Mindfulness and Flow: Distinct States or Two Sides of The Same Coin?
Mindfulness and flow have become two synonymous states of awareness that have grabbed researchers' attention, especially since the 2000, due to the potential shown at enhancing psychological health performance and promoting personal development.
But are these two states linked to each other? Do enhancements in one promote the other? Or are they two totally distinct states with no relation to each other? This has been an ongoing debate within the field of mindfulness and flow research, where there have been research findings to support each of the above questions. So, the answer if mindfulness and flow are the same, related or have nothing to do with each other is not so clear cut.
I will here attempt to explore this with you by looking at the similarities and differences between mindfulness and flow, mechanisms that might be at work, how these might promote or inhibit each other and some potential beneficial impacts these might have on the human experience. So, let us start by defining the states.
Defining mindfulness: Purpose, presence and non-judgment
Western applications of mindfulness are mainly rooted in Buddhist traditions that have been secularised so as to be accessible to a wider range of individuals and be used in multiple contexts as an intervention to promote physical and psychological well-being.
I would also argue that mindfulness has two layers to it: Mindfulness as a practice and mindfulness as a quality of awareness.
Mindfulness as a practice is what we call "mindfulness meditation", the act where we sit in awareness, observing experience and returning our attention back to observing current experience whenever the mind wanders away, through which we cultivate mindfulness as an open, non-judgmental quality of awareness to things as they are.
This is reflected in how Jon Kabat-Zinn (1994) defined mindfulness as the awareness that arises through,
"Paying attention in a particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally" (p. 4).
So, mindfulness involves agency and is an act of will as it requires that we make a deliberate decision to pay attention to what is arising in our experience, our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations, and the inner environment without attempting to manipulate change or evaluate them or why we are having these. On the contrary, the practitioner is encouraged to maintain an observer's stance, that of acknowledging experiences, noticing as they arise and pass.
The paradox of mindfulness is that it requires deliberate effort to cultivate "effortlessness" in the way that we approach and relate to our inner experience. Also, what needs to be mentioned is that nearly since their inception, all major contemplative traditions have had some form of contemplative practices to help cultivate mindfulness as a quality of awareness (Micallef, 2023).
Understanding flow: The state of optimal experience
On the other hand, flow as a state of awareness was formally identified in the 1970s (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975). Flow states typically happen when the task we are engaged in is not easy but one that is proportionally challenging in relation to our current skill level. Tasks that have clear goals provide immediate feedback, offer a balanced challenge, require deep focus and provide intrinsic motivation can help trigger a flow state (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975, 1990).
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1970, 1990) described flow as a state of consciousness that arises when a person becomes fully immersed, concentrated in an activity, experiencing an altered sense of time, a loss of self-awareness, a merging of awareness with the activity, resulting in effortless attention and a state of peak performance.
Overall, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1970) pointed out that flow states are mainly composed of the following elements:
A merging of action and awareness
A centring of attention on a particular task
What could be described as a loss of a sense of "ego" or "sense of self" or "self-consciousness."
Provides coherent, noncontradictory feedback in congruence to the person's actions
An altered sense of the passage of time
And "autoletic" in nature – devoid of external goals or rewards
In short,
"Flow is an absorbing mental state that arises spontaneously when one is engrossed within optimally challenging activity" (Sheldon et al., 2014).
With Peifer (2012) proposing the following as an exhaustive working definition for flow as follows:
"Flow is a positively valenced state (affective component), resulting from an activity that has been appraised as an optimal challenge (cognitive component), characterised by optimised physiological activation (physiological component) for full concentration on coping with environmental/task demands (behavioural component)." (p. 148)
A common ground: Shared elements and benefits
So, what we can notice here is that both focused attention and present-moment awareness are key foundational elements present in both mindfulness and flow as states of awareness.
Also, if we look at the above, we could deduce that both mindfulness and flow, as states of awareness, have elements within them that can potentially contribute to well-being.
I would say that the most prominent between these two is how both mindfulness and flow have the potential to improve and enhance performance. This is especially true for flow states, where it seems that most of the focus it gets is of a more pragmatic nature related to its performance-enhancing effects.
Meta-analysis, which are studies that examine the outcomes from different studies on a particular topic of interest to find common trends, indicate that overall research indicates that there is a relation between flow and mindfulness increasing performance in sports (Buhlmayer et al., 2017; Harris et al., 2023; Wang et al., 2023). What is interesting is that Harris et al. (2023) found indications that when it comes to flow increasing performance, this relationship might be bidirectional.
