Finding my Flow through my Fears #1/4

Imagine how it could feel to be in the eye of the storm …

Or better yet BE the EYE of ANY storm.

In this 4 part blog series, I explore and share around the topic; the Art of Finding your Flow, the spiritual practice of embracing your fears and moving through the 3 gates on the path to enlightenment (which can be viewed as access to a higher operating system and knowledge). The journey to becoming both fierce and fearless as we all choose to live our best lives imaginable.

The Art of Finding your Flow

We have all experienced chaos at one point in our lives, whether it be internal or via external circumstances. Certainly, today the level of chaos in the outside world has really ramped up, with no sign of slowing down, at times the experience can feel like being inside a pressure cooker, set to the max. And yet we all yearn for peace, for clarity, for connection…And Freedom.

My life’s challenges, coupled with my personality traits (plus genes and memes), my beliefs, fears and a series of traumas led me into an extreme downward spiral. Living inside a noisy head of self-talk and self-criticism, teetering on the edge of the great abyss. I was getting in my own way. On one hand, I was blocking the life, I wished to manifest, on the other; the sum of these experiences provided the perfect conditions for transformation.

I yearned for freedom, from myself mostly, my own head, for stillness. I became determined in my desire to no longer have the state of my unconscious mind — filled with past stuck patterns, limiting beliefs and perceptions — run me! I got frustrated! It had to change.

On my unique path to shifting and transforming my experience, I became deeply interested in the topic of the flow state and in entering the zero-point field. Recently, in creating practice around this, using various tools I have found to work, I am finding it to be very beneficial in all aspects of my own life, in a myriad of ways.

So, I begin where my curiosity on the topic of finding your flow began for me with how, when I was much younger, I became drawn to this “other/improved” state of being. I was always fascinated while watching Pete Sampras hit winner after winner on the court. It seemed effortless. Sampras had clearly mastered “The Zone”- that state many athletes aim to reach for peak performance. But I sensed it was beyond this “zone” of hitting the best of your ability point when muscle memory kicks in as you find absolute focus and your mind fully connects with achieving the goal in front of you.

I will never forget watching the World Cup qualifying football match in a bar in Putney (London) back in 2001. The day England beat Germany 5–1 in Munich. Easily England’s most memorable game of the 21st century. It was quite extraordinary, bordering on miraculous, the English players all seemed to elevate as a collective, taking lead from Michael Owen, who was at the top of his game and later said that it was one of the games where everything just clicked for him. The country went crazy, it was a surreal moment in time and I remember wondering what was going on inside these players during those 90 minutes.

Did any really understand the impact they made on a nation’s psyche, on the day they played in perfect harmony with each other?

Inspired from a young age by great artists like Picasso, Miro, and Jackson Pollock…I believed there was something they were touching, tapping into.

Was it genius? Was it innate?

Pondering…Could I access this? Or was it only for some?

Why did so many with a “genius gene” seem to fall into addiction patterns?

Why was there often so much darkness and destruction that seemed to be coupled with the ability to create such beauty?

Is destruction and creation energy linked? How?

So what is FLOW? While a surfer may call it stoke. A yogic teacher may call it the state of Samadhi. Western philosophers and seekers may call it bliss. As did Joseph Campbell in his timeless conversations with journalist Bill Moyers. Think of FLOW as a state of being at ONE with ALL …UNITY.

FLOW practices are routine for many of the world’s most inspiring individuals today, backed up by science and research, many, and a combination of them, have been found to prolong the state for extended periods of time. The end goal would be to live and respond to life from a state of flow.

How can you access FLOW?

• Move your body! Shift that stuck stuff and emotion as a start.

• Set intentions to get out of your comfort zone

• Breathe deeply…learn how to breathe in flow

• Ground yourself by walking on the earth, get out in nature

• Practice self-care, listen to your body

• Do yoga, go swim in the sea, or tidal / salt pools

Try open to practices and processes that allow you to be drawn into a single focus, for an extended time… Meditation works, but so does quiet, neutral contemplation of an object. Any object.

There are many tools you can try, all of these are written about and have worked for me.

Find your unique formula... Your personal recipe.

Self-expression is at the top of my list, dance, write, doodle, paint, sing... When expressed from this place, from presence, a place of non-judgement, from your authentic self, the more beautiful and resonant it is.

• Journal. It helps to integrate all sides of your experience

• Practice sincere gratitude.

• Radical acceptance of everything in your life just as it is …Not wanting anything, just accepting.

And repeat. Repeat.

To Be Continued...

I am working on my unique flow formula daily... What works for you? Why not share what you yearn for at a soul level and what your personal flow recipe is with us?