When you think about running, what image comes to mind? Sweating? Heart pounding? Breathing hard? Moving fast? This probably isn’t the same image you have of knitting. You might not even envision the same person enjoying both activities. Yet, in my experience and as the research suggests, running and knitting may have more in common than you would expect.
Running and knitting are both activities that are based on repetition. Whether it is one foot in the front of the other for miles or one stitch after another hundreds or even thousands of times over, each activity is the repetition of a basic unit over and over. Running a race or knitting a scarf both take perseverance to complete. Practice is essentially repetition and revision to hone a skill. How do you get faster at running? You run sprints, interval train, and hustle up hills. With effort and practice you conquer longer distances at greater speed with more ease. How do you get better at knitting? You practice the knit step over and over again, you learn to purl, you knit in the round, and you try different combinations of stitch patterns. With effort and practice you make more complex projects, sometimes without even looking at your work (shout out to my mother who knits lace patterns, in the dark, while watching Game of Thrones!).
Initially, repetition can be frustrating and challenging. After the basics are mastered, repetition may promote meditative or flow states. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi described flow as “-a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to absolute absorption in an activity.” During flow states, a sense of time and emotional problems seem to disappear. Colloquially, people describe flow as being “in the zone.” Flow states arise from the enjoyment of using our strengths and skills to rise to challenges. Csikszenmihalyi has interviewed people from many cultures across the world and observed that flow states share the following eight components:
We confront tasks we have a chance of completing
We must be able to concentrate on what we are doing
The task has clear goals
The task provides immediate feedback
One acts with deep, but effortless involvement, that removes from awareness the worries and frustrations of everyday life
One exercises a sense of control over their actions
Concern for the self disappears, yet, paradoxically the sense of self emerges stronger after the flow experience is over
The sense of duration of time is altered
Flow is related to, but not the same as, peak experiences and peak performance. Maslow describe peak experience as “moments of highest happiness and fulfillment.” They are categorically more meaningful and intense than our usual experiences. Another word for peak experience is ecstasy. The term peak performance refers to performing to our greatest potential and exceeding our typical behavior. When you are performing at your peak you are your most creative, strong, intelligent self. This is not always accompanied by enjoyment, however, as can be observed by the incredible acts of bravery and strength people perform during a crisis situation.
While it might be tempting to create a simple equation for flow, such as peak performance + peak experience= flow, this definition is incomplete. Research about these related concepts suggests that peak performance, peak experience, and flow can be experienced in isolation or in various combinations. Listening to music is a common trigger for peak experience, while sky diving and sex have been cited in the literature as combining elements of both peak experience and flow. Responding to a crisis is a common trigger for peak performance, while artistic achievement or placing well in a running race combine elements of both peak performance and flow. The example of “joyous, superior running or painting” is an example of experiences that are peak experiences, peak performances, and deep flow. From this we can extrapolate that one of the characteristics of peak experience is joy, of peak performance is superior functioning, and flow is fun.
TED talk of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi discussing flow. Once our basic needs are met, more money or material goods don’t increase our happiness or well-being. We need reasonable challenges to enter optimal, flow states.
Collier’s research described a similar flow state specific to fiber arts which she calls textile rejuvenation. Fiber arts may promote a combination of flow, mood repair, and self-realization of values. This combination often results in a feeling of being “restored, renewed, and ready to start anew” which continues well beyond the immediate participation in textile activity, and it is this emotional state that is captured by the term textile rejuvenation.
Research in the field of athletics suggests that there is a sub-type of flow called clutch performance. While flow may be experienced with open-ended goals such as “I’m going to use good form on my morning run today,” clutch performance occurs with specific, close-ended goals such as “To win the race I need to run the last 500 meters in under 90 seconds.” It remains to be seen whether clutch performance is an independent concept or more closely related to peak performance.
Four tips for promoting flow states at work: focus, freedom, feedback, and the four percent challenge.