Finding Your Flow and Go States - research notes on the practice
A few weeks ago I taught a class in which we explored the Finding Your Flow and Go States practice which is a simple, effective and really rather fantastic tool to support greater embodiment and aid self-regulation leading to, with regular practice, greater wellbeing.
Greater embodiment (attunement to sensations and the internal and external experience of the body) and self-regulation (this is the capacity to modulate attention and emotion, and there are top-down and bottom-up forms of self-regulation the details of which I will cover in another blog) are really important to wellbeing because they support:
balanced state of physical wellness (including pain perception and management)
emotional balance (including greater happiness)
personal mental, emotional and physical resilience (our capacity to handle and recover well from difficulties)
and general levels of life-satisfaction (greater predictor of life satisfaction than body esteem)
This greater connection to self leads to positive improvements in wellbeing partly because it provides us with a better sense of our physical and physiological condition so that we are clearer about our needs and have the opportunity to address them.
The practice
The go and flow practice - a version of which you can find on TYTS YouTube Channel - uses contrasting somatic experiences via a range of movements which offer differences in things such as the pace, direction and quality of movement to start noticing and feeling a range of perceived body sensations and characteristics typical of the two contrasting states.
The purpose is to help us recognise the felt sensations and differing characteristics of the go and flow states in our own body’s experience. We do this in the safety of a yoga mat and which then enables us to recognise them in our everyday living.
In doing so we can start to learn about our own bioenergetic and neurological programming since the two states are affected by and effect so many different parts of us including our autonomic nervous system responses, somatic responses, emotional responses, muscular-skeletal patterns, energy stores, and chemical balance, among other things.
The idea is that if we can notice which state we’re in at that time, observe how that effects us and what implications that has, then we can make choices about which state we want/need to be in and have tools to enable us to shift into that state. In summary, the practice leads to greater internal and external awareness, comprehension, choice and increased self-agency enabling change.
We start with movement because it is easier to observe than feelings or thoughts as movement is a grosser, more tangible thing. One prerequisite of successful emotion regulation is the awareness of emotional states, which in turn is associated with the awareness of bodily signals. The practice invites us to notice bodily signals first so that organically with practice we can translate that to increased awareness of our emotional states and in doing so enable greater self-regulation.
What is go and flow?
The "go state" and "flow state" are polarities at opposite ends of the movement spectrum.
The "flow state" is soft and fluid, while the "go state" is sharp and linear.
The two states support different experiences in body and mind (and therefore our daily living) so we need both in our lives.
The "go state" is a forward and/or up energy which supports activities such as getting us up in the morning, helping us get to work, get things done, offers us pace, action, focus and sense of decisiveness through a selection of known or familiar options.
The "flow state" helps us explore, create, restore, heal, find new solutions that don't rely on habit or previously known or obvious options, which can take more time but produce variety in our results and in life more generally.
Why is this important?
These observations are important to help us notice our personal placement on the spectrum of the two states at any given moment. Learning to notice the difference between the two states and our experience of them is an important skill as the states correlate to nervous system activation.
This practice does so by helping us learn the language and qualities of the body, breath and mind which are contrasted by the two states. It does so using a tangible, experiential approach so that we can physically feel in our body which of the two states:
is present for us at that moment in time,
might feel more familiar generally
we might spend more time in our daily lives
is needed right now to help create greater balance in body and mind for the activity or circumstances at hand
Path to self-regulation
We need both, go and flow, depending on a range of factors including the activity at hand, time of day and internal and external conditions.
If we are not attune to - that is, if we do not notice - how we feel and which state we occupy then we can expect to respond less effectively, perpetuate or exacerbate an already out of balanced state, or get stuck in a response loop which isn’t tailored to the task at hand. That is, we can not self-regulate.
The flow state is perfect for creating and thriving and the go state is ideal for surviving and action. So we can not create if we’re stuck in the survival response. And since these states have a nervous system correlation this means they have an impact on our wellbeing.
An overly active “go state” can be linked to an over-active sympathetic response which is linked to stress, anxiety and burnout; while an overly active flow state can be linked to an over-active parasympathetic response which can be linked to disorganisation, depression, confusion, freezing, inertia and procrastination; both extremes impact emotional, mental and physical wellbeing and if left unaddressed can lead to more serious health conditions.
In my personal and client experiences I have observed that we can and do get stuck in go and slow state loops/habits where one state seems to dominate daily living experiences. This is mirrored in well documented and evidenced neurological loops such as the HPA axis which can lead to stuck responses and life patterns even when adverse events have passed or circumstances appear to be different. This is far more common than we realise and we’re often not aware of it.
Mindfulness is not enough
But awareness isn’t enough to self-regulate effectively.
One study of participants from nine different mindfulness-based stress reduction courses found yoga practice time to be more strongly correlated with self-reported improvements in mindfulness, perceived stress, anxiety, and psychological well-being than formal sitting meditation time during the 8 weeks. So movement is important.
The beauty of the go and flow practice is that it provides us with simple observation tools through movement and breath that can bring about greater balance by regulating the nervous system, identifying patterns and habits, and creating alternative modes of coping via the physical and feeling body.
Identifying and creating balance in 21c
Modern life is very "go state" orientated. We focus on our to do lists, are rewarded for getting things done and quickly, drive by productivity, set targets on efficiency, and align progress with forward action.
The body notices this too. Give away bodymind signs of a dominant "go state" can include stress, anxiety and insomnia which are linked to a great variety of dis-eases and conditions such as back pain, allergies and inflammation.
So identifying which state feels more familiar to you (suggesting it is more frequently practiced in your daily living) and which you might need more of right now (suggesting what your body, mind and emotional state is short of and/or soothed by) taps into the needs of your day, your nervous system and your own bioenergetic knowledge without anyone else telling you how or what to feel.
This reconnection to and experience of your own needs is incredibly empowering as provides simple yet extremely effective tools for self-agency.
How and when to apply the Go and Flow practice?
It can be practiced when you feel like it but regular practice is important because observing requires less effort to initiate when necessary and becomes more automatic over time and with practice.
I love this practice in the mornings. It helps me physically experience my go and flow habits that I'm taking into my day, observing which one is dominating that morning, and reflect on which state I actually want/need to make the most of my day. I can then tailor the remainder of my practice to support the day ahead by leaning either into the go or flow elements of my practice.
This moment for somatic listening provides an opportunity to choose change, to choose a more suitable way of moving through the day which is a great step in supporting physical, mental and emotional health and ensuring that delivery on the day's tasks is more realistic and sustainable which cultivates greater resilience.
It is also a great practice to do after work to help observe which one is dominating as it common for the "go state" to still be active even when we’re ready to relax. I can then invite the more fluid and rest supporting "flow state" to help settle into the evening so that I can rest and recharge more effectively.
Experience the practice for yourself
If you’d like to explore this at home you can enjoy my Go and Flow practice guide on the TYTS YouTube Channel or get in touch for a more tailored solution using the yoga therapy approach.
Let me know if you have any questions, comments or experiences of this lovely embodying practice by getting in touch here.
Keep moving, feeling and exploring.
Much love
Juliana x
sources, scholarly evidence and articles
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10648-019-09481-5
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1740144520303673#bib0235
https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/365107
https://academic.oup.com/scan/article/8/8/911/1628418?login=true
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1756-8765.2012.01189.x
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2014.00770/full
