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Thread: The Zone

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    Default The Zone

    Ever witnessed a pro athlete in "the zone"?

    Any pro athlete can tell you what the zone is, actually probably not so much what it is, but what it entails. When in the zone, the thinking mind melts into the background and a different part of us takes over. A far superior part. An athlete in the zone isn't even really there, and they dont miss, they CAN"T miss, the mind isn't there so cannot be distracted by others around them, crowd noise, planning, strategy, none of that.

    For a basketball player its just you, the ball, and the hoop, and the ball has already hit nothing but net even before it leaves his hands, he already knows it has. He KNOWS!


    For a fighter it's the same, or it can manifest in different ways like when doing some thrill sport like white water rafting or sky diving. Lose yourself in the event and simply be.

    I would argue that the zone is also whats instantly in place when a passerby sees a child about to get run over, dashes out to shove them out of the way knowing full well its going to be them that gets it instead, but it doesn't matter because no one is really there in the first place.

    I would also argue that the zone is where miracles can take place. A witness could swear they saw the passerby who shoved the child out of the way just in the nick of time got mushed, but there they are across the street making sure the child is ok. "Huh, i must be seeing things, could have sworn..."

    What IS the zone? Is it in the same family as what one who meditates would refer to as "the no mind"? I think so.

    I've experienced the no mind in deep meditation, its that zone of course where answers to many of life's deep questions, or solutions to problems, creativity, or whatever, can wind up bubbling to the surface from when tapped.

    Ive also experienced yet another version of the zone when a horrible neighbor who was a very mean drunk was going after my little baby because he had dared chase the ball over the fence into the man's back yard. Instantly my conscious self vanished, and "i", was left behind as a passenger to witness a different part of myself grab a sizeable stick that happened to be laying there, and that other me was across 2 yards and over that fence like a track star. (Note i was never a fast runner)

    Never took any martial arts classes, but somehow i knew, I KNEW to the core of my being where i was going to hit him multipl times with pinpoint accuracy with that stick, and how hard, if he laid a finger on my baby boy. I was going to kill him if he did, i knew i was, he knew i was, he took one good look at skinny lil mama bear and beat it for the back door. We never had trouble with him again lol.


    I saved that stick, its still laying around and, evry now and then i look at it and shake my head in wonder because i dont know how to use the dern thing. But that day, in that moment of no mind no self, i did. Boy howdy did i!

    Hey Bill,have you experienced moments of the zone in mountain climbing?

    Anyone else have this experience?

    What is the zone?

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    UK Avalon Member Clear Light's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Zone

    Quote Posted by Gracy May (here)
    What is the zone?
    Oh, having just read your post Gracy, I was reminded of this fight scene in "The Last Samurai" :


    But in answer to your question, I would say it's the spontaneous (or sudden) Cessation of our normal thinking-mental-processes (sensed as the absence of one's self-consciousness) eh ?

    It's like you're having the experience but there is no "you" there at all !!!

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    Default Re: The Zone

    I think musicians are also familiar with the concept of "the zone". It comes from a great amount of preparation, total mental focus, and physical coordination, that, like an athlete, causes one to be exactly in the right place at exactly the right time. Imagine what it takes for an organist to play a trio sonata, a musical composition with three complementary but different melodic lines all taking place simultaneously:



    It's an amazing feat to be able to follow all three melodic lines at once in your mind, but imagine doing this with five fingers on one keyboard, five fingers on another, and your feet on a pedal board all moving perfectly and synchronously to get the perfect effect.

    Or imagine what it takes to produce a continuous column of air through your body to produce a long beautiful musical phrase. Your entire breathing apparatus, your vocal chords, your mouth and tongue, facial muscles all have to be perfectly coordinated to produce a simple but perfect tone, with controlled vibrato and effective diction. Your mind really has to be in another realm to make this happen.



    I think one thing both athlete and musician have in common when they are in "the zone" is that for the most part they are not thinking with words and language, but thinking about time, space, and how they are physically, mentally and emotionally moving through it. In addition to all the physical demands of doing these things, there is intense use of the non verbal parts of the brain to get through these moments. I think the "zone" is a state that many animals find themselves in, when a cheetah calculates it's path as it pursues its prey, or a bird produces it's song across a meadow to attract a mate. It is a really marvelous place when you find your mind no longer needing language to do great things.

