Understanding Flow
At MindHarp, one of our key words is ‘flow’. We use this deliberately. We describe our Groovitations as ‘free flow’ activities. For example. As musicians, our greatest pleasure is to be immersed in practice or performance, or just a relaxed jam session and enter a state of ‘flow’.
But what does it mean to be in a ‘state of flow’?
People often say flow is like "being in the zone". Psychologists Jeanne Nakamura and Csíkszentmihályi describe it as something more. When people feel flow, they are in a state of intense concentration. Their thoughts are focused on an experience rather than on themselves.
They lose a sense of time and feel as if there is a merging of their actions and their awareness. That they have control over the situation. That the experience is not physically or mentally taxing.
Most importantly, flow is what researchers call an autotelic experience. Autotelic derives from two Greek words: autos (self) and telos (end or goal). Autotelic experiences are things that are worth doing in and of themselves. Researchers sometimes call these intrinsically rewarding experiences. Flow experiences are intrinsically rewarding.
Richard Huskey, Assistant Professor of Communication and Cognitive Science, University of California, Davis suggests that a state of flow is only possible when the level of the task and the skill levels are challenging and high. So, skiing is an experience where you may well enter a state of flow.
So, if the challenge is high but one's skills to negotiate the challenge are low, you are likely to be anxious and worried. In a skiing context, this is an experience I regularly have when staring down a red or black slope!
If the challenge is low but the skills one holds are high with regard to the task, then you may experience a strong sense of relaxation.
How does this relate to MindHarp?
The scientists are describing exactly the desired experience we want people to have when using MindHarp.
It is always fascinating to observe people using MindHarp for the first time. For some, there is often a degree of anxiety ('What if I can't do it?' or 'I'm not musical, I will play it badly').
Indeed, with the strongly pulse-heavy Groovitations, satisfying play is generally only achieved when the player finds the pulse (or rhythm) and can tap the buttons precisely on the pulse. This pushes the player to focus, concentrate and activate their innate sense of rhythm. I have worked with people in wheelchairs living with dementia immediately find the pulse and play Groovitations beautifully! I have also seen highly educated, high-achieving adults freeze-up with self-conscious fear when faced with MindHarp button!
The challenge of MindHarp is NOT a technical one. It is a musical one.
What is vital to understand MindHarp requires no musical skills gained from music school. It requires only the skills that nature has already equipped us with. We all have an innate sense of rhythm and we all respond emotionally to musical sound.
It doesn't take long thought for people to find their flow and start to immerse in MindHarp musical play. And the more people explore and discover different playing techniques, the more immersive it gets.
In less demanding MindHarp activities (Musitations and Ambient Groovitations) the focus is on relaxation. The great effort and skills that go into creating our activities mean they are never boring and the player always has control.
