Macro Flow, Micro Flow & Flow Triggers

MacroFlow, MicroFlow & Flow Triggers

In the beginning I stated that perhaps the most striking example of a Flow Artist is the Hardcore Flow Artist. These artists RISK THEIR LIVES just to feel Flow. Specifically, they risk their lives to feel what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls “MacroFlow”. MacroFlow is what a person feels when they experience STER, Selflessness, Timelessness, Effortlessness and Richness at their greatest intensities. These Hardcore Flow Artists often report feeling themselves dissipate as if they’re one with the universe, or their surroundings, as if time slows down, as if every step taken in their craft follows inevitably from the last step, and as if they’re hyperaware of everything that’s happening around them.

MacroFlow is what happens when all or a majority of what are called “Flow Triggers” have been triggered. Alternatively, these Flow Triggers are what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has called “The Conditions of Flow”. I prefer “Flow Triggers” because I think that it gets the following point across:

Every single “condition of Flow” does NOT need to be met in order to feel Flow. Only a few conditions need to be met in order to feel Flow. However, these conditions do not guarantee entry into the Flow state. Thus, each condition acts as a potential trigger for Flow and when the right triggers are combined, Flow CAN be experienced.

Typically, when ALL or a majority of Flow Triggers have been triggered, the result is “MacroFlow”, full on feelings of STER. However, when only a few of these Flow Triggers have been triggered, we can experience “MicroFlow”, hints or small signs of STER.

Although MicroFlow is not as dramatic as MacroFlow, it is absolutely critical for living what I’d like to call “THE FLOW LIFE!”. Living the Flow Life is critical for consistently avoiding boredom, relieving anxiety and lessening depression. On the flip side, Living the Flow Life allows you to increase creativity, happiness, and productivity.

That being said, Flow Triggers and their categories are as follows:

Flow Psychology

• Clear Goals – You FEEL you know what to do and how to do it.
• Immediate Feedback – You FEEL that you immediately know if you’re doing good or bad and can adjust your behavior accordingly.
• Challenge/Skill Ratio – You FEEL your skill is just enough to meet the challenge at hand. Your skill is neither too high such that the task becomes boring, or too low, such that the task produces anxiety or fear.
• Freedom from distractions/disturbances – You FEEL as though there is truly stopping you from completing your task efficiently.

Flow Environment

• High Consequence Environment (I.E. Risk) involved – Your environment has risk involved. Whether that risk is physical pain, emotional pain or social embarrassment.
• Rich Environment – The environment you are in is new, has unpredictable features and is complex (I.E. not easily fully analyzed)
• Deep Embodiment – Your environment engages as many of your senses as possible. You smell, taste, touch, see, hear, balance etc… in your environment

Flow Creativity

• Cross-Disciplinary Creative Studies – The practice taking ideas, principles and concepts from one art or discipline and implementing them into another art or discipline. In other words, you increase the amount of novelty that you experience methodically and purposefully.

Flow Social (Group Flow Triggers)

• Environmental, Psychological & Creativity Flow Triggers listed above and…
• Blending Egos – In a group, you have the sense of equality and feel as though you are truly part of a team, or single organism.
• Close Listening – You are fully engaged in the moment – Generating real-time unplanned responses to the dialogue, or activity as it unfolds.
• Always say “Yes, and…” – Your interactions within’ the group are more additive than argumentative, interactions move towards a point, instead of away from a point and into confusion/stagnation. This builds momentum, togetherness and innovation.

There you have it.

A comprehensive list of the triggers that you can use to get yourself into a Micro or MacroFlow.

With these triggers in mind, it’s hopefully not hard to see that getting into MacroFlow where you feel the full intensity of STER is quite a tricky/ridiculously hard thing to do. To get into a MacroFlow you’ll usually need to achieve either all or a majority of the Flow Triggers that have been listed here. Indeed, this is the reason that MacroFlow has been studied so extensively in action sports. Action sports, especially at the professional level, consistently provide all or a majority of these Flow triggers.

Try to imagine an action sport without clear goals, immediate feedback, challenge/skill ratio, high consequences, rich environment or deep embodiment. No such thing exists.

However, just because the MacroFlow is incredibly frequent in the world of action sports, doesn’t mean that it can’t, and isn’t, attained outside that world. I’m assuming that if you’re reading this, you identify as a Movement Artist, and not an action sports athlete. If not, don’t worry, I will still cover information that you’ll find plenty useful!

Some, perhaps most, of us who DO practice regular sports or movement arts such as object manipulation/prop spinning, juggling, dancing, acrobatics or yoga, know very well that we CAN get in touch with intense feelings of STER through these practices.

If you just shook your head “No, I actually don’t know that very well”, or if you’re wondering “Yeah, but how do I get into the Flow State more often?” Have no fear, I got you covered!

First, we’ll cover some of the Flow Triggers that you should pay the most attention to, and then later on we’ll talk about how you can prepare your body and mind to be more receptive to the Flow State.