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    Default Re: The Zone

    Yes! What Kryztian said above me (Today 18:50 Link to Post #3), music music. I think Duran Duran were touching close to this with their song, The Reflex, which as far as I know is a song about singing live, implicitly the Zone or at least something I relate to (edit: I don't actually sing) as The Zone described in the O.P. ... band members have remarked the sense of time changes when playing, sometimes. That said, I wouldn't be able to compare because I avoid sport; I'm lazy and rules annoy me slightly
    Last edited by Matthew; 4th August 2019 at 18:05. Reason: I don't actually sing + more edits

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    Default Re: The Zone

    Quote Posted by Clear Light (here)



    It's like you're having the experience but there is no "you" there at all !!!
    I love that scene. Except he had the training i had none. But yes, you nailed it! Having the experience but there's no "you" there. Remarkable!


    And yes, yes, music. Wow i forgot all about music a perfect example of the zone!

    I like the examples of the bird and the cheetah as well!

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    Default Re: The Zone

    In the gym years ago I found that embracing very uplifting ideas, helped by the right music produced a kind of physical energy surge.

    the following from the animatrix.


    we have subcontracted the business of healing people to Companies who profit from sickness.

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    Default Re: The Zone

    I think I can simplify it.

    It is having the clear intent of something happening, so much so that your concious mind does not have to consider that it will not happen.

    Well, maybe not as simple as I first thought it to be.

    Consider this scenario....you are very busy in the kitchen preparing a number of dishes. You are focused on all the food and the oven temps for example. You have a piece of trash in your hand and without giving it any thought, you toss it into the garbage - perfect shot!

    Try this yourself to see how it feels - crumple up a piece of paper. Toss it into a waste basket. Often, if you concentrate too much on doing it, you will miss.

    Now try this - clear your mind, then think of it with the pure intent that it has already happened so now you do not have to give it any more thought than is necessary to make the physical movement.

    ...I might not have gotten it written down right, but it is a combination of emptying your mind and relaxing, yet at the same time having the complete full intention of something happening.

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    Default Re: The Zone

    Quote Posted by Patient (here)
    I think I can simplify it.

    It is having the clear intent of something happening, so much so that your concious mind does not have to consider that it will not happen.

    Well, maybe not as simple as I first thought it to be.

    Consider this scenario....you are very busy in the kitchen preparing a number of dishes. You are focused on all the food and the oven temps for example. You have a piece of trash in your hand and without giving it any thought, you toss it into the garbage - perfect shot!

    Try this yourself to see how it feels - crumple up a piece of paper. Toss it into a waste basket. Often, if you concentrate too much on doing it, you will miss.
    So true, great point that we all can relate to lol!

    i think the following is another pure example of the zone, and he probably didnt even reailse what he had done at the time because it obviously came so natural. It seems to always revolve around the no mind, just being present and aware. This is where "magic" happens.


    How does the every day conscious mind do such a thing? No no, sumpin much deeper is in play here.

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    UK Avalon Founder Bill Ryan's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Zone

    Quote Posted by Gracy May (here)

    Hey Bill, have you experienced moments of the zone in mountain climbing?
    Great thread. And yes, I have, a number of times. It's like all of a sudden everything is effortless, easy, and simple, despite the real-world difficulties all around.

    The most remarkable experience I had like that was when I set out on my own, back in 1982, to do a ski-mountaineering traverse of what's known as the Italian High Level Route, from Cervinia in Italy to Zermatt in Switzerland, via Monte Rosa, the second highest peak in the Alps.

    It was April, in full winter conditions, but the weather was good. I never really thought too hard about the thing — or I'd definitely never have started.

    It involved a bunch of steep solo ice climbing, with my skis on my back. I had no protection of any kind, but felt utterly safe. I remember thinking: This is easy. All I have to do is just do every action perfectly.

    It was like a moving meditation, absolutely in the moment. That I could have fallen to my death at any point never entered my mind. I was in the Zone for most of the time, from start to finish. But it just kind of happened spontaneously. I really take no credit for it. By definition, it's not the kind of thing one can 'try' to do.

    I arrived in Zermatt 4 days later, and sat in a bar eating a good meal. The last day, I'd descended from Monte Rosa in a full zero-visibility blizzard, skirting a myriad of hidden crevasses which were almost impossible to see. But all that time, too, I felt relaxed, safe, focused and confident. It was an inch-by-perfect-inch thing, like the ice climbing.

