being in the flow

[Laura Weldon]

You're probably familiar with the concept of what psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has termed, the "flow." He says, "...It is what the sailor holding a tight course feels when the wind whips through her hair....It is what a painter feels when the colors on the canvas begin to set up a magnetic tension with each other, and a new thing, a living form, takes shape...." Children in particular are energized by their interests. They can concentrate so fully that they lose sense of themselves, of time, even of discomfort.
I'll give an example from my life.
When I was in my early grades, ages from seven to nine, I was drawn to the woods behind our home. As soon as I stepped under the tall trees I was set apart from the sorrows of dying grandparents and childish wants. I felt as if I could ignore the smaller "me" entirely by giving myself over to imagination. In the woods I practiced what I thought were Native ways of walking. I tried to be soundless and invisible, gently stepping so I would leave no imprint. I had a small haven of my own back there. It was really a tiny leaf-covered rise no bigger than a grave, with small trees on either side. There I would sit as quietly as possible in hopes that I might see and hear the secrets of the forest. Many times I left offerings of food. I was usually disappointed to find the next day that animals found no nutritional value in the suburban snacks I'd smuggled out of the house. Time, temperature and hunger had no effect on me in the woods. I was fitting into something larger than myself.
Can you talk about a time when you were pulled by the current of a project or interest? Can you talk about flow or factors that precipitate that state in children? I would love to start a discussion, particularly centered in childhood although all aspects are important.

[Sarah Vradenburg]

The longer I know you, the more I find out there is to know.

My flow moments -- as they were-- happened in a parking lot in inner-city Cleveland, my only real playground, where I found making things out of gravel to be the best kind of creativity I could find. Later, living in California, I found there were times when I would -- to me -- be transported through the eucalyptus forests north of San Francisco and spend hours watching the pelicans fish off Bolinas bay -- all without feeling as if a minute had passed. Now, as an adult, flow happens when I look up and say ``Did I eat lunch?''

[Laura Weldon]

I'd love to hear more about making things out of gravel being "the best kind of creativity." How old were you? Did you create impromptu bits of art, imaginary sets for rock dramas, what? Can you talk about the parking lot a bit----what it was like on a sensory level for a little kid? I get the impression you were independant on some of these inner city adventures. How was this experience valuable, both positive and negative?

You realize this gives new dimension to the compliment, "you rock!"

[Mary Nix]

The summer after third grade my family drove to Prineville, Oregon for a visit with my grandparents and Uncle. Shortly after we arrived, my grandfather showed me the child-sized rowboat he had built for me to use in their irrigation ditch as often as I wanted. Of course I spent a great deal of time in that rowboat over the next three weeks! I can still feel the dry desert air, I recall the feeling of rowing my boat back and forth for hours at a time and I can still picture the arid landscape behind their house. I felt alone in a strange land, but not in the least bit afraid. Truth be told I was just floating in a little irrigation ditch, but to me, that ditch was as big as the Mississippi and my grandpa had made me the captain of my own ship. I also vividly remember exploring the mountain at the end of their road, learning how to avoid rattle snakes and how to use a hand-gun if I did not avoid one of the snakes. Those weeks were definitely a time when I was totally absorbed in my interests.

As I got older, I found I could get lost in that same manner while writing, drawing, hiking, researching or traveling. Of course there is that occasional good book that has the same pull. Political activism can also cause me to lose track of all time and reason.

When my children were younger, they loved going to a variety of nature preserves to see the area and observe any wildlife that might be there. Time would fly by quickly as we explored and discovered new things until one of us would realize hours had passed and we were starving. I have seen them take that same passion and interest to other endeavors many, many times in their lives.

I think a child's natural curiosity results in that state of immersed passion, but I think a nurturing environment helps that inspiration to take place. Speaking as a child who was nurtured, I was free to be myself and confidently follow the interests that pulled me. Grandpa was an excellent carpenter and I recall that my boat was not only functional, it was beautiful. Other family events over the years have always included an eclectic group of relatives, wonderful individuals who shared their love for life. They provided an excellent model of pursuing one's passion and the joy that brings. My handicapped sister loves parades, so one summer my aunts and uncles planned a family parade for her including trumpets and costumes. I'm not sure what the neighbors thought seeing these adults parading up and down our street, but we all knew the incredible love they had for my sister. I learned a lot from them and from grandpa's rowboat. I didn't know my Grandpa that well due to the miles between us, but I knew that he loved me enough to spend the time to build me that little boat. It gave us a great deal to talk about and helped me get to know him. The next summer we returned to Prineville for his funeral and I don't know WHAT I would have remembered about him had it not been for the previous summer. The boat was just a pint-sized row boat, but the memory reminds me of his love and trust to this day.

