Introduction

• the easiest step toward improving the quality of life consists in simply learning to control the body and its senses
• everything the body can do is potentially enjoyable. yet many people ignore this capacity, and use their physical equipment as little as possible, leaving its ability to provide flow unexploited.
• if the functions of the body are left to atrophy, the quality of life becomes merely adequate, and for some even dismal.
• if should be stressed that the body does not produce flow merely by its movements. the mind is always involved as well

higher, faster, stronger

• "Altius, citius, fortius"
• even the simplest pysical act becomes enjoyable when it is transformed so as to produce flow
  • set an overall goal, and as many subgoals as realistically reasible
  • find ways of measuring progress in terms of the goals chosen
  • keep concentrating on what one is doing and to keep making finer and finer distinctions in the challenges involved of the activity
  • develop the skills necessary to interact with the opportunities available
  • keep raising the stakes if the activity becomes boring
• the challenges of the activity are what force us to concentrate
• something that is seen as duty bound will not generate flow
• enjoyment depends on how you do it, not what you do
• leisure that uses up external resources often requires less attention, and as a consequence it generally provides less memorable rewards

joys of movement

• the enjoyment of dancing is often so intense that people will give up many other options for its sake.
• even the most silly and clumsy impersonation can provide an enjoyable relief from the limitations of everyday patterns of behavior, a glimpse into alternative modes of bing

sex as flow

• theurge to have sex is so powerful that it can brain psychic energy away from other necessary goals. Therefore every culture has to invest great efforts in rechanneling and restraining it and many complex social institutions exist only in order to regulate thir urge
• eroticism is one form of cultivating sexuality that focuses on the development of physical skills
• the real cultivation of sexuality begins only when psychological dimensions are added to the purely physical
• romance provides an entire new range of challenges to lovers
• a third dimension of sexualityy begins to emerge when in addition to physical pleasure and the enjoyment of a romantic relationship the lover feels genuine care for his partner
• how to keep love fresh? the answer is the same as it is for any other activity. to be enjoyable, a relationship must become more complex
• sexuality, like any other aspect of life, can be made enjoyable if we are willing to take control of it and cultivate it in the direction of greater complexity

the ultimate control: yoga and the martial arts

• of the great eastern methodsfor training the body, one of the oldest and most diffuse is the set of practices known as hatha yoga.
  • yama - restraint from acts and thoughts that might harm others
  • niyama - obedience or the following of ordered routines n cleanliness, study and obedience to god
  • asana - holding postures for long periods without succumbing to strain or fatigue
  • pranayama - breath control, which aims to relax the body, and stabilzes therhythm of breathing
  • pratyahara - learning to withdraw attention from outward objects by directing the input of the senses - thus becoming able to see, hear, and feel only what one wishes to admit into awareness
  • dharana - the ability to ceoncentrate for lng periods on a single stimulus
  • dhyana - to forget the self in uninterrupted concentration that no longer needs the external stimuli of the preceding phase
  • samadhi - meditator and the object of meditation become as one
• the similarities between yoga and flow are extremely strong; in fact it makes sense to think of yoga as a very thorougly planned flow activity
• the details of how the experience is produced are unique to yoga, as they are unique to every other flow activity, from floy-fishing to racing a formula one car.
• martial arts were influenced by taoism and by zen buddhism, and tuhs they also emphasize consciousness-controlling skills.
• those who can perform it well claim that fightingbecomes a joyous artistic performacne, during which the everyday experience of duality between mind and body is transformed into a harmonious one-pointedness of mind.

flow through the senses: the joys of seeing

• not only great works of art produce such intense flow experiences; for the trained eye, even the most mundane sights can be delightful

the flow of music

• teenagers, who swing from one threat to their fragile evolving personhood to another in quick succession throughout the day,  especially depend on the soothing patterns of sound to restore order in their consciousness. But so do adults
• it is not the hearing that improves life, it is the listening
• listening to music usually starts as a asensory experience. at this stage, one responds to the qualities of sound that induce the pleasant physical reactions that are genetically wired into our nervous system
• the next elvel of challenge music presents is the analogic mode of listening. in this stage, one develops the skill to evoke feelings and images based on the patterns of sound
• the most complex stage of music listening is the analytic one. in this mode attention shifts to the structural elements of music, instead of the sensory or narrative ones. listening skills at this level involve the ability to recognize the order underlying the work, and the means by which the harmony was achieved

joys of tasting

• if music modultes our feelings, so does food; and all the fine cuisines of the world are based on this knowledge