“Being in the flow means using less of your brain”

A fully active brain results in maximum performance – or so we’ve always assumed. Steven Kotler, founder of the Flow Genome Project, however, makes it clear that the opposite is the case. So how can we accomplish great things with only minimal brain activity?
10 October, 2017 by
«Im Flow sein, heisst weniger Hirn benutzen»
GDI Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute
 

Revolutionary inventions or incredible records – only super-humans with super-brains are capable of such achievements, right? Wrong. Anyone can catapult themselves into a state in which they can surpass themselves. The state of flow, also known as runner’s high, is nothing other than living absolutely in the moment – and ignoring all other thoughts.

Former journalist Steven Kotler found that during a runner’s high, brainwaves are reduced and even disappear completely in some regions of the brain. This means that sensations of pain and our sense of self are silenced.

Instead, the released energy concentrates on the few active regions of the brain, making us five times more productive, four times more creative and able to learn twice as fast.

The state of flow can most often be observed in extreme athletes or in artists during a burst of creativity. Kotler explains which situations transform even ordinary mortals into a state of super-performance in his TED talk.

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