As a reminder: Flow states have triggers we can use to make it more likely we drop into flow when desired!  Links below to the ones we’ve already covered!

Deep embodiment is a flow trigger that works by reducing cognitive load.

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Traditionally, we’ve thought of the brain as the leader of the nervous system controlling the body.  Embodied cognition is the name given to our current understanding – our ability to think and make decisions is heavily influenced, or perhaps even determined by, our experience in the physical world.  Interactions with the environment are actually part of the computational process.

Which helps understand why deep embodiment – paying attention to multiple sensory systems at once – is a flow trigger that works by reducing cognitive load.  By connecting to our bodies, and directly accessing this information stream, we are aided in the journey out of the “thinking mind” and into the deep now.  

Sounds nice, right?  But how do we do this

Well if we’re after deep embodiment for flow, let’s talk about what we really mean by embodiment in the first place.  In this context, we mean it as is your bodily awareness, including information coming from inside your body as well as information your body is taking in from your surroundings.  Sometimes this is called your “felt sense.”

How to practice?  Mindfulness.  Pay attention to different senses than you’re used to.  Focus on breathing and feeling the breath (in or out of a meditation practice!).  Tune into what you hear when sitting around in your house.  Bring attention to different senses than are automatic for you.  Build a practice of pulling more information in.  

And when it comes to flow and using the deep embodiment trigger?  We often think of this trigger in the context of action sports where there is no choice but embodiment – we have to pay attention to the unfolding of the action.  Or in learning, the deep embodiment trigger can be used when you learn by doing (don’t read about a pump, go tear one apart to see how it works).  

Here’s another way you can use it.  Before doing something we’re scared of (public speaking, dropping into a big line, leading a meeting, a job interview, etc), we’re often told to take a deep break as if to calm our nervous system.  Talking about unpredictability, we learned that this is pretty ineffective, and we’re better off to reframe those chemicals as excitement rather than anxiety.  Well, here’s taking it one step further: Still take that breath, AND use it as a way to connect to your senses and engage the deep embodiment trigger to increase the likelihood you drop into flow doing this scary activity.  After all, flow is what we need in those moments, so standing on the precipice of whatever it is, you want tools to take the building blocks of where you’re at, and transform it into flow.  THAT’S using the triggers, and here we start to see it come together!