Further, when it comes to flow, this increase in performance is also seen in Esports and competitive gaming (Harris et al., 2023).
It has to be mentioned that it seems that most of the research on flow and performance mainly focuses on sports performance, while when it comes to mindfulness research is broader and includes job performance and school performance as examples. I would also point out that there is extensive research on the psychological benefits of mindfulness (Goldberg et al., 2022; Goldberg et al., 2018). When it comes to flow, this is less so.
This is not to say that flow does not have beneficial psychological effects; as an example, it has the potential to reduce performance anxiety in sports (Fullagar et al., 2013). Curiously enough, research indicates how the experience of anxiety and its negative effects seems to be absent and incompatible with experiencing flow as a state of optimal performance (Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Eysenck & Wilson, 2016; Nieuwenhuys & Oudejans, 2012).
A potential connection: How mindfulness may promote flow
What might be significant is that these two states of awareness might in some way be connected together, where increases in one might promote the other. In fact, current research indicates that mindfulness training can facilitate and increase the likelihood of experiencing flow (Buhlmayer et al., 2017; Wang et al., 2023). However, it has to be mentioned that we do not clearly know the why and how of this relationship, why this might be happening, and what processes are involved.
Although I would argue that one of the possible reasons why this might be happening is that both mindfulness and flow have been found to reduce mind wandering, especially self-referential thinking, with observable changes in the brain pathways linked to these processes seen in a decreased activity and changes in connectivity in the default mode network of the brain (Brewer et al., 2011; Rahrig et al., 2022; Ulrich et al., 2016; Ulrich et al., 2014). So, considering that both have these effects we could see how improvements in one could contribute to improvements in the other.
However, as we mentioned at the start, despite the common features, effects, and outcomes these two states have between them, the answer of whether mindfulness and flow are the same, related, or have nothing to do with each other is not as clear-cut. In fact, the research community is split when it comes to this.
I personally belong to those who argue that while mindfulness and flow share some common characteristics, they represent two totally distinct psychological states of awareness, each with their own unique characteristics and applications, with instances where mindfulness and flow can either promote or inhibit the other.
So, despite the overlaps, I would definitely argue that mindfulness and flow represent two fundamentally distinct mental states of awareness.
Fundamental difference: Awareness vs absorption
So, at a second look, although they look "similar" and have similar feathers, these two states also have significant differences. I would argue that one of the crucial differences between these two states is how they relate to awareness and control. Sheldon et al. (2014) summed up this difference really well,
"Mindfulness involves cultivating an observer of consciousness, trying to maintain reflective awareness of each moment. In contrast, flow involves losing the inner observer within an altered state of consciousness in which the moment blurs into a continuous stream of activity." (p. 276)
So, mindfulness involves meta-awareness – consciously observing one's experience – while flow is characterised by the absorption of self-consciousness into the activity.
As Csikszentmihalyi (1975, 1990) describes and as we saw previously, when in a flow state, the individual typically loses track of time, and self-awareness merges with the action being done. This is often described as being "in the zone."
Conversely, as we can deduce from how Sheldon et al. (2014) described mindfulness (see above), mindfulness practice maintains a clear separation between the observer and what is being observed, so a sense of maintaining awareness of the passage of time, bodily sensations, emotions, thoughts and emergent experience (Bishop et al., 2004). This as we also saw when we defined the states.
It has been pointed out how research indicates that to enter a flow state, there must be a temporal dissociation of meta-awareness and how introducing meta-awareness in a flow state actually interrupts the state of flow (Chin & Schooler, 2009; Csikszentmihalyi, 1975; Csikszentmihalyi, 1990). Csikszentmihalyi (1975) pointed this out in his seminal book "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety" where he said,
"A person in flow has no dualistic perspective: he is aware of his actions but not of the awareness itself. A tennis player pays undivided attention to the ball and the opponent, a chess master focuses on the strategy of the game, most states of religious ecstasy are reached through complex ritual steps; yet for flow to be maintained, one cannot reflect on the act of awareness itself. When awareness becomes split, so that one perceives the activity from "outside," flow is interrupted." (p. 38)
Contrasting approaches: Judgment and neural distinctions
Another difference between these two is related to the role of judgment and evaluation. Mindfulness explicitly cultivates a non-judgmental attitude toward experience, accepting whatever arises without preference. Flow, on the other hand, depends on clear goals and feedback, requiring ongoing evaluation of performance against specific criteria (Csikszentmihalyi & Nakamura, 2010).
