They say every good story starts with a great hook, and oh, do I have a story for you!
The Rise & Flow starts with being hit by a lightning bolt on a sunny day, or at least that’s what it felt like. I was alternating between sprinting across a field and screaming my lungs out, cheering on athletes at a county track and field championship. I had spent the better part of 4 months trying to convince young teenagers that running was fun and that they weren’t really going to die from pre-race nerves. Today was the day we put it all to the test. The last two days, I’d said “You can do this!” dozens of times as I watched our athletes walk up to the starting line and then run with everything they had. It was during the last event of the meet when the lightning bolt hit. Here’s how it all happened:
Our team had been vying for the number one spot, going back and forth with another team throughout the meet. One team was up, then they were down. It was a roller coaster ride of teenage proportions. Finally, it was the last race of the meet – the 4×400 meter. If you’ve ever done track, you know that this race is brutal; the one voted most likely to kill you by junior high athletes. It’s a 4-person relay, with each person sprinting 1 lap around the track. While this may not seem like much, the 400 meter is a beast. It’s too long for an all-out sprint like the 100-meter, but too short for a slower-paced run like the mile. Of all the distances I’ve coached, it requires the most drive. Athletes who run it well dig deep and push well past their comfort zones to succeed.
Now that you have some background, we return to the race at hand – the gun fires and the race begins. Our team held a steady pace throughout the first three runners, landing us in second place as the last runner started the final lap. Trailing a few meters behind the lead runner, our athlete made up the distance, and by 100 meters in, they were running neck-and-neck. They held this pace for the next 200 meters, neither faltering nor pulling ahead. As they rounded the corner into the last straightaway, the crowd was on their feet, pressed against the front of the stands as these kids matched each other, stride for stride.
Photo by Lukas Hartmann from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/running-field-photography-1127120/
As they neared the finish line, 15 meters, 10 meters, 5 meters, they held pace. Then in those last 5 meters – just 15 feet – I watched the face of our athlete change. Something clicked inside and he dug deep, finding just enough speed to pass his opponent in the last few feet. In a second, it was all over, and the championship was won in the last few feet. As this young athlete crossed the finish line, lightning stuck, and I realized that I had to know why the race ended that way. Why did this kid have something that none of the other 7 runners in that race did? What gave him the power to move into the winning position with so much on the line? How did he get into the flow state that allowed him to succeed? My team won the championship, and I found a new focus.
Photo by Aleksandr Neplokhov: https://www.pexels.com/photo/group-of-people-gathering-near-frees-standing-flow-letters-1238965/
I’ve been in the fitness industry for a decade, working with everyone from 90-year-old grandmas to young bodybuilders. I’ve seen a lot of great feats in my time as a trainer, coach, and instructor, but that race was something else. As I reflected on that moment, I found what I wanted to spend the next stage of my career doing – studying the psychology of human performance. I’ve always loved learning – whether it’s technical methods, new research, or self-improvement techniques. I take it all in and then pour the best of it into my life and the lives of those I work with each day. I’ve realized in the time that has followed since that championship race that there is so much more to learn and share than what can be said between sets during a training session. Enter the Rise & Flow. I created this as a space from which to share the best of mind, body, and soul practices; actions and philosophies that, when put into practice, can help each of us rise to a higher level of performance in whatever it is we do, and to find a state of flow to work in.
I first remember hearing about the idea of a flow state as a young athlete myself, in a sports psychology class I took in high school. Nearly everyone in the class was a student-athlete, and most were in the class because they’d heard it involved movies, naps, and an easy A. While the idea of an easy class amid college-level courses sounded nice, I had no idea how much that class would come to impact my life, more so than perhaps any other I have taken. It’s where I was first introduced to the flow state. Now, I’m here to introduce you.
The term “flow state” was first coined by a researcher named Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi in the 1970s. After being confined as a prisoner during World War II, Csikszentmihalyi became interested in finding the cause behind happiness and contentment. As he studied, he met with countless athletes, artists, and others who performed at a high level, seeking to understand how and why they did what they did, and if they enjoyed it. This research became the basis for his revolutionary idea that people could get into a state of flow, or be “in the zone,” as people say. In his book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihalyi defines flow as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.”
Photo by Mary Cherkesova from Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/photo/young-woman-with-arms-outstretched-painting-nature-4729077/
Beyond its application to world-class athletes and Fortune-500 business executives, what would happen in each of our lives if we could become more intentional and involved in the way we live each day? Can the average person find a similar flow state where they are both productive and content? Perhaps one of my biggest personal quests is to understand how we can implement this into our lives to rise a little higher each day. Can I create a state of flow that allows me to do what I want to do, need to do, and still be happy at the end of the day? That is largely what this platform seeks to answer. We’ll talk about the best of health and fitness, mind-body connection, and powerful inspiration and how to apply these principles every day. It’s all about bringing intention and joy into our lives to create a better today and an even better tomorrow for each of us.
If the idea of flow intrigues you, put on your swimsuit and waders, because we’re diving deep into the psychology and application of human performance. So, suit up and dive in with us as we Rise & Flow together!
References:
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Harper and Row.
