The science of flow, flight, fight & freeze
Written by Stuart Haden on August 16, 2017
Many of my postings describe what flow is; that effortless state where time dilates allowing learning and creativity to accelerate. However, this posting brings forth flows nearest neighbours – flight, fight and freeze.
These three are common experiences before we kick into flow. They can form part of the struggle phase that builds our ‘fitness for flow.’ We respond by wanting to hit the ejection button, get out as soon as we can even if the way down poses risks. Or we dig in, stubborn, put your dukes up we are ready for a fight. Sometimes stuck, lost for words, lost for thought we have no answers.
If you find yourself flighting, fighting or freezing you need to learn from this experience. This might form an important workout so that next time your chances of finding flow are increased.