[Karen Streator Smith]

I believe this is where your passion is defined. I must admit that this 'pull' has not struck me in many years as I am in Mom role and not led by my spirit but by my responsibilities. In reflecting on the quote I am brought back to my days in the lab when I was not encumbered by responsibility to others and could work on a problem until my body and mind ceased to function from exhaustion. Maybe this is the flip side of an athlete's high when they have 'hit the wall'.

[Mindy Albright]

Flow is definately what I am interested in having my son develop. I see it when he is creating with legos, but not in those necessary classroom topics. I used to see it, sometimes, when he was younger, and I could just turn him loose on the computer for his lessons, but that has faded in the last couple of years. To a certain extent, I think it may be an age related thing, but I miss his joy in learning. Sometimes I would love to be able to homeschool him in an unschool method. I think he would respond well.

Since I work fulltime, and need to restart my business part-time, I plan, instead, to look into autogenic training, and hypnosis for learning enhancement. (I am a certified hypnotist.) I know it can benefit children with normal abilities. Using it with a child who has challenges will involve some experimentation, but will, I hope, prove just as beneficial. One challenge I face is causing myself to feel less controlled by lesson plans from the school. Sometimes I feel that they stifle that love of learning.

[Laura Weldon]

I think for all of us the more opportunities we have to immerse ourselves in projects or activities we love, the more capable and centered we feel in other areas of our lives. I don't know what challenges your son is dealing with, but I'm wondering if you help him find that joy of discovery/creativity/oneness with an activity this might also help him develop hidden reserves that will hold him in good stead for other aspects of his daily life.

This is a separate question entirely, but I'm intrigued by the ways that youth might be able to learn from a certified hypnotist. Have you ever given a talk or lecture to young people about hypnotism? Are you on a message board or forum where young people have joined to ask questions or to inquire about becoming a certified hypnotist themselves?

[Mindy Albright]

There are a variiety of ways in which hypnosis can benefit learning. We learn best when we are in a physically relaxed, mentally focused state. (Think alpha brain waves.) Hypnosis utilizes this same brainwave state, as does autogenics (self-hypnosis, by another name) and meditation...which is also related to the state one is in when in "the flow." Studies have shown that young children spend a lot of time in alpha, as well as theta brainwave states (Think creativity.)
Some techniques that can be utilized include teaching students to tense and release their muscles at about four second intervals...releasing them with every exhalation, tensing them with inhalation. We learn best at the beginning and end of each learning 'session' and this creates even more learning sessions, by starting and stopping the sequences, even momentarily. A study of a school in Bulgaria which trained the teachers to use such autogenic techniques found that languages could be learned by the average student at a rate of aproximately 500 words per day. They used a much more intensive autogenic style than I intend to use with ds...I'll probably be pretty laid back about it. They included lectures that varied the tone and volumne every four seconds, and had the kids so well trained that they continued the tense/release even in the cafeteria.

As to kids becoming certified in hypnosis, most certifying bodies require that you be at least 18 years of age. As to kids learning self-hypnosis, that is something that is quite possible. Any hypnotist worth his or her salt can train someone in self hypnosis techniques, if they are interested. Hmmm... perhaps I can work up some basic lessons online for students...give me about a month...

As to whether I belong to any boards or forums such as you are mentioning...no, but I can create just such a place. In fact, I think it is a great idea. I am having just a teensy bit of trouble navigating this site, so I would probably set something up in Yahoo, which to me seems more easily navigated. I can get back to you.

Brian Walsh has a site that makes interesting reading. He wrote the book Unleashing Your Brilliance
and has articles which include excerpts here: http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Brian_Walsh
I have taken a workshop with him for continuing ed in hypnosis, and find his work to be quite exciting.
Mindy

[Laura Weldon]

I recall that hypnosis was touted as a cure for ADHD along with biofeedback about ten years ago, or longer. Is it your experience that this helped stem the actual behavior or that it gave the child a greater sense of control?

