{"id":6752,"date":"2022-05-11T15:46:36","date_gmt":"2022-05-11T15:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/find-flow-focus-and-feel-good\/"},"modified":"2022-05-11T15:46:36","modified_gmt":"2022-05-11T15:46:36","slug":"find-flow-focus-and-feel-good","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ultimatehealthreport.com\/find-flow-focus-and-feel-good\/","title":{"rendered":"Find flow, focus and feel good"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
Picture this: you\u2019re out for a long run, earbuds in, listening to your favorite pop-punk album to get you through the last miles when suddenly: your phone or smartwatch dies.<\/p>\n
Bummer. It\u2019s in these moments that we realize how much we rely on being distracted to finish a run or cure our boredom. While there\u2019s no doubt blasting Blink-182 can get us pumped enough to pick up the pace, we might also be missing out on the beauty of mindfulness.<\/p>\n
Mindful running can be a great way to reconnect with our body, find joy in the small moments and appreciate where we are in the given moment. Ultimately, it can lead us to have a more contented running, experiencing focus, feeling, and flow.<\/p>\n
Mindfulness is \u201ca mental state achieved by focusing one\u2019s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one\u2019s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations, used as a therapeutic technique\u201d(1)<\/sup>.<\/p>\n There are many benefits of mindfulness such as decreasing stress, anxiety, and insomnia(2)<\/sup>. Mastering mindfulness doesn\u2019t happen overnight; most experts recommend an eight-week training program to fully immerse yourself in the practice.<\/p>\n Despite research showing that mindfulness does not lead to significant performance enhancing results(3)<\/sup>, the psychological and emotional benefits go beyond the track.<\/p>\n The flow state is akin to being \u2018in the zone\u2019. Psychologists describe it as a mental state where a person is fully immersed in a moment, past the point of distraction. The task at hand is effortless and we feel positive.(4)<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Runners who enter the flow state report being at their peak performance: distractions are cleared away, your focus is lasered in at the finish line and you\u2019re experiencing joy. Runners who talk about the flow state self-report that they are able to perform better, running at a faster pace or covering more miles.(5)<\/sup>\u00a0Flow state can be entered through mindfulness practice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\nWhat is flow?<\/span><\/h2>\n