I suddenly become effortlessly, completely focused, and I experience the object of my attention in hyper-detail, as though my resolution has increased ten-fold. I am unaware of time, unaware of me, as though the interface of my body and mind have evaporated. It’s hard to explain: I am at once detached, yet intimately connected. This altered state of consciousness is literally transcendent; it is something wholly unlike either my normal waking state or my dreams. Far from disorienting, the flow state feels indescribably comfortable, as though I have come home to a place above and beyond my usual world. My busy “monkey mind” becomes silent, and what emerges is pure presence—an effortless clarity I could not have summoned on purpose.

Every person I have met who has experienced this state of awareness becomes interested in (if not obsessed with!) finding flow.

Flow in the River of Hardcore Happiness

In the early days of the relatively new field of positive psychology, Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (say, “Me-high Cheek-sent-me-high”) studied this sublime phenomenon and in 1990 published a book called, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. I highly recommend this book to people who are interested in the manifestation of this natural altered state of consciousness.

A disclaimer: I have never used hallucinogenic drugs. I say this because many of my experienced “psychonaut” friends relate the flow experience to chemically-altered states of consciousness, and some believe that one must “trip” before being able to have the experience naturally. I am here to tell you that is not the case.

I am talking about flow today because, as the New York Times said in it’s promotional blurb on the cover of the first edition of Flow, it is: “Important…illuminates the way to happiness.”

In fact, there are a number of significant benefits that arise after the flow state itself, which is transient:

Cognitive Benefits

Enhanced Learning and Skill Acquisition: Experience of the flow state optimizes attention and working memory, which leads to deeper learning. Studies show that deliberate practice in flow accelerates mastery of complex skills.

Neuroplasticity & Long-Term Focus: Prolonged flow states increase dopamine and norepinephrine, both of which are involved in motivation and attention. These chemicals promote neuroplasticity and reinforce the neural pathways related to the task at hand.

Improved Executive Function: Regular flow states appear to enhance cognitive control, decision-making, and creativity due to transient hypofrontality (a temporary reduction in activity in the prefrontal cortex) that allows more flexible thinking.

Emotional & Psychological Benefits

Increased Life Satisfaction & Eudaimonic (Hardcore) Happiness: Flow is consistently correlated with high subjective well-being and meaningful life satisfaction, particularly when the activity involves intrinsic motivation—is part of your purpose—or service to others.

Stress Reduction and Mood Regulation: During flow, the brain downregulates the default mode network (DMN), reducing self-referential thinking (aka rumination). This shift lowers anxiety and depression symptoms in both clinical and non-clinical populations.

Identity Reintegration: For those in life transitions (e.g., post-caregiving), entering flow through new, purpose-aligned challenges can help rebuild a positive self-concept.

Physical & Physiological Benefits

Enhanced Immune Function: Though indirectly studied, reductions in cortisol and increased positive affect during flow have been associated with better immune response and lower inflammatory markers.

Pain Tolerance & Recovery: Athletes and chronic pain patients both show higher pain thresholds during flow due to the endogenous opioid and endocannabinoid systems being activated (more on this in a moment).

Autonomic Nervous System Balance: Flow triggers a balance between sympathetic arousal and parasympathetic regulation, creating a state of calm high performance — ideal for healing, creativity, and focus.

What’s Going On?

The flow state has (and continues to be) well-studied. During flow, the brain releases a cocktail of neurotransmitters: dopamine, which enhances motivation; norepinephrine, which boosts energy and alertness; endorphins, to reducing pain (think athletes) and produce euphoria; serotonin, which induces feelings of contentment and satisfaction, and anandamide, enhancing lateral thinking and creativity.

But let’s focus on anandamide for a minute. The presence of this recently discovered and enigmatic brain chemical goes a long way towards the reason that experienced recreational hallucinogen users make comparisons:

Anandamide is named from the Sanskrit ananda, which means bliss, joy, or delight, and amide, which refers to its chemical structure (an amide is a tiny carbon-oxygen group which is hooked to a larger molecule). Fittingly, it was discovered in 1992 by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, who also identified THC, the active compound in cannabis.

Anandamide is an endocannabinoid—a natural compound the body produces that binds to the same receptors as cannabinoids. It regulates mood, pleasure, and motivation; enhances creativity and “lateral” thinking—helps link ideas in novel ways; loosens fixed thought patterns, allowing for breakthrough insights and outside-the-box solutions, and it reduces fear, dampens anxiety, and opens up playful cognition.

Unlike dopamine (which motivates) or norepinephrine (which energizes), anandamide softens and broadens consciousness. It’s the neurochemical that makes flow not just effective but also joyful.

It degrades quickly—earning it the nickname “the molecule of bliss”—fleeting but powerful, contributing to that elusive, ephemeral quality of flow.

