Do you float?

So how often do you have that feeling of perfect balance and floating when you are climbing? I have it every once in a while and would love to have it all the time!

I get that sensation from time to time on juggy, gym like sport routes that I have totally wired. I'm just moving continously in a dynamic fashion and so it never seems like I'm standing on anything.

Yeah I don't float I sink. I recently had to take a swim test and floating on my back was one of the requirements. I held on to the edge of the pool.

Float On.

Some people refer to this as 'flow'. Check out Mihály Csíkszentmihályi research on athletes and how they achieve flow. It is partially defined as the perfect balance between ability and challenge.

I get that feeling every time I dream I'm climbing--which is often.

Ed Wright wrote:I get that feeling every time I dream I'm climbing--which is often.

Now that is an interesting thought. You know, I honestly believe I've never had a dream about climbing. At least not one I remember. I often think about it before falling asleep, but I can't ever remember actually waking up and remembering a dream about it. Strange, considering how much of my adult life has been devoted to it.

John Gill has ruminated on the subject a few times. I seem to recall reading something he wrote about feeling whilst climbing that he was flowing effortlessly into and out of the rock. Wild stuff.

From his website:

"I began doing meditative practices in the late 1950s, mostly along the lines of Zen. Initially I was seeking a greater and more efficient command of my body and mind in order to advance my personal standards of difficulty. And, to some extent, this worked. However, I was surprised to find that a much greater gift had been bestowed: I was able to get more enjoyment out of the act of climbing - at any level of difficulty. As the years passed I spent more and more time repeating moderate and easy climbs, experiencing them as moving meditations , from which kinaesthetic awareness would evolve.

I practised what Carlos Castaneda called "the Art of Dreaming", closely related to the modern concept of lucid dreams. The three-dimensional crystal clarity of objects perceived in this state fascinated me, and the ability to walk through solid objects was unforgetable. All this without recourse to any drugs . . ."

Yowser...take that, rock climb. Ha ha.

Much like a large turd...I too can float.

JF

I dream about climbing as well, usually a route that i have never done and all the holds are where i want them. It usually involves moves that i could probably not make in reality...either way i wake up STOKED.

I've farted up alot of routes.

I'm lactose intolerant. Makes me, shall we say...windy. I just pound a block of pepper jack, and the float through the crux with a little help from the aft thrusters. done and done.

John you need to stop eatin so much pig and maybe fire-up a few prairie dogs

Every time I light up before tackling a 5.8 or 9. Best feeling in the world.

They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!

I have no input for this thread; just output, doh!