Flow State: Creating Your Personal Masterpiece

Where do you find YOUR inner happiness? In today’s day and age we are constantly undulated with things that may potentially take away from our true happiness and strip us of ourselves. whether it be stressors at home or work, conflict between friends or family, or even just turning on the television and watching the news!

Despite all these external factors, it is important to look within ourselves and find our true flow to unleash our inner happiness. In his book, “The Psychology of Ultimate Experience“, Psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explains that happiness is not a fixed state, but it can be developed by finding FLOW in our lives.

Well, “What is this Flow?“, you say? Flow state is almost like a moving meditation, a state where action and awareness merge, and we are fully absorbed and fully present in whatever we are doing in that precise moment. He goes on to explain that our happiest and best moments in life occur when our body and mind are consciously and willingly taken to the limits in something that we find meaningful and worthwhile. With this idea in mind, we can postulate that energy flows where attention goes. If you choose to focus on the negative in life, that is surely where your attention and energy will go, and the cycle will perpetuate itself. If, instead, you focus on the positive, or something you personally find worthwhile and restorative, you will unleash the power of the universe within you and find peace and harmony within yourself and everything around you. This peaceful state is our flow state, moving and flowing through life, fully absorbed in the present moment and enjoying every second of it.

This month’s guest artist is Jan R. Carson, and her beautiful textiles are a perfect example of this flow state. The longer you gaze at each of her beautifully framed textiles, which are an intricate balance of slices and seams between tiny pieces of fabric, the more beautiful they become. As you notice each nuance and shade of each tiny piece of fabric, you cannot help but be amazed at the time energy and detail it must have taken to create these masterpieces. Jan practices present awareness and acceptance with very piece she creates. Rather than having an end goal, she lets each piece evolve on it’s own and shine forth it’s natural beauty. By remaining present in her artwork, Jan responds to changes that naturally occur with each textile composition to orchestrate her final masterpiece. Jan experiences this flow state by finding Balance and Patterns within each of her pieces. Each textile image is an exploration of growth and decay between her slicing of the fabric then stitching it back together in a new and creative way. She also explores the framework of marco versus microscopic transitions, with each tiny piece of fabric contributing to the beauty of the greater whole.

When we focus on finding that balance between different polarities, we are focusing our attention on the present and also experiencing that flow state. Whether it be focusing on your breath through a meditation, finding your balance between effort and ease in an asana class, and maybe challenging yourself a little by going deeper into your Warrior 2 or trying a new arm balance, or even taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of a spring flower lightly coated in snowflakes on this wintry day- the end result is still the same. To find our true happiness, we must delve within the depths of our true Selves, practicing fully-committed present awareness to unleash our true happiness.

Jan’s beautiful pieces will be on display in our studio until the end of the month, and you can take a moment to practice present awareness and appreciate her beautiful work by coming to one of our weekly classes. We hope to flow with you soon!

You can also visit Jan’s website and see some of her other beautiful artwork by clicking here.