattacks to continue attacking to win the game. The focus from hunger or tiredness is shifted to just strategizing to win and immediately doing the actions. This focus away from the body differs from flow that Redick describes yet similar. Even though the focus is taken away from bodily functions, similarly the focus is on the surroundings and noticing details that would have not been noticed before. There is also the difference of acting on the thoughts in the moment compared to just observing in flow. However, flows share the hindsight tunnel vision of what exactly happened during those moments. The thoughts and feelings are remembered but not exactly felt and able to analyze compared to our daily conscious thoughts and feelings. Maybe they are more similar than just the terms? Are flows differing based on varying levels of consciousness

Overall, the idea of flow that Redick described in American Camino helped with being able to learn more and resetting the mind especially during tough times. Flow showed to be an important state of mind that helps to allow us to be more connected to nature and the details surrounding us. Flow states showed to be able to happen in places outside the hiking trail as Redick described. It is important to note that hindsight of the flow state will never really capture what flow did for the person as Redick had to adjust his description of flow. Similarly, as described throughout I was not able to remember when I was in that state likely due to the thoughts flowing by and not really settling. These flowing thoughts may have been forgotten past the flow state but they were important to note how they were away from preconceived ideas. Unfortunately, does that mean we will never get a full account of flow? Will flow be forever lost in flow? Could we have gotten a better understanding of flow if we could capture it?