On Flow States and Peak Experiences

A ‘flow state’ is a state of deep focus and absorption when engaged in an activity, which involves a loss of self-consciousness and alterations to one’s sense of time. Flow states are common: they can occur when we are engaged in a variety of activities – from playing music to running – and in some instances, the state of flow qualifies as a ‘peak experience’.

This post will identify the key characteristics of flow states and the reasons why they’re conducive to our mental well-being. Following this, I will describe how certain flow states can rightly be classified as a peak experience, which is a transcendent moment of joy and elation. During such a moment, one can also be said to be in a state of flow, as one tends to be deeply absorbed in the experience and feel one’s sense of self and time fade away. Flow states – and their potential to turn into peak experiences – can be a healthy and achievable way of benefiting from altered states of consciousness.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who is considered one of the founders of positive psychology, was the first psychologist to identify and research ‘flow’. This was the focus of his 1990 popular book Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, wherein he said:

The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times . . . The best moments usually occur if a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.

The sorts of activities that lead to flow states – and the moments of happiness and fulfilment that positive psychologists are interested in – tend to be effortful, difficult, and worthwhile ones. In addition to playing music and sports, activities conducive to flow states include reading, playing video games, walking in nature, yoga, and creating artwork. (In one of my blog posts, I described the flow state I experienced when hiking Mount Rinjani in Indonesia.) If you’ve ever experienced being ‘in the zone’, that’s the state of flow. This state occurs when your skill level corresponds to the challenge at hand. You’re able to successfully engage in the activity but it requires a great deal of concentration and focus to do so. In contrast, if your level of skill exceeds the challenge, you will become bored or distracted, and if the challenge exceeds your level of skill, you will become stressed and anxious.

Csikszentmihalyi argued that people are their most creative, productive, and happy when they’re in a state of flow. But achieving this level of happiness takes committed effort; it is not a type of happiness we can just expect to experience suddenly or as a result of achieving some desired goal. This is very much in line with the view of the ancient Greek virtue ethicists, such as Aristotle, who viewed happiness (which they called eudaimonia) as the result of cultivating a virtuous character. The latter, like the activities conducive to flow, requires commitment, hard work, and difficulty. But when one has developed a virtuous character, the expression of virtuous behaviour becomes easier, and so too, then, does the feeling of fulfilment. Similarly, once one has gained a certain level of skill – be it athletic, musical, or artistic skill – optimal states of performance can arise, which seem to ‘flow’ out of one without much effort.

Csikszentmihalyi defined flow as “a state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience is so enjoyable that people will continue to do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it.” Indeed, many people engage in ‘flow-friendly’ activities even if it means incurring physical injury, not sleeping, risking one’s life, or neglecting one’s duties. Some examples that come to mind are playing video games all day, mountaineering, base jumping, and free solo rock climbing. Flow states can, therefore, act as a potential trap for some people. This is why it’s important to balance the joy that flow states offer with the other important areas of one’s life.

Csikszentmihalyi describes eight characteristics of flow:

1. Complete concentration on the task
2. Clarity of goals and reward in mind and immediate feedback
3. Transformation of time (speeding up/slowing down)
4. The experience is intrinsically rewarding
5. Effortlessness and ease
6. There is a balance between challenge and skills
7. Actions and awareness are merged, losing self-conscious rumination
8. There is a feeling of control over the task

It’s worth bearing in mind that, level of skill aside, the capacity to experience flow differs between individuals. This seems to be related to differences in personality. Studies have found that those with an autotelic personality are more likely to experience flow. This personality trait is distinguished by high interest in life, persistence, low self-centredness, openness, and the enjoyment of things for their own sake rather than for the promise of external rewards and recognition.

A 2012 study by Fredrik Ullén, published in Personality and Individual Differences, investigated the links between flow and the Big Five personality traits (openness to experience, neuroticism, conscientiousness, extraversion, and agreeableness). The researchers found a negative association between flow and neuroticism, and a positive association between flow and conscientiousness. Regarding the first finding, it is likely that the tendency of neurotic individuals to be anxious and self-critical makes it more difficult to sink into a state of flow. These are states of mind that take one outside the present moment and what one is currently engaged in. With respect to the second finding, conscientious people are more likely to spend time mastering challenging tasks and skills, which is an important precursor to flow. 

However, the associations between personality and flow do not mean that one cannot increase one’s capacity to experience flow. Some personality traits are quite amenable to change. For instance, neuroticism can decrease, and openness and conscientiousness can increase, following a range of interventions. Psychedelics have been shown to significantly and durably induce these changes. The practice of mindfulness meditation can achieve these effects too.

Therefore, if you feel (or know from legitimate psychometric tests) that you are high in neuroticism and low in openness and conscientiousness, it’s worth looking into activities or interventions that have been shown to alter these personality traits. This doesn’t involve changing who you fundamentally are as a person; it means altering levels of traits that may be maladaptive – that is, a source of mental distress, impairment to functioning, low levels of life satisfaction, and frustration of one’s true potential. And, with the perspective of positive psychology in mind, personality changes are helpful not just for reducing psychological distress but also for enhancing positive states of mind. By increasing one’s capacity to experience flow states, one will, in turn, be able to enjoy new levels of happiness and satisfaction.

