Here’s a question for you: Have you ever gone through a time in your life when you felt “in the flow”?
It’s like you get lost in a project, to the point where you are paying zero attention to anything else. You’re completely immersed in whatever activity you’re doing. It often happens when you’re doing something you enjoy. Something creative or even mindless.
What flow does for you is
- Increase your energy
- Better sleep
- More productive
- Greater fulfillment
- Greater intrinsic motivation–This means you’re motivated for internal rewards
- More creativity
- Improved performance
Plus? It feels good, doesn’t it? To be able to shut out everything and focus on one thing.
According to the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (!)I have no idea how to pronounce that), there are factors involved in getting into your flow:
- Doing something that is intrinsically rewarding to you
- Being totally focused on the activity and not the outcome
- Feeling in control in a world gone mad (my words, not his)
- Feeling calm and serene
- Lack of awareness of physical needs (like, when was the last time I peed?)
- Experiencing a sense of timelessness. It’s fun to lose track of time – when you have the time
Those are just a few things you might experience when you’re in the flow.
Chances are, one big reason was that your body was running in its natural rhythm – basically, following your body clock. And it turns out there’s nothing woo-woo about it.
I have a quick and powerful tip to get back to that feeling if you’ve lost it.
But first, it’s important to remember that we crave routine. Especially healthy routines…seriously. I’m not making this up.
When you’re NOT following your body clock, you can feel fuzzy, unfocused, and tired.
You can also feel hungry … even when you’re not.
Over the long run, it can spell disaster for your health. It can affect:
- Your heart health
- Your metabolism
- Your digestion
- Your skin
- Your body’s ability to repair DNA damage, and
- So much more
Plus… disruptions in your body clock (aka circadian rhythm) are linked with obesity, diabetes, and mental health issues.
This month, we’re going to talk about how you can upgrade your daily & nightly routines to feel more “in the flow’ … and get those results you’re working so hard for.
And if you’re not working hard for them yet … it can help you finally find the energy to make them a reality.
First, some tips for getting into the flow:
- Set specific goals: If you know what you have to do and know you can do it, you don’t have that stress and anxiety monster telling you you’re doing it wrong. You know what you’re doing.
- Get rid of distractions: I don’t know about you, but I’m constantly checking my email, social media, etc. Turn them all off. Clean off your desk, if you’re working. Create an environment that supports you instead of stressing you out.
- Choose something you enjoy: This isn’t always possible, but if you’re doing something you hate, flow will not make an appearance. For example, I love making diamond paintings. I don’t know why. I don’t even do anything with them, but it’s relaxing.
But, for now, I want to start with ONE TIP that can go a long way toward helping your body clock get into sync.
Your body’s “clock” is actually located in your brain’s hypothalamus, right above where the nerves of your eyes cross.
It’s made up of thousands of nerve cells that sync your body’s functions and sleep-wake cycle through hormones and other signals.
→ One MAJOR thing that affects it is LIGHT. (A clue we’re meant to sleep at night: we don’t have night vision like most nocturnal animals.)
Light and darkness trigger a LOT of different actions in your hypothalamus.
So … the tip is to GET SOME NATURAL LIGHT during the day.
GO OUTSIDE. And even better, while you’re out there, go for a 20-30 minute walk … which is another way to help tune up your body clock.
And this is just the start … I’ve got great strategies coming your way soon on how to accelerate your results by tapping into the power of your own body.
Go get some light, y’all.