The Flowstate Principles Podcast

Visualization, or mental rehearsal is the practice of using our senses to create or recreate an image (or series of images) in the mind. The neuro-scientific explanation in a nutshell is that visualisation activates a neural network, or reinforces a neural pathway that is associated with physiological movement. We can simulate the actual movements or intentions, and to a certain degree our brain does not know the difference between reality and practice.

I have used visualisation in my life for many years, with great effect. I think most people do, to the extent that when we set a goal, we create a picture of what we want, and then the process of realising that goal involves us recreating the image/thought/feeling of what we visioned.

So Im not talking about anything groundbreaking here. Except, perhaps most of us do not fully understand how powerful this process is, and perhaps we could be doing a whole lot more of it, in a refined way that will exponentially increase our ability to create our future and smash our goals.

 

What will you learn in this episode?

* Some scientific studies into the results of mental rehearsal

* How we can program a filter we have between our conscious and sub-conscious mind

* The connection of flow states to visualisation

* Techniques on how to Visualise with greater effect

* Why some people should use feeling rather than image in their mental rehearsal

Useful links

* An article I wrote on the subject

* Research paper on mental rehearsal

What next?

What I talk about here is what I call Level 1 Visualisation. I believe that once we become more aware through a meditation practice and we become refined in our body awareness and laser focused in our intentions, we can do amazingly powerful things with visualisation. I believe there is a link here to synchronicity, manifesting reality and attracting what we want into our lives. Keep a look out for this stuff in the future.

Let us know in the comments if you have any special techniques or any crazy stories of how you used this visualisation to achieve your goals.

"Life can be so much more vivid, real, alive and I want that. I can't rest until I'm pursuing that."- Charles Eisenstein Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer...

The post TFPP 010: Charles Eisenstein- Exuberant expression and new models of masculinity appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

“Life can be so much more vivid, real, alive and I want that. I can’t rest until I’m pursuing that.”- Charles Eisenstein

Charles Eisenstein is a teacher, speaker, and writer focusing on themes of civilisation, consciousness, money, and human cultural evolution. His most widely read book Sacred Economics traced the history of money from ancient gift economies to modern capitalism, revealing how the money system has contributed to alienation, competition, and scarcity, destroyed community, and necessitated endless growth. 

In more recent times, as Charles’ evolution journey has led him to explore personal identity in our culture and what it means to embody masculine energies.

In this 50 minute conversation we explore how in the last 200 years we have moved from a gift economy to one that is dominated by money, and how this patriarchal capitalist system bears the hallmarks of outdated concepts of masculinity.  We also explore how personal evolution is what life is all about, and how personal growth really boils down to what is innate within us: masculine and feminine energies.

Charles is launching an online course: “Masculinity, a New Story”. This course explores what the expression of masculine energy actually looks like. He has been interviewing extraordinary people, who are living new models of masculinity. After much thought Charles decided to make this a gift. So he is offering this course on a donation basis, pay what you feel.

Could a shift in how we all embody masculinity and femininity be the change required to increase sustainability, community and well-being for us all?

NB: In this episode I mention “Dadirri”, which is a world used by original peoples of Australia, to describe inner, deep listening and quiet, still awareness. It is a ‘tuning in’ experience with the specific aim to come to a deeper understanding of the beauty of nature. I mistakenly call it “dandirri”, so I wanted to correct that. I also mistakenly said it was something I thought is associated specifically with males. Further research shows this is not the case. 

What you will learn from this episode

* Differences in ideas around how to be an effective person in the east and west

* What happens when you start doing things just for money?

* The “slavery” of exchanging time for money

* What makes Charles feel most alive, most human?

* How social relationships was the currency that mattered 200 years ago

* The gift that you regret giving- not all gifts are worth giving- the energy of giving

* How the macro (out there) and the micro (in here) are intimately connected

* Charles view on Bitcoins and alternative currencies

* Why Charles decided to make his Masculinity course FREE/ by donation.

Flow quotes

“No matter how much you are being paid to live a life that is not yours, you are going to rebel against it.”

“Life can be so much more vivid, real, alive and I want that. I can’t rest until I’m pursing that.”

“200 years ago, your security depended on your social relationships.”

“In the past, your neighbours good fortune was your good fortune.” [Tweet This]

“In the gift economy we are no longer envious of the other.”

“It is mostly men who have been oppressing other men and nations.”

"Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It's a way of entering into the quiet that's already there - buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person...

The post TFPP 009: Is Meditation Worth it? appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

“Meditation is not a way of making your mind quiet. It’s a way of entering into the quiet that’s already there – buried under the 50,000 thoughts the average person thinks every day.”

