1. Write down a list of activities or skills you practice a lot, are relatively good at but are not necessarily easy, and enjoy.

2. A special look at one final altered state of consciousness: Flow The optimal state of being!

3. Flow is: A state of mind identified by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a leader in the modern “Positive Psychology” movement The mental state in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing, characterized by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity. Single-minded, completely absorbed “In the zone,” or “in the groove”

4. How do you know you are in a flow state? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

5. How do you know you are in a flow state? Cont. 6. 7. 8. 9.

6. What leads to flow? Overlearning: Stretching:

7. What flow looks like (upper right hand corner)

8. Flow in sports Legendary soccer player Pele: "I felt a strange calmness... a kind of euphoria. I felt I could run all day without tiring, that I could dribble through any of their team or all of them, that I could almost pass through them physically.”

9. Football “There are moments in every game when ''time seems to slow way down, in an uncanny way, as if everyone were moving in slow motion. It seems as if I had all the time in the world to watch the receivers run their patterns, and yet I know the defensive line is coming at me just as fast as ever.” - Tom Brady

10. Sports (cont.)

11. Performance

12. Performance, cont.

13. Music

14. Music (cont.)

15. Art

16. Religious/spiritual practice

17. Hobbies

18. Gaming

19. Computer-based creativity

20. Why is flow so beneficial? Perhaps it is the true secret to happiness! –Research clearly shows that flow leads to: Greater life satisfaction and more positive affect better performance

21. Can people experience flow in their work and at school? What do you think?

22. http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow.html –Definitely watch this video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5h9FuQ9AVYw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI755iUMtHI&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUfsgsFtgFs&feature=related http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE0DD1E3FF93AA35757C0 A96F948260&scp=1&sq=pele+%22felt+a+strange+calmness%22&st=nyt http://psychologytoday.com/articles/pto-19970701-000042.html Watch and read more about flow.