How ‘flow state’ can heal trauma | Steven Kotler for Big Think

Experiences that put you in a state of flow are shown to override PTSD and heartbreak.

Flow is an altered state of consciousness in which we feel and perform our best due to total absorption in an activity.

A state of flow, which is due to a cocktail of "feel-good" chemicals in the brain, can help overcome PTSD, addiction, and heartbreak.

Flow is so powerful that doctors might one day prescribe experiences like surfing or skydiving to help patients overcome trauma.

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About Steven Kotler:
Steven Kotler is a New York Times bestselling author, an award-winning journalist, and the Executive Director of the Flow Research Collective. He is one of the world’s leading experts on human performance. He is the author of ten bestsellers (out of thirteen books total), including The Art of Impossible, The Future Is Faster Than You Think, Stealing Fire, The Rise of Superman, Bold and Abundance. His work has been nominated for two Pulitzer Prizes, translated into over 40 languages, and appeared in over 100 publications, including the New York Times Magazine, Wired, Atlantic Monthly, TIME and the Harvard Business Review. Steven is also the cohost of Flow Research Collective Radio, a top ten iTunes science podcast. Along with his wife, author Joy Nicholson, he is the cofounder of the Rancho de Chihuahua, a hospice and special needs dog sanctuary.

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Read more of our stories on experiencing flow state:
Want to feel like Superman? Steven Kotler explains how to enter the ‘flow state’
How to enter the ‘flow state’ for effortless creativity
‘Mindful’ people are better goal-setters according to new research

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[raymondtendau]

When you are depressed, one minute can feel like a day.When you are joyful, one day can feel like a minute.Time can alter depending on our mood and circumstance.

[VinayakaHalemane]

I think that's why it's so important to keep moving when you have a heartbreak. It's all right to mull over the relationship for a bit I suppose, but it's movement that will create that momentum to heal.

[JakeTiesler]

Exactly - it’s so easy to criticize people who have high risk lifestyles, dirt bikes, car racing, big businesses etc but the reality is that this is the only thing heading them and keeping them alive, moving forward in life and without this they would be depressed and sick. So don’t knock people who are trying, trying anything to get what they need from life to just make it another day above the ground. Let them be hyper focused on their work, their hobbies - you’d only be so lucky to find flow state once let alone every day. Just be thankful and spread the love and knowledge and help each other grow 🙏

[Lightknight]

For me it’s skateboarding. It’s a moving meditation for me. No thoughts, no worries, no fear, no confusion, no planning, no mulling over the past….just pure presence, breath, exercise, joy, creativity and FLOW 💜

[AttackingTucans]

I use dancing to help keep a flow state. I’ll often just dance in public places at all times to prevent my mind from going to dark places. It probably looks goofy but it makes living more tolerable so it’s worth it

[Gjushiii]

I always clean the house or do something easy when I feel anxious. Doing simple tasks help me get into a flow state.

[indigo]

It's very interesting to read in the comments what activities bring other people into the flow state. As a child/teenager, I often experienced flow when I was drawing. I really miss those days. Now I often prevent getting into a flow state by thinking too much or being perfectionist. Though sometimes I still get into it when I write, or plot a story. Reading also brings me into this state. But I think especially the 'physical' types of flow like sports would help me to get over my overthinking and anxieties and reconnect with my body, though I'm still thinking of what to try out.

[JanSnieg]

For me programming is a thing that puts me into a flow. I totally forget about the world and enjoy the beauty of pure creativity and making something that works out of nothing, but my mind.

[monave]

I’ve never done anything that has forced me to focus or has created the flow state more than rock climbing. I can say that I’ve had the best most amazing flow experience when I was knitting once, maybe because I wasn’t forced into the flow.😌

[cursedtodie]

I woke up from a coma with no chance of recovery. However, I was so obsessed with recovery, I did so completely while getting a degree, winning awards, producing memorable performances and accomplishing so much more along the way.
I accomplished all I did without the help of medical drugs. It was all me.

[alasdair]

I LOVE this! I am trying too overcome the C-PSTD associated with a long term narcissistic marriage and one of the activities I re-took up was windsurfing. For me it was "Mindfulness" because it put me 100% into the here and now moment, and I'm certain that the adrenaline is part of this in surviving the battle with nature. To me Mindfulness feeds the animal in us and Flow may be an extension of this in the cerebral aspects of our minds. It comes as no surprise that skydiving is mentioned in this context because of the sensory overload associated with it.

[raoplns]

Flow is defined by J. Krishnamurthi as "complete attention". In that state, the brain's 'processor' doesn't work and hence it 'flows'.

[johnpark]

I went to travel in Europe for a month after a series of traumas, and traumas from recent and far in the past all came together and it was difficult. Traveling was a very memorable experience, and I think it got me into this 'flow state', and felt very free, alive, and happy. But don't expect this effect to last forever, if you don't continue getting into the 'flow state', the trauma may come back and continue to haunt you.

[kcameron]

I find if I go into nature and really focus on the trees and just observe everything going on I tend to go into this flow state occasionally. Very amazing feeling. Completely present.

[.Tapestry]

once while hiking, i came across a fairly wide but shallow section of a river. there were just enough rocks exposed that i could hop my way to the other side without getting wet. as soon as i got to the other side, i had a distinct feeling that i had changed mental states, like i came out of a jason bourne-like trance. my mind was fully engaged scouting the next rock to jump to while i just trusted my body to know what to do. no special skills, expensive equipment, or other high cost of entry like steve kotler is always peddling

[Omaga]

“Doctors will start to prescribe experiences” that just hit me so hard for some reason

[pirobotbeta]

My experience with trauma taught me much of this lesson!
I became aware of living in a Fable, of sorts.
My long marriage had left me thinking about myself in her terms, and not my own.
I had internalized the abusive messages, they had become part of my internal dialogue.
I took up a hobby, immersed myself in something that I had zero knowledge, and little interest.
In a very short period of time, the hobby became the only important thing!
I'd stay up late tinkering, get up early, excited to try out things I had learned.
But after a time, I realized that I was bored; I had gained a new skill, the 'uphill challenge' part was over.
When I put that interest aside, I found that I had freed myself of the 'chains of my past'.
I had been 'stuck' for two years after the marriage ended, believing I could only fail.
I challenged my Fables, found out they were lies, replaced them with Facts.

[KaiseruSoze]

When I had to drive from S. Cal to N. Cal I was bored to death & started thinking about the nature of existence & entered a flow state. The eight hour drive went by much much faster & I got hooked on studying physics. A positive addiction that I still haven't kicked.

[sulla]

I used to be quite involved in art and nothing changed my world more than getting into that flow state. The world wasn’t there, only a subtle excitement and intense focus making minutes feel like hours.

I can only dream of finding an occupation that sustains me while allowing me to live in that state.

[ryann]

i think you just literally made sense of my “seasonal depression state.”
during the school year i am so consumed with school and my sport, i go from school to my sport to studying to sleep. over the summer, i have none of this. i have nothing to build and distract from and that’s probably my worst moments in my mind and time goes by as slow as possible. I’ve started to consume my time with the gym over summer to try and get the feeling and endorphins my sport would give me and it’s actually worked. but thank you for this video it actually is so enlightening to understand why i might have these dips.