-Deepak Chopra

In this Flow Nugget I explain what meditation is and why some people find it useful or transformative.

I believe that meditation is the most powerful practice anyone can embark on. In my personal life meditation (perhaps) more than anything has led me closer to my full potential. Even though there are many styles and traditions, we should not get confused. The goal of all methods remains the same: to connect with yourself, a deeper part of yourself.

My intention with this Flow Nugget is simply to highlight meditation as a tool I have used, and many have used with fantastic results. This is the first in a mini-series in which I will go deeper into this path.

 

Flow Quotes

* “Meditation is a systematic training method for the mind. Over time, through consistent practice we actually change the neurological profile of the brain”

* “Apparently we think 50,000-90,000 thoughts a day.. and apparently 90% of the thoughts we have are the same ones we had yesterday. In other words, our thinking minds are not as useful, creative or purposeful as we might like to think.”

Useful Links

An amazingly thorough list of many of the scientific studies done into meditation and its effects on the brain and peak performance. Thanks to Giovanni Deintsmann

-I have some guided meditations you are welcome to listen to here http://www.jirotaylor.com/guided-meditations

Full transcript

Meditation is a systematic training method for the mind. Over time, through consistent practice we actually change the neurological profile of the brain. Some parts will grow, others will shrink. Some parts will start to communicate better with others. I know this sounds crazy, but its true.

Meditation is also a spiritual practice. Yes, I said the “S” word. When I say “spiritual” I am simply referring to the essence of who we all are, beyond our thoughts. You know when your head is thinking one thing, but your heart is feeling another? That voice of intuition is what I’m talking about. So in that context, meditation is the spiritual practice of connecting with your heart, your intuition or your instincts.

Apparently we think 50,000-90,000 thoughts a day.. and apparently 90% of the thoughts we have are the same ones we had yesterday. In other words, our thinking minds are not as useful, creative or purposeful as we might like to think. Our thinking mind can run riot, and have a negative impact on our life, if uncontrolled.

A great analogy for this comes from Plato.

He said that the mind of man is a ship on which all the sailors have mutinied and locked the captain in the hold. The sailors believe they are free and they steer the ship as they feel like in each moment… first one then another. The ship is erratic and directionless. The sailors cannot agree on a goal, nor can they navigate.

Plato said that the task of a human being is to free the captain and quell the mutiny. This is how to achieve real freedom. But putting down this mutiny does not happen overnight. It takes years of hard work. The sailors reject discipline and avoid it. Our minds use sleepiness, boredom, over-thinking, fidgeting and many other techniques to avoid being disciplined.

When we think about what Deepak Chopra and Plato have said, it becomes clearer how sitting quietly for a few minutes each day can have such an accumulative effec...

"When I seek out a flow state, I seek out dimensions of consciousness that to me are more pleasing." - Professor Arne Dietrich Arne Dietrich knows more about the mechanics...

The post TFPP 008: Arne Dietrich - A Neuroscientist's view on Flow states, Creativity and altered states of Consciousness appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

“When I seek out a flow state, I seek out dimensions of consciousness that to me are more pleasing.” – Professor Arne Dietrich

Arne Dietrich knows more about the mechanics of the brain than almost anyone.  He studies the neuroscience of consciousness, and has led groundbreaking research into flow states and creativity. He approaches this field from what he calls a “hardcore scientific, materialist, mechanistic” angle. There is much spoken about when it comes to consciousness, that Arne has no time for. If there is no evidence, the idea is worthless. If you pose a theory on consciousness, the brain or anything at all, you have a large burden of proof. Show me the evidence. This is his view.

But are there areas of life (consciousness, intuition, states of being) that just don’t fit the current scientific model of enquiry?  Do we always need evidence and proof?

I suppose that is what separates the scientific materialist from those who put more weight on personal experience. Some things might always be “unproveable” but does that invalidate them?  Does personal experience render something as truth for that person, and if so why is evidence required?

In this 45 minute interview Arne and I both had a great time discussing consciousness and the brain.  Our conversation spans the mechanics of the brain to Sufi’s seeking altered states, hunting flow states, meditation and psychedelics.

Arne surprised me with how he fielded questions about esoteric and ephemeral concepts, such as meditation, shamanic ritual and psychedelics.  I have respect for his stance and appreciate the intellectual rigour in which he approaches all topics. Listen in to find out how a ruthlessly sharp and scientific mind sees the world.

What you will learn in this episode:

•    Some of the “toxic theories” of neuroscience- including right brain/left brain and the “we only use 10% of our brain” theory

•    What Arne thinks of the “weirdness of quantum mechanics”

•    Does a tree have consciousness?