    In the bar I was writing a postcard to a friend, and on the reverse was the route I'd just taken. An elderly man with a rather red nose was sitting next to me, and was curious. I thought he was just an old drunk, maybe, so I fobbed him off. But he was insistent. He wanted to know what I'd been doing.

    So to stop him pestering me, I showed him the photo on the postcard — which looked a little like the one below. (Do enlarge for a high-resolution view.) "I've just skied across that, from Cervinia", I told him. (On the photo, my route started just below the Matterhorn on the right, then followed the skyline all the way to the left of the photo, and then quite a bit further.)

    He was incredulous: "You did what??" It transpired he wasn't an old drunk — he was a local mountain guide. He told me what I'd done had never been done before, solo in winter. I was the first. He jumped up to call together all his fellow Zermatt mountain guides... and all they threw a big party for me.


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    Default Re: The Zone

    I believe that 'the zone' relates to brainwave patterns. In our society the dominant brainwave pattern is the beta state.

    "Beta is the state that most of us operate from on a day to day basis. While the
    Beta state is a normal part of effective everyday functioning, it is also a zone where stress, anxiety and restlessness thrive."

    "In contrast the Alpha state is a relaxed mental state that allows us to feel
    connected to our deeper levels. Instead of being driven by underling fears
    we are more likely to be in alignment with our true nature. Alpha brain
    waves are present when we feel calm and relaxed. It is the breezy, peaceful
    feeling when we drift into a sensuous daydream. There are many techniques
    that we can use to get our minds to shift from the ‘normal’ beta state to an
    alpha state of awareness. A leisurely walk in nature, yoga, conscious breathing,
    good sex, a massage, colouring, and light meditation are all practices
    that encourage our minds to enter the peaceful alpha state territory."

    To me this would be the brainwave state where we feel in the flow...any type of creativity.

    "The highest frequency is the Gamma range. When this frequency is dominant,
    our brains are working at a fast pace. We tend to be extremely alert and focused.
    This level of brainwave activity is conducive to information processing,
    learning and memory retention. This state can be highly productive, and useful
    to function in intense circumstances."

    To me this would be the state hat would be activated in emergencies...(saving a child etc) and in sport etc

    "The Theta state is a deeply relaxed one that we normally only glimpse in dreams
    or as we drift off to sleep. This state is so relaxed that it is described as a state of
    semi-hypnosis; we become very open and highly suggestible. For normal day
    to day functioning this state may not be particularly useful, but for creative
    exploration this state is highly desirable as it improves our intuition and imaginative
    abilities. This state is an ideal state to be in when we want to communicate
    with the deeper, more elusive aspects of ourselves that reside beyond our
    conscious awareness. Theta brings forward heightened receptivity, flashes of
    dreamlike imagery, inspiration, and distant memories. The experience of the
    theta state can produce a sensation of floating, and because it is an expansive
    state, in Theta, we may feel our mind expand beyond the physical limitations
    of our body. This is such a connected, blissful, ascended feeling. In this state
    it can feel as though all answers are just within reach and we may glimpse an
    underlying perfection."




    The Delta state is the lowest frequency. This restorative state is one we access in deep sleep


    Quotes taken from a Creativity course I created.

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    Default Re: The Zone

    'The zone' has to be more than just a 'mental state' where you find yourself doing things easily and effortlessly with practically no thought to the doing there-of. I've had a few of those instances in my life, and I'm sure most people have too. But just being in a zone, or mental state doesn't answer everything.

    Once, when I was about 14, I was playing basketball with my friends at the local schoolyard. One kid took a shot from about 15 feet away from the basket. At that distance, the ball has to have a nice arc to the basket. I was under the basket watching the ball when suddenly, for a split second, I found myself in that zone. I jumped up and snagged the ball out of the air just before it reached the basket. At that point, my hand was clearly above the rim of the basket. The thing is, I can't jump that high.

    So how did I physically manage to jump about 18 inches higher than I can actually jump? This goes beyond being in a zone where I make all of my shots. This was just a very brief moment when there was literally no thought in my brain. None. There was only the basketball and an absolute knowing of me getting the ball. I didn't have to think - "jump". It just happened.

    I know, this isn't anything super-human like lifting a car off of someone. I'm just saying, this goes beyond a just mental state.

