@Leo Does the “Flow State” exist?

[Dylan Page]

I want to become a pro league of legends player and I keep hearing people talking about this “Flow state”, a state of concentration where the ego falls away and each decision you make flows into the next like water, where time ceases to be relevant and people associate spiritual-ness to it. Have you ever heard of this? 

[Enlightenment]

Flow state = Jhana in meditation

[MuddyBoots]

I've heard of it too, it's known in the Wellbeing industry for workplaces as well as spirituality. However, I humbly suggest you need to examine your motives. Do you love playing the game for its own sake, its artistry and sheer joy of taking part? Then it will become like a dance and you will find flow easier. But are you ambitious and need to win, hate losing, and your happiness dependent on getting into this pro league?  In that case then I think flow will require a lot more work!

Nick.

Edited September 5, 2019 by MuddyBoots
Simplification.

[Aeris]

Of courses.

I got it a lot into art.

You got it only when you truly enjoy. 

Kids are always in flow states

[Truth Addict]

Flow state is when you stop doubting, second-guessing, and forget about your goals and just do things for the sake of doing. It's when you lose your agendas and you, ego, therefore, stop existing as limitation. It's when you accept 'what is' fully without any bit of resistance whatsoever.

If you master letting go, you will be able to live your whole life as one big flow state. You will become the stream. Or more precisely put, you will not become, but simply just be.

Edited September 5, 2019 by Truth Addict

[mmKay]

It occurs when your skill at something matches the difficulty of the task. It's not too easy or too difficult. Google flow state graph.

also, add me on EuWest ( Vurtexmex) diamond adc (;.

BTW I would reconsider becoming a profesional video game player as a life purpose for many reasons, as I scratched it off my list quite some time ago after becoming semi-professional and thinking a lot about this.

It's about being competitive and beating others rather than being a creator.

You are playing to make a name for yourself (fame). You play for status ( the various tiers hierarchy, platinum, diamond, masters, challenger ) 

You are at the mercy of the game developers where they have the power to change whatever you have been working for the last years in a blink of an eye by introducing new game patches, updates, unbalanced mechanics,  etc.

You rely on the game being relevant over the time. Games die and new ones arrise. Imagine in 5 to 10 years it's not played anymore and you have to start from scratch with a new one. (like what happened to me) The skills you learn in games do transfer to other ones, but not completely. You want to invest into something that snowballs on the long run.  look in the perspective of 30 years + or a lifetime.

League of legends creates sneaky emotional addiction to adrenaline rushes, social circles that reinforce playing more, and binds you in a quite average level of development. ( 16 to 30 year olds who also have spent their life playing videogames ) 

Its a quite shallow activity. No matter what, you are able to sit at the computer and just zone out.

And many more. I know you didn't ask for this but I felt like sharing this would be valuable to you.

On the other hand, I really do enjoy videogames but it doesn't sinc well with personal development.

Sometimes I wish there was a universe where it did (:

 

 

[Rilles]

yep, i love it, happens multiple times a day, especially when im enjoying something alot, like making music, drawing when i was a child, even when im working sometimes, even though i dont like my job i do get into a flow state once in a while

[Dylan Page]

@mmKay I’m in NA so I can’t  

And the only reason I want to become a pro is because I absolutely hated going to college. It was just like high school again, everyone running around pretending like what they are learning is practical or important when 95% of it is forgotten or useless. 

I didn’t want to be anything in particular academically speaking so I said fuck it and chose pro player. You are right that the game will die and I am at the mercy of Riot. I do think that once you get good at one game, it doesn’t matter if the skills transfer, what’s important to me is that I will then understand the process of getting good at something in a competitive environment (whether that be just spamming games, watching vods/streams, or whatever else.) And as for changing game state? Look at Doublelift/Bjerg/Faker and many more. The game isn’t even recognizable next to S2 yet they are still here. It isn’t a perfect game or company but I certainly think it’s worth a shot. I guess I’m not particularly passionate about the game but it seems relatively low risk to try and become good at it (just put in a shitload of time and practice a lot), and it beats going to school. If I just fuckin fail and get perma hardstuck, I’ll just go back to college, I’m only 19 after all. 

[DoubleYou]

You're never not in a flow state. You just keep talking over it. 

[Rilles]

1 minute ago, DoubleYou said:

You're never not in a flow state. You just keep talking over it. 

to be fair, i have plenty of thoughts in the flow state, they just happen to become background noise

[Scholar]

Read "Flow" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.

[Salvijus]

Do shambhavi mahamudra. It enchances your brain activity 10times. In 3 months of doing shambhavi i jumped from silver 5 to gold 3. (im not a big lol player) but I saw my mental performence increase to be like 5times more.  With shambhavi and ( hatha yoga also) my descision making, map awareness, new openings and new plays, ability to think about 5 things at once or predict 10steps ahead of your oponent etc.

Of course this is a pathetic way of using a spiritual tool and I don't do that anymore but still.. 

You'll have more chances to become pro if you're enlightened. that's how Peter Ralston won Tai Chi championship you know.. 

 

Edited September 5, 2019 by Salvijus

[Farnaby]

4 hours ago, Dylan Page said:

I want to become a pro league of legends player and I keep hearing people talking about this “Flow state”, a state of concentration where the ego falls away and each decision you make flows into the next like water, where time ceases to be relevant and people associate spiritual-ness to it. Have you ever heard of this? 

@Dylan Page It’s funny you talk about League of Legends because I’ve noticed glimpses of that state while playing since I’m practicing more mindfulness. 

During those states it’s as if you can go meta and see the bigger picture of the game, predicting which decisions are more likely to be successful. Of course the game is so fast-paced that you would need lots and lots of practice to be able to stay in that state during the whole game. 

But IME the flow state is something you can definitely tap into and develop. 

[Commodent]

It definitely does, and there's nothing magical about it. It's typically induced through right-brain activities, like drawing.

[cetus]

2 hours ago, Dylan Page said:

And the only reason I want to become a pro is because I absolutely hated going to college. It was just like high school again, everyone running around pretending like what they are learning is practical or important when 95% of it is forgotten or useless. 

I didn’t want to be anything in particular academically speaking so I said fuck it and chose pro player. You are right that the game will die and I am at the mercy of Riot. I do think that once you get good at one game, it doesn’t matter if the skills transfer, what’s important to me is that I will then understand the process of getting good at something in a competitive environment (whether that be just spamming games, watching vods/streams, or whatever else.) And as for changing game state? Look at Doublelift/Bjerg/Faker and many more. The game isn’t even recognizable next to S2 yet they are still here. It isn’t a perfect game or company but I certainly think it’s worth a shot. I guess I’m not particularly passionate about the game but it seems relatively low risk to try and become good at it (just put in a shitload of time and practice a lot), and it beats going to school. If I just fuckin fail and get perma hardstuck, I’ll just go back to college, I’m only 19 after all. 

@Dylan Page This isn't the place to discuss your sports career strategy.  Please stick to the topic "Flow State". Thanks