You mention that young children spend a lot of time in the brainwave state most conducive to creativity. Would a more free-flowing learning environment open to their creative impulsives and with greater opportunities for play (natural areas, unstructured playthings, range of learning tools, etc) be likely to help children retain this ability as they grow older?

Mindy, may I use portions of your responses for possible inclusion in the book. I'm not sure if I'll be able to mention self-hypnosis and its similarity to meditation but you've said other things I would like to consider as well. If so, would you prefer your full name used? And what state or country do you live in?

[Urmila Anna Samson]

When I was little, I loved ballet. There was a record of Concerto de Aranjuez, a beautiful Spanish guitar piece that I'd dance and almost fly all over the house to. When I tired of dancing, I would retire into a corner of the sofa with the record jacket and disappear into the photograph...

My children play many pretend games into which they completely disappear. They make large constructions with bedsheets and or blocks and chairs. Since they do not go to school, they can carry on through to ages when school children in India are bogged down with books, bags, memorizing and after school tuition and extra classes.

They make up names for made up games like Zigzag Hydoon in which they stalk the adults working around the house and silently leap out from one hiding place into another, disturbing no one, but stifling giggles and signing to each other their next plan!

During my evening walk, I see flashes of colour as they dart around trees and the structures on the property so as not to be detected. Sometimes my almost 15 year old daughter creeps up behind me so quietly, I don't realize her presence till I make a U turn on the path!

There is no 'age appropriate' development or activity in our family. One read at 4, the other at 9. Two hardly write, my husband and I and other adults join in the crazy games. There is no time table, but I have noticed seasonal activities - not necessarily according to the season outside, but for example, much outdoor activity happens in February and March. Much extended family interaction happens in November-December. Building of garages, tracks and 'realms' happen all the year round, but intensifies in April-May. June to August is a time when I pull my hair out trying to get everyone to 'do' things, because everyone is just lazing. Now,15 years down the line, I realize that lazing is an important aspect of creativity. In fact, now I don't see it as lazing. It is space-ing. Adults today suffer from stress because they just cannot keep still - in mind, body or spirit. Constant activity is a habit forceably created while growing up and is very hard to break. Structured games and some attention to academics (for the boys) happen during September to November. (My daughter studies in fits and bursts all the year around, for the last two years only. Very intense - nothing - very intense - nothing...)

I have added this post as an example of 'in the flow' as it happens for us.

[Laura Weldon]

You write about your family's games throughout the year so vividly I can almost hear the cries of laughter. How wonderful that your children not only enjoy one another's company but that they have kept alive the ability to play and imagine, when others their age so often have become too mature or cynical for that much happiness!

I would love it if you could describe the "realms" they build. We used to build little fairy villages out of sticks, moss, pebbles and leaves. They were meant to be blown away by the wind after a time but while they lasted they were homes for tiny magical folk. My daughter used to make them with me. Sometimes when I walked in the woods I'd find them and wonder if she made them or perhaps the fairies had built them...

You are so right about the importance of lazing. Have you heard of the Slow Movement? It started around eating locally grown foods, cooking and eating with friends, calming the rush and enjoying meals. It has spread to slowing rush of work, of hurrying children and more. I have a book here by Carl Honore called "In Praise of Slowness." Very good.

May I use portins of your contributions to this forum in my upcoming book on interest-led learning? If so, may I use your full name?

[Urmila Anna Samson]

These posts were also entered in August and I didn't find them then.

I would be honored if you used my contributions, and would prefer if you only used my first name. If it is not too difficult, I would like if you let me read through what contributions you would be including.

Examples of realms are: underwater realm, desert realm, rocky realm, outer space, fire, ice, storm, swamp, lava, metro, cavern, cliff, neon, junk, cosmic...These have been inspired by Hotwheels acceleracers. Basically they create the realms from boxes, wooden blocks, cloths, thermacol packaging and manouvre their little cars around creating stories...

[Urmila Anna Samson]

Over the last few years as a result of our own self development and understanding, as well as through relating with our children, my husband and I have been slowing down and learning to be still. I am working on a paper at the moment that describes experiences connected with this stillness.