Abraham Maslow, one of the founders of humanistic psychology, defined peak experiences as moments of intense happiness and well-being, in which the ego is transcended. This sounds a lot like flow states; indeed, the two states of mind are quite similar. Flow can occur when one is having a peak experience, but not all instances of flow are peak experiences.

Maslow stated that the emotions characteristic of peak experiences include “wonder, awe, reverence, humility, surrender, and even worship before the greatness of the experience”. Someone having a peak experience can experience the following simultaneously:

• Sense of unity and wholeness: a feeling of interconnectedness with the universe or a deep sense of harmony
• Loss of self-consciousness: a diminished sense of ego, where one feels absorbed in the experience
• Timelessness: a feeling that time has slowed down or lost meaning
• Effortlessness and ease: the experience feels natural and spontaneous
• Deeply positive emotions: feelings of joy, awe, ecstasy, or profound peace.
• Increased awareness and clarity: a heightened perception of reality, often described as a moment of insight or revelation
• Intrinsic value: the experience is valuable for its own sake, not for any external rewards
• Greater sense of purpose: a sense of meaning or alignment with one's deeper values
• ‘Fully functioning’: the feeling of using all capacities and capabilities at their highest potential
• Enhanced creativity: a boost in original thinking, problem-solving, or artistic inspiration
• Transcendence of personal concerns: a feeling of going beyond ordinary worries and everyday limitations
• Mindfulness: complete awareness of the present moment without concern for the past or future

As we can see, this sounds a lot like a flow state, but it tends to be a more intense and emotionally heightened experience. Maslow formulated peak experiences as a naturalistic way of viewing mystical experiences. He wanted to broaden the concept of heightened non-ordinary states, so that they were no longer confined to the realm of religion and mysticism. He wanted to acknowledge that these exceptional states of consciousness are common and can be experienced without references to supernatural concepts like the divine, the soul, or spirits.

One key difference between flow states and peak experiences is that the latter may include intense emotions like ecstasy, as well as mystical states like the sense of unity and interconnectedness. Nonetheless, a flow state may turn into a peak experience; it is possible for certain activities, if sustained for long enough, to induce intense altered states. Peak experiences can occur not just when listening to music but when playing it too; being ‘in the zone’ can turn into a state of ecstasy and unity, especially when playing music with others. Collective singing, chanting, and drumming may lead to a state known as collective effervescence, a state of group exhilaration, euphoria, energy, and unity. Some experiences of collective effervescence could be characterised as peak experiences. Prolonged dancing is another way in which a flow state could turn into a peak experience.

However, Maslow identified triggers of peak experiences that seem distinct from the triggers of flow states. The latter tend to be activities requiring a certain level of skill, whereas the former can be effortless activities, which don’t require the development of skill. For example, triggers of peak experiences can include being in nature, admiring artwork, listening to music, having sex, being emotionally intimate with others, and experiencing childbirth. Moreover, some triggers of peak experiences may involve some kind of skill or knowledge – such as scientific knowledge (e.g. an understanding of the universe) – without involving the sort of concentrated activity that leads to being ‘in the zone’.

Similar to Csikszentmihalyi’s association of flow states with the autotelic personality type, Maslow thought that peak experiences were more likely to occur for ‘self-actualised’ individuals. These are people who have fulfilled their potential in terms of their capacities, desires, and values. It is the full realisation of someone’s creative, intellectual, and social potential. The autotelic person is quite similar to the person pursuing self-actualisation. Both are interested in realising their potential – the process of becoming “everything you are capable of becoming”, as Maslow put it. The person who is autotelic, it seems, is also more likely to be self-actualised; their traits are more conducive to fulfilling their potential. Maslow placed self-actualisation at the top of his ‘hierarchy of needs’, which refers to human drives we have to fulfil if we are to achieve well-being, growth, and wholeness.

Maslow regarded peak experiences as one of the most important goals in life, just as Csikszentmihalyi saw flow states as some of the best moments in life. Both of these states of mind involve distinct and unparalleled levels of well-being. These are also non-ordinary states that we can all achieve, given that they have a variety of easily accessible triggers. They can act as a healthy alternative or addition to psychedelics (which can reliably induce peak experiences but which may not sit well with everyone). Even for those who don’t face heightened risks when using psychedelics – as a result of their predisposition – the unpredictability, uncontrollability, duration, intensity, distinct effects, and unique risks of psychedelics can still be off-putting. Many triggers of flow states and peak experiences can be safer alternatives.

On the other hand, for those comfortable using psychedelics and being in psychedelic states, these compounds may help to facilitate or enhance flow states and peak experiences induced by other activities. For example, it can be easier to enter these states – and experience more intense versions of them – if one is in nature, listening to music, playing music, singing, or chanting while tripping. At the same time, certain flow-friendly activities may be impaired when tripping, such as sports and playing instruments that require a lot of concentration. I would definitely be interested to see research on psychedelics as a potential tool for facilitating and enhancing flow states.