While all of this chemical interplay is going on, the prefrontal cortex—the seat of your inner critic, the source of rumination—quietly powers down. This “transient hypofrontality” stops second-guessing. The brain stops looping on anxiety and becomes fully available for action.

How to Get Some

While you can’t necessarily summon a flow state at will, you can optimize your chances to experience this sublime state of consciousness. Flow is not a luxury of artists and athletes—it is the brain’s natural performance mode when conditions align.

You can set conditions to invite the flow state more often. Here are some mind and body considerations for you to optimize: 

Psychological States

Choose a difficult but not overwhelming challenge: The task must be at the edge of your skill set, not so easy that you are bored, and not so hard that you are anxious. This is the “Goldilocks” spot where your abilities and the task’s difficulty are closely matched.

Ensure clear goals and immediate feedback. Your brain craves structure and responsiveness. Have a defined objective to know when you’re “on track” to stay immersed.

Flow seeks deep intrinsic motivation. You are more likely to experience flow when you want to do the task—for its own sake. Autonomy, curiosity, mastery, and purpose all support this, and tap into your eudaimonic drives — meaning and alignment with your values.

It’s important to engender a sense of control or agency,  to feel like you can impact the outcome—that you’re steering the ship. This builds confidence and reinforces attention and motivation.

Last but definitely not least, give the task your complete concentration. No multitasking, ensure that you are fully absorbed in the present moment (mindset, mindset, mindset!).

Here are some ways to biohack your physiological states, to enhance your ability to experience flow:

If you choose a task that is novel, has some risk, is deeply interesting to you, and is part of a meaningful goal, you will max your dopamine and noradrenaline levels. This will give you better focus, pattern recognition and motivation.

But don’t overdo it! Too much over-arousal leads to stress; moderate stimulation is ideal.

Breathwork, meditation, and rhythmic activities like music, running or dancing help induce an alpha–theta brainwave transition: The alpha state induces a relaxed alertness, and the theta creates an intuitive, dreamlike focus.

Flow often occurs in the borderland between these brainwave states.

Regular sleep, exercise, and fasting can regulate baseline levels of cortisol. Mild stress boosts alertness and readiness, but too much cortisol can induce a fight-or-flight reaction that blocks flow.

Activities like playing music, surfing, climbing, dancing, and yoga coordinate body rhythms and enhance interoceptive awareness, which a known flow facilitator.

Finally, the way to induce the transient hypofrontality we talked about earlier—where you calm the frontal lobes of your brain down a bit—is to get out of your own way. Flow is not about trying harder; this is why artists and athletes often describe it as “the work doing itself.” When you optimize the other parameters we just described, then relax into the task, your prefrontal cortex (responsible for self-monitoring and executive functions such as working memory, impulse control, planning, metacognition and judgment) quiets down, and time distortion, ego dissolution, and creativity increases.

An Example

I have experienced flow while waking to an undergraduate psychology class on the University of California, Riverside campus. I had a flow state come to me, unbidden, while driving through a storm in Northern New Mexico. But one of the most reliable ways I induce a flow state is when I’m playing my guitar.

I have been a professional musician for many years, so (when I’m practiced up) I play at a pretty high level. But the flow state—for me, at least—needs two other conditions to manifest: I have to be playing live, for an audience, and I have to be improvising, usually in a solo. We have listed several factors that can help you get to a flow state; see how many you can identify in this scenario.

When I’m playing and the necessary and sufficient factors come together, the flow state manifests in a couple of very distinct and non-standard ways. First, I’m not aware of my body, my hands, or even my guitar. This sounds weird, but I’m not thinking about anything. I’m listening to the music, and my guitar solo just comes out of the amplifier, as though I am not involved in the process. 

Secondly, instead of looking past (or more likely, over) the audience, I feel deeply connected with them, individually and as a group. While the music comes out of my amp, I find myself staring into their eyes—probably freaking them out a bit—and I have the sensation, clichéd though it sounds, of being “one” with them, as though they aren’t merely watching my performance, but creating it with me.

Yes, I told you it was strange. No, I told you, I don’t do drugs. Who needs them when you can experience this?

Finding Flow

So practice presence, curiosity, and creative risk. Re-engineer your days to catch more of these currents.

Here’s my invitation to you: this week, choose one activity where you can lose yourself completely, something that you are good at but that still challenges you. Turn off the phone. Silence the notifications. Step into that zone where time disappears. 

Experience flow. And remember—it’s not just about optimal performance. It’s about optimal existence.

And starting in January, I’ll be guiding you through a full course on how to build these Hardcore Happiness states into your purpose; the architecture of your next chapter.

Stay tuned. Flow is just the beginning.



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- JWW