Flow – Psychology of Optimal Experience

THE CONDITIONS OF FLOW • 91 Essentially the same ingenuity in finding opportunities for mental action and setting goals is repor ...

92 ■ FLOW the soles of his shoe, and carved the letters into it with a toothpick. When a line was learned by heart, he covered h ...

THE CONDITIONS OF FLOW ■ 93 mainly concerned with protecting their self, fall apart when the external conditions turn threatenin ...

5 THE BODY IN FLOW “A man possesses nothing certainly save a brief loan of his own body,” wrote J. B. Cabell, “yet the body of m ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 95 Its worth does not derive from chemical ingredients, or from the neural wiring that makes information proc ...

96 ■ FLOW swimmer, flow cannot be a purely physical process: muscles and brain must be equally involved. In the pages that follo ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 97 same time—of civilization itself. To jump higher, to climb the loftiest peaks, to fly far above the earth, ...

98 ■ FLOW a different challenge to be resolved with a choice of the most efficient foothold that will give the best leverage, si ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 99 events are the only “reality” that determines what they experience. For such individuals, joining a fancy ...

100 • FLOW Here is how some of the dancers describe the sensation of moving on the floor: “Once I get into it, then I just float ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 101 urge. The saying that “love makes the world go round” is a polite reference to the fact that most of our ...

102 ■ FLOW promises and the courtship rituals that now seem to be such indispens­ able attributes of intimate relations were onl ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 1 03 enriching the relationship. Initially physical challenges alone are enough to sustain flow, but unless r ...

104 ■ FLOW is worth reviewing some of its highlights, because it corresponds in several areas to what we know about the psycholo ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 1 05 this volume—to achieve control over what happens in the mind. Although the remaining three stages do not ...

106 • FLOW Therefore it is not unreasonable to regard Yoga as one of the oldest and most systematic methods of producing the flo ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 1 07 system, to keep from stepping on the cat, or to find the car keys. Occasionally people stop to “feast th ...

108 • FLOW On a day like this, or days when it’s crystal clear, I just sit in the train and look over the roofs of the city, bec ...

THE BODY IN FLOW ■ 1 09 that helps soldiers march in orderly ranks. When bad times befell the pygmies of the Ituri forest in Cen ...

110 ■ FLOW was still entirely immersed in religious rituals. Even a village dance band, let alone a symphonic orchestra, was a v ...