Another way in which flow and mindfulness are different is in the brain processes activated during both states. When a flow state occurs, there seems to be a temporary suppression, a downregulation of activity in the prefrontal and medial temporal lobes (Dietrich, 2004; Peifer, 2012). This has been termed "transient hypo-frontality" and is hypothesised to allow processes that are well-learned to run without the need for one to deliberatively think about it (Dietrich, 2004).
It has to be mentioned that the theory of "transient hypo-frontality" has had its challengers, mainly as being too oversimplistic to explain why flow happens, and other theories have been proposed (Harris et al., 2017).
On the other hand, mindfulness seems to activate brain processes that are antagonistic to this. In fact, contrary to flow, current research indicates that mindfulness activates the frontal lobe with long-term practice, potentially resulting in increased grey matter density (Rathore et al., 2022; Wheeler et al., 2017). This further highlights how these two states of awareness are separate and contrary to each other as one reduces activity in the frontal lobe while the other activates the frontal lobe, resulting in antagonistic processes.
The paradox: How mindfulness both inhibits and promotes flow
However, having said that things are not so clear-cut when it comes to the relationship between mindfulness and flow. So, having said that, the question arises: Are they linked in any way? Are there instances where mindfulness might promote flow?
Although the potential antagonist elements we have mentioned, as pointed out earlier, there are aspects where these two states of awareness might be linked and where mindfulness can support or even promote flow.
For example, Sheldon et al. (2014) found that mindfulness might have a split effect on flow. What does this mean? We previously mentioned how mindfulness involves maintaining self-awareness and how this might preclude the experience of flow.
Across a series of three studies, Sheldon et al. (2014) found support for this - how state mindfulness inhibited state flow. They commented how it seemed that,
"The more mindful a participant was on average, the less likely they were to be absorbed or in flow at particular moments ……. state mindfulness at a particular point in time was negatively associated with state flow absorption at that point in time. This indicates that the more reflectively aware participants felt at the moment they were signalled, the less absorption they reported feeling in that moment." (ibid., p. 280)
So mindfulness seems to interfere with those aspects of flow related to being carried away in a task with a loss of a sense of self and an altered sense of time. Sheldon and colleagues put an interesting analogy to this,
"How one cannot both stand on the banks of a stream and be washed down that stream at the same time." (ibid., p. 280)
State vs. trait mindfulness: Different effects on flow
However, that is not the whole story, particularly when it comes to trait mindfulness. Curiously enough, although trait mindfulness inhibited flow absorption, Sheldon et al. (2014) also found a link between trait mindfulness and trait flow, specifically mindfulness being associated with increases in feeling in control in flow states. What does this mean? That this increase in felt control resulted, for example, in feeling an enhanced feeling of reaching the goal and completing it successfully, enhanced feelings of being in control and an increased sense of competence.
What is interesting is that in a study done by Aherne et al. (2011) on how mindfulness might effect aspects of athletes' flow states, where they found how mindfulness training enhanced those aspects of flow related to having clear goals and an increased sense of control.
So, although mindfulness and flow are two distinct states of awareness that have as their functional basis processes that are antagonistic to each other, the argued for element that mindfulness and flow are linked and increases in one might promote the other might have some foundation to it. A more recent meta-analysis found evidence of this.
A meta-analysis by Schutte and Malouff (2023) found that, overall, increased levels of mindfulness seemed to be linked with increases in experiencing flow. However, the analysis mirrored the findings of Sheldon et al. (2014). This means that trait mindfulness was found to be associated with increases in flow while, again, state mindfulness was not associated with increases in flow.
The effortless effort: From state to trait
I would speculate that this might be happening because it could be argued that state mindfulness is something that requires conscious effort, that of temporarily bringing mindfulness to current experience. As we saw before, this can preclude the experience of flow as it involves making a mental effort to temporarily bring awareness to consciously observe one’s experience and as Csikszentmihalyi (1975) said,
"A person in flow has no dualistic perspective: he is aware of his actions but not of the awareness itself. A tennis player pays undivided attention to the ball and the opponent, a chess master focuses on the strategy of the game, most states of religious ecstasy are reached through complex ritual steps; yet for flow to be maintained, one cannot reflect on the act of awareness itself. When awareness becomes split, so that one perceives the activity from "outside," flow is interrupted." (p. 38)
On the other hand, with time and regular practice, mindfulness can turn into a trait. It becomes an inner disposition inherent within the individual as part and parcel of their way of being. So, to a degree, mindfulness becomes effortless effort similar to flow, and I would speculate that this might be why flow seems to be linked to trait mindfulness but not state mindfulness.