    Just as an aside, in basketball, touching the ball while it's above the rim is called goal-tending and the shooter gets credited with making the shot.
    I am enlightened, ............ Oh wait. That's just the police shining their spotlights on me.

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    Default Re: The Zone

    This is referred to as 'flow states'. I think Joe Rogan spoke of it a few times on his podcast, can probably youtube it.

    I have taken martial arts but I mostly experienced it during (American) football when I played in high school and more recently in pool when I was playing tournaments.

    My position in football was defensive back, I was way in the back and watched for receivers or I'd have to rush in and tackle the running back. I am terrible at catching balls, I have what they call butterfingers or stone hands. However during games when I would occasionally hit the zone I could easily intercept a ball, catching it with 1 hand. I can't explain it but it did feel like a primal, high testosterone kind of thing.

    Regarding pool, I'm a mediocre player (by league standards) but I'd occasionally hit the zone, it's just crazy. I wouldn't have to line up shots, just feel them out, pull the trigger, and walk to where the ball is going to stop. I did notice that I would get out of the zone once I thought about it. Similar to finding the quiet space in meditation: after you find it you spontaneously feel great, but then when you draw your attention to what just happened it vanishes. It's elusive.

    I've always been fascinated by this.
    Today is victory over yourself of yesterday. Tomorrow is your victory over lesser men.

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    Default Re: The Zone

    Quote Posted by Gracy May (here)



    How does the every day conscious mind do such a thing? No no, sumpin much deeper is in play here.
    I could watch this video over and over again... absolutely amazing; and I'm not at all saying these type of things don't happen, but this video isn't real. It's just an ad for Gillette. But pretty cool anyway!

    Carry on...

    T Smith

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    Default Re: The Zone

    Quote Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
    It was like a moving meditation, absolutely in the moment. That I could have fallen to my death at any point never entered my mind. I was in the Zone for most of the time, from start to finish. But it just kind of happened spontaneously. I really take no credit for it. By definition, it's not the kind of thing one can 'try' to do.
    That was an amazing story Bill! I had a funny feeling you had experienced this in your mountain climbing passion. Thanks for sharing that!

    I wonder what the trigger is for this spontaneous occurence?

    Quote Posted by enfoldedblue (here)
    "The highest frequency is the Gamma range. When this frequency is dominant,
    our brains are working at a fast pace. We tend to be extremely alert and focused.
    This level of brainwave activity is conducive to information processing,
    learning and memory retention. This state can be highly productive, and useful
    to function in intense circumstances."

    To me this would be the state hat would be activated in emergencies...(saving a child etc) and in sport etc
    Huh, so this is the Gamma range of brain function. Very interesting i didnt know that.

    Quote Posted by Orph (here)
    I jumped up and snagged the ball out of the air just before it reached the basket. At that point, my hand was clearly above the rim of the basket. The thing is, I can't jump that high.
    A familiar theme, and unforgettable obviously. I wonder why it happened in that particular situation?


    Quote Posted by T Smith (here)
    Quote Posted by Gracy May (here)



    How does the every day conscious mind do such a thing? No no, sumpin much deeper is in play here.
    I could watch this video over and over again... absolutely amazing; and I'm not at all saying these type of things don't happen, but this video isn't real. It's just an ad for Gillette. But pretty cool anyway!

    Carry on...

    T Smith
    Oh wow, nice catch pardon the pun. Thanks for that!

    I looked it up, sure enough. Now i know.

    Quote Posted by Strat (here)
    I am terrible at catching balls, I have what they call butterfingers or stone hands. However during games when I would occasionally hit the zone I could easily intercept a ball, catching it with 1 hand. I can't explain it but it did feel like a primal, high testosterone kind of thing.
    You reminded me of this amazing catch (and this one's real LOL!). Even though hes a receiver, no one in their "right mind" had any business catching that ball, that must have made even Jerry Rice's jaw drop. As an aside, what the hell was Peyton Manning doing still on his feet there, he was in the zone too. There was no other way to beat the perfect Patriots that year.

    Note. You have to click to Youtube to watch 30 second video.