•    What is the validity of personal experience over scientific “fact”

•    The “burden of proof” on anyone who expounds theories on consciousness

•    Arne slamming the “gut brain” theory

•    Where do morals and intuition come from?

•    How does meditation correlate to flow states?

Flow quotes:

“Right brain theory of creativity. That, in my opinion, is an idea that should be treated like nuclear waste and buried for a million years. It’s just dumb.”

“The brain is an extremely expensive machine. It weighs only 2% of your body but costs about 20-25% of all of your resources.”

“This idea of 10% (use of the brain) violates basic principles of biology and neuroscience and evolution.“ [Tweet This]

“In my personal life, I also hunt flow states almost religiously, if that’s the right phrase to use.” [Tweet This]

“To me, an altered state of consciousness, almost by definition of neural activity, is the lowest state of activity. That does not necessarily mean that this is not something healthy or unhealthy. There’s no value judgement to this. It’s a purely mechanistic approach to understanding alter states mechanistically in the brain.”

“When I seek out a flow state, I seek out dimensions of consciousness that to me are more pleasing.” [Tweet This]

“Humans have discovered a variety of ways, drugs of course the almost obvious ones, to induce altered states.” [Tweet This]

“The weirdness of quantum mechanics and sort of the parallels that are being drawn to the weird...

My name is Jiro Taylor, and I am addicted to doing everything myself. Well I was.. and now I'm on the road to recovery. This 7 minute "Flow Nugget" is...

The post TFPP 007: How to defeat super-hero syndrome and learn out-sourcing and delegation for optimal flow appeared first on Flowstate Collective.

My name is Jiro Taylor, and I am addicted to doing everything myself. Well I was.. and now I’m on the road to recovery. This 7 minute “Flow Nugget” is about my early steps in outsourcing and how you can achieve more flow through smart delegation.

There is a pattern I have noticed among those who are perfectionist and have high standards. Let’s call it “Super-Hero” syndrome. This is the belief that you are the best person to do everything, which manifests in the habit of judging other peoples abilities and taking on far too much work.  

I see this especially with entrepreneurs and those who are new to business. And really, Im talking about myself here. I’m just taking my first baby steps in out-sourcing, so I’m no expert, but this is a bit about my personal experience that I feel could add more flow to everyones life.

Flow Quotes:

“Every minute you fiddle around with stuff you are not skilled at, you are WASTING time that could be spent doing things you are AMAZING at.”

“By doing things you should not be doing you are subconsciously reinforcing habits and beliefs that keep you playing small.”

“There is a key difference to working in the business and ON the business.”

Useful links:

–Ezy VA are my preferred supplier of virtual assistance. Email Jared Asher to find out more 

–James Schramko has an incredible business mind on him, and his Super Fast Business community is an invaluable resource for anyone looking to start or expand a business

–Taki Moore from Coach Marketing Machine, the master of frameworks and systems to grow a business

–Chris Ducker is the go-to man for understanding more about Virtual assistants, how to find one,  and how to work with them once you have one.

Prefer reading over listening?

Read the rest of the podcast here:

Like all addictions, awareness is the first step to freedom. And over the past few months, aided by sheer overwhelm… and the sage advice from business coaches and mentors, I have been taking my first wobbly steps in the world of virtual assistants, frameworks and leveraging my time and skills.

I am by no means an expert, and in the show notes, I will put some links to experts in this field (see useful links above). This short flow nugget is just an insight into my early experience into out-sourcing.

So why did I decide to outsource to virtual assistants? Well, as some people say there is a key difference to working in the business and ON the business.

You could even argue that while you are IN the business, you are never really an entrepreneur. You are never free in time and mental energy to think strategically, because you are too busy labouring, wearing 9 hats and grafting to everything needed to run a project or business.

As any person who has set up a business knows, there are 100s of individual tasks that all must get done, and in the early days you feel you must do them all.

I spent far too much time and energy on admin, book keeping, SEO, marketing, graphic design, advertising, making the website pretty, changing fonts… the list goes on. The day I spent 3 hours making the buttons on my website have curved corners, I realised I needed help.

The fact is that there are about 3 core activities I should be doing: and these are the activities that I am pass...

Chris "Douggs" McDougall is a Professional BASE Jumper with over 18 years in the sport. He has completed over 3400 BASE jumps to date, with over 1000 of them being...

The post TFPP 006: Chris 'Douggs" McDougall: Unpacking the mind of a professional flow-seeker appeared first on Flowstate Collective.