But again, this is me talking out loud, so more research needs to be done to explore if this is the case, if this observed correlation is a causal one and the direction of this effect, as Schutte and Malouff (2023) point in their analysis that it might be,
"That the relationship between mindfulness and flow may be bi-directional and interactive in that absorption in flow experiences may help build mindfulness as well as mindfulness being a foundation for flow." (ibid., p. 2)
Practical applications: Different states for different needs
So, till now, we saw that mindfulness and flow are distinct yet connected in some way. I would argue that we should not be disappointed by this. Why? Because being distinct states, it makes them suitable for different applications, and this, in turn, gives us more approaches through which we can improve persons' well-being.
Further, the notion of them being distinct but linked in some way makes it possible that, for some situations, they might result in a multiplier effect at promoting well-being, especially if, as argued by Schutte and Malouff (2023), the relationship between mindfulness and flow is bidirectional where one increases the other and vice versa possibly conducive to a positive feedback loop.
However, having said that still, mindfulness has shown effectiveness in a variety of contexts in both clinical and non-clinical settings, at helping individuals from all walks of life manage different facets of well-being, including pain, stress, anxiety, and depression, etc. (Goldberg et al., 2022; Goldberg et al., 2018). Further, its emphasis on applying an acknowledging, accepting, non-judgmental awareness towards inner experience makes it especially valuable for developing emotional regulation and resilience.
Meanwhile, flow states, have proven to be particularly beneficial in performance-oriented contexts, as flow's combination of high focus, reduced self-reflective consciousness, and the merging of action and awareness can lead to peak performance and enhanced skill development (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990; Harris et al., 2023; Jackson & Marsh, 1996). One example of this is sports where the majority of flow research is focused on.
Conclusion: Complementary pathways to well-being
So, as we come to the end of this article, where does this leave us in relation to the questions we posed at the start: Are mindfulness and flow distinct states? Are they linked in any way? Do enhancements in one promote the other?
As we saw throughout this article, while mindfulness and flow share some common features and applications, they also represent two distinct psychological states of awareness, each with its own unique characteristics.
I would say that understanding the differences and similarities between these states is very important. Why? Because it can help us in making an informed choice when it comes to choosing which might be the most appropriate for our specific goals and needs, whether seeking to enhance performance or improve general physical and psychological well-being.
And although these two states are distinct and separate, we also saw how mindfulness and flow might be linked.
First, I would say that mindfulness practice actively improves attention control, curbs mind wandering, and reduces self-referential thinking, which may help create the foundational conditions that are conducive to experiencing flow.
Second to this, we saw how trait mindfulness might increase trait flow. So, with time, through regular mindfulness practice, mindfulness as a state of awareness becomes more of a disposition, a trait, so more innate. So, we could say that those foundational conditions from mindfulness that might be conducive to flow might become more of a second nature, so improving our chances of experiencing flow. This is something that Moore (2013) found evidence for.
Additionally, it might be that alternating between these states might offer optimal benefits – how one can be used to set the stage for the other. What do I mean? As an example, a flow state can offer periods of deep engagement conducive to skill development; mindfulness, in turn, can provide the self-awareness necessary to process and learn from flow experiences. Sheldon et al. (2014) proposed that,
"From a self-regulatory perspective, an optimal sequence might entail first mindfully surveying the situation and one's reactions to it in order to decide what to do, then going into a flow state in service of one's selected actions, then going into a mindful state in order to observe the results of those actions, then going into another flow state in order to best accomplish the next actions, and so on." (p. 281)
To sum it up, while mindfulness and flow share some common characteristics, they represent two totally distinct psychological states of awareness, each with their unique characteristics and applications, with instances where mindfulness and flow can either promote or inhibit the other.
Ultimately, I would argue that rather than viewing them as competing alternatives, we should see them as complementary pathways in our pursuit of improving well-being might be the way to go.
As taking this perspective might be most beneficial, especially as research is ongoing in these areas, so it might reveal new insights into how these two states interact and influence the human experience. So, with time, as our understanding of the states deepens, we may discover additional ways in which both mindfulness and flow can be used for the benefit of ourselves, others, and those around us. May you be well 😊
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