    Quote Posted by Strat (here)
    Regarding pool, I'm a mediocre player (by league standards) but I'd occasionally hit the zone, it's just crazy. I wouldn't have to line up shots, just feel them out, pull the trigger, and walk to where the ball is going to stop. I did notice that I would get out of the zone once I thought about it. Similar to finding the quiet space in meditation: after you find it you spontaneously feel great, but then when you draw your attention to what just happened it vanishes. It's elusive.
    My big brother taught me how to play pool as kids, and i know what youre talking about there it used to happen to me too. Get on a roll where you hardly even need to aim, and then think something like "how am i doing this" and that's it, its over just like that.


    Bill put it very succinctly here.

    Quote But it just kind of happened spontaneously. I really take no credit for it. By definition, it's not the kind of thing one can 'try' to do.
    I would love to know the scientific mechanism for what actually triggers this and why. It doesn't happen in all high stress situations, and as we've seen it doesnt even have to be a high stress situation. It just seems to... happen... like a bolt out of the blue that runs either a moment in time for us, or an extended period if need be.

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    Default Re: The Zone

    I work far better with music playing that I like. I get in a zone where I am almost doing acrobatics with my tools - or synchronised tool belt multi-handed ballet. haha

    It's a wonder to behold - I used to be proud of it, now it just makes me feel good. I make my work my art.

    When I am in the zone I produce the output of two men. I can be in the zone day after day for weeks, before burning out and needing a rest - which never comes.

    Being in the zone is easily disrupted by the slightest thing going wrong. A misstep, a stubborn screw, a faulty device, even the wrong song, can suddenly turn the zone into a series of unfortunate events.

    The zone is like a familiar coat you put on. It just feels right. You just 'zone out' and perform the task set. After, you take the coat off and hang it up nice and neat, ready for the next time it is needed...but it doesn't always work when called on.
    Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water...Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. Bruce Lee

    Free will can only be as free as the mind that conceives it.

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    Canada Avalon Member Ti's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Zone

    I have experienced "the zone", which was exactly what I used to call it. Now I'm more inclined to call it flow. This occurs either in writing or in art, for me, and it's almost like channeling lite. I just reach in, poke around to find what the finished art is supposed to look like, and reference it in my brain while drawing and it shapes up without any planning at all. Or I just start typing and trust the story will come out. I think I could do it with music too, only I don't know how to make most forms of music other than doodling around with weak vocals and piano, but I'm capable of just settling in and sitting and listening to the most faint music on the periphery which comes together out of the ambient noise.

    Speed writing is a very good way to force yourself to learn to trust the state to kick in when you need it. I don't think I would have learned to get into it as easily as I do without doing speed writing challenges (races with other people where you try to write the most in a set time limit). Initially I deemed it a form of improv. In fact, in non-spiritual communities that's most of what I describe it as, though I do periodically end up sliding from "making up stories!" to "pulling stories out of the collective unconscious!"

    In a way, it's like stories and art and music are all alive, and floating around in the ether waiting for a mind to open up and let them in. That's how it feels to me. It helps to reach the state to focus not on the whole, but one word at a time. Or one brush stroke, one ink mark. If I do it as a writing challenge before I begin I'll decide like, "they talk over beer and realize their relationship isn't working" so I have a target, but I don't preplan what I'm going to write, what the dialogue will be, just the trajectory of the scene. In the moment, I am only focused on typing whatever word needs to come next. I don't think back and I don't think ahead, I have to turn off my conscious brain so that my fingers are the conduit for the concepts I'm receiving by instinct.

    It does not surprise me if most if not everyone will explain they too will lose the state if they let their conscious mind play with what they're trying to channel into, be it a sport or a creative task or some sort of spiritual experience. It's incredibly beneficial to enter the flow state while writing. I'm not in it now because all I can think about is how much my shoulderblades hurt. Gotta get the mind out of the equation. A timer does that to me. I was writing an average of 1200-1400 words in 15 minutes back when I was doing the speed writing. Once, I did 2200 words. Once, I maintained it for an hour and wrote 8000 words. And not blithering nonsense, but words that met the need of the scene and carried on the storyline. Unpolished, to be sure. Typos? Yeah. Worth it? Yeah.

    Music helps. I think it ties up the conscious brain. I would always pick ONE song with an approximate BPM of the WPM I wanted to achieve, put it on loop, and try to keep up.
    May the Force be with you.

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    Aaland Avalon Member Agape's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Zone

    Guess what all happens in the zone, things keep playing me up. Phones ringing out of nowhere or “showing me” something out of itself.

    I think there maybe many zones though.

