HE ALTH
Flow state and the wellness industry
There is a major opportunity for the wellness industry to become part of the flow state movement, as it already holds the keys on how to attain those states.
by Jost Sauer
AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE WELLNESS INDUSTRY The age of enhancement is here, and with it the hunt to crack the code of peak performance states is on. By these states I mean the zone where everything comes together and you problem solve creatively at warp speed. Finding out how to put people in those states is a goal in fields ranging from science to success, as the potential is limitless. There is a major opportunity here for the wellness industry because this trend is about to become a movement, and we already know how to attain those states. I’ve been reading some great books
lately, including Stealing Fire and The Rise of Superman, on peak performance and ‘flow’ states and, although they don’t specifically address wellness, they highlight what the new well- being market would demand. Stealing Fire cites studies in neuroscience discovering that our conscious mind can process 120 bits of information per second, but the subconscious can process 4 to 6 billion. Harnessing the processing power of the subconscious is like accessing quantum computing. From the business perspective this means increased productivity (executives are 500 per cent more effective in flow) and the competitive edge of lightning-fast creative solutions. In therapy, this is territory already outlined in Quantum Healing by Deepak Chopra and other energy medicine texts, but new scientific research will start informing new mainstream healing modes, and the wellness industry could be left behind.
WHAT IS THE ‘FLOW STATE’? The author of The Rise of Superman, journalist Steven Kotler, defined flow as “an optimal state of consciousness where action and awareness merge and
there is no concept of time or self ”. He investigated the mechanics of extreme sports, as athletes operate in this zone. Their lives depend on their ability to make instantaneous correct decisions while they are zooming towards the ground in a wingsuit or surfing down the face of a massive wave. To do this they have to access and process vast amounts of information at speeds much faster than the conscious mind is capable of. This eventually led Kotler to the concept of ‘deep embodiment’, and into the territory of yoga, tai-chi, and martial arts. Stealing Fire by Kotler and Jamie
Wheal (an expert on the neurophysiology of human performance) is an overview of peak performance and flow research in psychology, neurobiology, technology, and pharmacology. It discusses the long history of using mood and mind-altering substances to achieve flow. The authors saw this as such a powerful desire that it is forming the basis for a new ‘altered states economy’. New drug statistics showing the normalisation of drug-based enhancement in the general population support this. In the USA alone, where 24% of the population have problems with illicit drugs, 25% of school children are on medical stimulants purely to enhance performance.
PSYCHEDELICS: THE NEW WELLNESS HACK? A new professional drug-using demographic seeking flow via microdosing LSD and psilocybin (magic mushrooms) is also on the rise. The tech magazine Wired suggests that microdosing psychedelics is being used widely (unofficially) as a success tool in Silicon Valley but quickly spreading to other industries. Psychedelic drugs are now the subject of articles in mainstream business journals because users want a boost of information and inspiration, and microdosing makes them feel smarter, more productive, and happier. They are often health-conscious and some consider microdosing to be a ‘wellness hack’. Even I didn’t see this association of
recreational drugs with wellness coming. But the concept of a ‘wellness hack’ along with ‘consciousness hacking’, ‘extreme performance’ and ‘life upgrades’, describe what the wellness industry could deliver via real wellness hacks and systems to achieve peak performance and flow states. This is the future because none of us are going to hit flow states by snowboarding down a vertical cliff with an avalanche at our heels anytime soon. And you can’t ever rely on psychedelic drugs such as LSD or mushrooms. All drugs have side effects. What’s more, the altered states they create are virtual, not real and they hijack the resources of the body to deliver the goods and this increases body/mind separation. This is the opposite of flow. It might be a slow path there, in the case of microdosing, but drugs eventually separate who you could be and who you are. The above-mentioned books
concluded that flow is elusive, that there is no reliable way to reproduce the experience with enough consistency to radically accelerate performance. Kotler identifies 15 to 17 factors required
MAY 2017 19
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