Mindflow: a unique mindfulness-in-flow state
Cacioppe (2017B) has defined two different types of flow state, full absorption and mindflow. Full absorption flow occurs when a person is in a limited state of mindfulness because their attention is narrow and fully immersed in the activity. Absorption describes a state where the individual is completely attentive to and engaged with their present activity (Rothbard, 2001). In a state of absorption, unlike mindfulness, individuals block out inputs that are not central to the activity.
The absorbed state is different from mindfulness where a person remains aware of the wider environment. Instead, a person will be unlikely to perceive external sounds, sensations, people or things unrelated to the activity (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990, 2004, Dane, 2011). A person walking down a street in a mindfulness state is aware of sounds and sights around him including the feelings and tensions within his body, but he may not be in a state of flow. A person absorbed in flow may miss new information or block out important environmental cues. For example, one person described being so absorbed while working at home, he didn’t see his toddler walk past and out the front door. This type of absorbed flow is sometimes called concentration or tunnel vision.
Shelden, Prentice and Halusic’s (2015) research found an inverse relationship between the absorption component of flow and mindfulness. Participants who experienced greater flow scored lower on measures of mindful self-awareness. Ability, however, to maintain awareness of the environment while keeping a high level of attention on an activity would be a valuable attribute in life and work.
Cacioppe (2017A) describes the second type of flow state as mindfulness-in-flow, which he calls mindflow, This type of flow has been part of spiritual practices such as walking meditation, gardening and calligraphy but can also occur in ordinary activities such as driving a car. The diagram below shows a continuum of absorbed attention with the whole focus on the activity to the attention on the activity buy still open and aware of wider information and sensations.
Under times of threat as in a car crash, the situation may require a person to be in absorbed flow because there is no psychic energy available for wider awareness. In mindful flow, however, there is a high level of attention on the activity but also awareness of stimuli and people in the environment. While there is overlap between mindfulness, absorbed flow and mindflow, the state of mindflow has a wider awareness of the environment and results in a greater ability to respond, learn and adjust to a changing environment as shown in the following diagram;
Whitelaw (2012) describes this state of connectedness as Samadhi. “This connectedness is not an exotic condition, but a natural state that arises when we’re absorbed into our setting”. In mindful flow, because the awareness widens to other elements of the moment, a person is open and responsive to other people and changing circumstances.
While concentration on work activities is commonplace, it can result in a narrow, focus rather than being aware of other things or people. The ability to be in the present be connected to other people and relevant factors in the wider environment is a skill that would be useful for managers, workers as well as high elite athletes.
Mindflow at the Integral Point
The mindfulness-in-flow process was taught by Russian teacher and mystic, George I. Gurdjieff, in the 1930s, at the Institute of Human Development in Paris where he attracted many students from all over the world. Gurdjieff used the process of the ‘working surface’ (also referred to as the ‘work surface’) to develop students to a higher level of awareness where they fully experienced the moment and connected to something larger than themselves.
The working surface is mentioned is in an Ouspensky Foundation exercise file (2015): “Direct all your attention to the work surface. The work surface is the surface between the instrument you are using and the object you are focused upon, for example the surface between the sandpaper and the window sill or the space between the saw and the beam.” In another reference, Colin Brown (2002) states, “Placing our attention on the working surface was our instruction always. ... it always reminds me that there is a working surface somewhere ….”. This Gurdjieff working surface process is still taught around the world in schools started by his students.
The term ‘integral point’ (integral means to make complete or whole), instead of working surface, has been adopted by Cacioppe (2017) and incorporates two elements of Ken Wilber’s Integral AQAL (all quadrants, all levels) framework (2016) which extend and enhance the conditions and understanding of the mindflow process.
The integral point is where a person’s attention merges with the outer objective world, the point where the one person’s inner world merges with another person or object.
The integral point is the centred point of awareness in an activity where connection occurs. This is different from an open-mindfulness state where awareness is on any stimulus that arises.
Examples of the integral point are:
- When walking, where the foot touches the ground.
- When writing or typing, where the tip of the pen touches the paper or the fingers touch the keyboard.
- When driving or riding a bike, where the tires meet the road.
- When listening to another person, the sound of the person’s voice.
The following quote describes a person’s experience at the integral point: “One Saturday morning I was waxing a floor and was able to keep my attention at the integral point for some time. The grain and colours in the linoleum became so clear it looked like I was watching them on a movie screen. As I worked, the stillness was immense, even though I was aware of the sounds and movements of others working around me. There was no sense of time and, even though I was doing a reasonably strenuous activity, it felt effortless, like I wasn’t doing anything. I felt an overwhelming sense of bliss and gratitude—to be waxing the floor! It was an intense feeling of unity and flow with the whole cosmos. I can still recall the vividness of each of the speckles in the linoleum and that feeling of absolute happiness” (Cacioppe, 2017A).
As this quote describes, the experience of the integral point includes the flow characteristics of effortlessness, timelessness, dissolving of self, and vivid experience of the moment. There is also, an awareness and connection with the environment and others and with something greater than one’s self.
Jackson (1995) describes this awareness and connection with other players: “The players develop an intuitive feel for how their movements and those of everyone else on the floor are interconnected. Not everyone reaches this point. Some players’ self-centred conditioning is so deeply rooted they can’t make that leap. But for those who can, a subtle shift in consciousness occurs. The beauty of the system is that it allows players to experience another, more powerful form of motivation than ego-gratification.”
The Gurdjieff process has been developed into a four-step process that leads to mindflow: 1) Remember to be present and relax, 2) Become aware of one sense (e.g. breath, listening), 3) Bring attention to the integral point, 4) When the attention wanders, relax and return to awareness and the integral point.
Attention at the integral point is a special type of flow that connects with a wider environment, responds to the need of the moment and learns and adapts. This process can be used during any activity to bring about the mindflow state but requires practice to stay at the integral point.
If a person can achieve this high level of mindfulness, action and clarity of purpose (mindflow), it would transform their personal and work life so they would, to use Ken Wilber’s term, ‘Show Up’ authentically and fully.