Where else are you getting the "flow state" outside of climbing?

I find the flow I get from snowboarding very different from climbing. The effort and variety of movement and thinking involved to solve a given climbing sequence require my full attention and focus.

With snowboarding things turned effortless and playful, I tended to loose track of the minutiae and my brain turned off.  I question whether that kind of flow is possible when climbing at your limit, especially if the climbing requires to factor in risks. Granted I was a much better snowboarder and maybe that makes all the difference.

Kiteboarding 

Briggs Lazalde wrote: This thread never reached a consensus on whether males or females are the superior gender

Dude, there are so many more genders now. 

Get with the program. 

mediocre wrote:

Dude, there are so many more genders now. 

Get with the program. 

Funny.

"If I had a dollar for every gender, I'd have two dollars and a bunch of counterfeits." (credit to someone else on MP)

FrankPS wrote:

Funny.

"If I had a dollar for every gender, I'd have two dollars and a bunch of counterfeits." (credit to someone else on MP)

TRIGGERED!!!!

Definitely agree with everyone who's said MTB and some trail running, especially on single track. Might be a bit of a no-brainer but Skydiving is probably where I can get into the flow state the most readily. Doesn't matter what I'm thinking about on the ride up, the second I'm out the door it kicks in. My friends and I jokingly call it "sky-yoga" for how centering it can be. Not if it just wasn't so expensive...

Skye Swoboda-Colberg wrote: Fishing, you can often catch a fish the moment after you forget you are fishing.

I agree with this. I’ll go out fly fishing, hopping from Boulder to Boulder, dropping flies in Eddie lines and pools. Sipping coffee from my travel mug. Constant movement of my tenkara rod leads to an intense flow state that easily rivals climbing in terms of flow. Catching a fish interrupts the zen of the moment though. 

I can get there meditating, mountain biking, backcountry skiing, but the most reliable is whitewater kayaking. The focus is total, you just sense the water and flow with it.

JeffL wrote: I'm studying the "flow state" and find it very fascinating.  It is likely why many of us become addicted to climbing and find it hard to thing about anything else.  It's also likely why we are drawn to other "extreme sports" like skiing.  There is nothing like being completely in the present moment; where time becomes irrelevant, and our focus shifts down to a single task at hand.

I'm curious where else you guys are experiencing this state?  I'd love to find more activities outside of extreme sports that can get me there.  So far, I've found Meditation, Yoga, and certain breathing exercises can put me into this state.  What else have you found?  Have any of you found a way to become engrossed in the flow state while working?  What caused you to get there?  

I couldn't agree more with this "There is nothing like being completely in the present moment; where time becomes irrelevant, and our focus shifts down to a single task at hand."

For me, it's climbing, snowboarding, surfing and Muay Thai (Thai boxing). I loved it so much that I actually figured out how to start a business based around it. Getting people into these states, using action sports allows for greater focus, clarity, and perspective not only in the sports but their lives in general. When you can get into these flow states, answers to life's frequent challenges and frustrations become WAY more clear. It's like what a lot of you guys are talking about with music, coding, etc.

Check it out and let me know what you think
CliffHanger Academy
https://cliffhangeracademy.com/

 Slo Mo.....He got the Flow

  

John Byrnes wrote: Nope.  I disagree.  I've run, swam and cycled competitively and never entered the same type of flow state as I have climbing or skiing trees.   Endurance sports, or repetitive motion as you say, require turning off your brain; aka learning to suffer.    They are NOT "classic flow state" activities.

I think it is you that has confused Flow with something else.  Flow, as defined rather well elsewhere in this thread, is where you are fully concentrated on your movements, those movements are NOT repetitive, and there are significant consequences to fucking-up.   Failing to beat your personal best time while running doesn't come close.

Skiing trees is rather easy to understand.  Your mind is visualizing and solving the problems three or four turns ahead of where your body is.  "You" are actually out ahead of your body.  Your body is performing those turns in the past as far as you are concerned.     And hitting a tree is serious at any time, but even more so in the backcountry.

Endurance sports are boring compared to sports where Flow is reached.

I dunno about swimming, but I think you are doing it wrong when it comes to running and biking. Sounds like you raced road triathlons. That IS repetitive and boring. I think the runners and bikers here are likely talking about running or biking on singletrack at a high rate of speed. There is plenty of runnable terrain with high consequences for failure. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTJH9tTFghU

 Settin iron

 

Working in the emergency room - especially on critically ill cases 

Slap me a spill thrill, girl.

Flow mo Soho quiz night sho you right shorty wuzzup?

Playing a show where we completely have the crowd/pit
Also wakeskating. There is nothing like connecting a perfect line

I threw my phone and my watch away.

now every moment is a flow moment.

a loose sense of space and time?

what year is it?

https://local.theonion.com/pistachio-eating-man-achieves-flow-state-1830289137