    It’s as if everything works in perfect symmetry.

    If there’s a name to it ....it’s a zeta state not even a theta state.

    But let’s put it that way, it’s settings and options are still subject to human laws and regulation.

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    UK Avalon Member Matthew's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Zone

    As well as music, I get in a zone with software development. It's a very immersive medium, notorious for being heady. The saying goes 'it takes 15 mins after an interruption before a developer is productive again', which is getting back into the zone.

    Lots of people explain this phenomenon, from the developers point of view, (this cartoon is a good quick TL;DR) but I like this one which compares the development zone to being asleep:
    DON'T WAKE UP THE PROGRAMMER!

    https://alexthunder.livejournal.com/309815.html

    Extract:

    ...

    The work of a programmer is practically A DREAM.

    Sounds silly and simply untrue isn't it?

    Well. If you would like to get yourself in programmer’s shoes and start to understand [their] work from the inside – then that is a concept you need to follow. You should simply imagine that The Programmer IS SLEEPING when [they are] WORKING.

    Product of a programmers work is a dream, the vision of the sleepy night, the fantasy. It is written in a special language for electronic device to continue its existence when programmer is awake or switches [themselves] to another dream.
    ...

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    United States Avalon Member johnf's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Zone

    The sense of self is a very interesting phenomena. In a way it is the vehicle that has brought us here, the self preservation instincts
    that have kept the various species alive down through the ages have ensured that we can experience creation as a self, separate out from the reality that we are an integral part of. This capacity we have can be used to steer things around in a way that the species that came before us could not or perhaps choose not to. It can also cause unreasonable fears, and prejudices, and on a larger scale environmental harm, and wars. and down through the ages, perhaps for each and every one of us this separate self relaxes and blends with the environment and whatever activity it was previously monitoring.

    And the reality that that there is no doer becomes apparent, (I think usually after the fact in hindsight), all possibilities arise spontaneously and certain ones are executed without hesitation. Being, in whatever art form it is expressing itself merges with the artist and the medium, and a new set of strokes are added onto the endless canvas.



    My biggest curiosity about all this presently is how much of the experiences of our ancestors feeds into our actions in these "Zone", or "Flow" experiences and how often multiple people have these things as a group moving as one. And how far away as a species we are from having this type of experience become the norm as we face the enormous challenges that are presently arising.
    I think that the abstract notion of a doer of existence is nothing but a notion but could be lightly applied in visualizing all of creation consciously unfolding and including all species organic, inorganic, and electromagnetic.


    It wasn't me!
    "I am fascinated by religion. (That's a completely different thing from believing in it!)" Douglas Adams

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    Moderator (on Sabbatical) Cara's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Zone

    The most astounding zone I have experienced was with a group. When I was a student, for about a year, I joined the rowing club to help them out as a coxswain (the person who sits in the back of the boat, pulls the rudder, and yells at everybody about timing ). I coxed the women’s eight....

    ...something like this.


    Anyway, one day we were out at a dam for a regatta training and one of the mens’ crews did not have a cox for their practice so I was offered up by the ladies crew to help. I duly jumped in and off we set. I was very intimidated - I hadn’t been a cox long - and this was a serious crew!

    We made our way out to the open water and then I asked the guys what they wanted to do. We agreed I would call them to “take it up two” every 20 seconds till they hit 34 strokes per minute and then hold them there (more explanation of strokes here: https://darkhorserowing.com/what-str...-better-rower/). This is quite a tough session for an amateur crew.

    So there I was facing a crew of burly rowers trying to get myself psyched up to drive them to this. Off we set.

    At first there was a bit of messiness on the timing (people not quite in sync with the stroke who sets the timing). Then we had a few people “catching crabs” (this is when the blade of the oar does not properly enter the water and you get splash and not much pull).

    Finally we settled down to mostly synchronised pulling and I started the upward call. As I called the upticks, the guys and the boat and I gradually merged in purpose, the blades cutting the water sliced, the boat dropped down as speed picked up. And then we were flying and there was only the rhythm of the pulling, the acceleration over the water, and silence. It was like we’d been created into a flying creature, skimming over the water, nothing but the now and the intent.

    ...

    I called down the timing after 10 minutes. Finally we stopped. And we drifted along, breathing.
    Last edited by Cara; 6th August 2019 at 07:51.
    *I have loved the stars too dearly to be fearful of the night*

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