This description of the state of flow resonates so much! I am curious about the difference between "being in the zone" and "zoning out". I think they are in fact different, and there's a whole taxonomy of substates and related states we could be identifying.
For instance, when I paint in my studio, I enjoy listening to audio - podcasts, books, music with lyrics. It seems to engage my language centers so that I don't think in words while I paint. (I could never listen to them while writing.)
I also teach an AP art. I often find my students with ADHD are the absolute best at generating ideas, and in critique they are great at finding connections in other students' work that those students didn't see at first. These students struggle to engage their PFC for executive function and time awareness. What I see in my ADHD students when they seem distracted, miss deadlines, and don't turn in work, seems like a glitch of sorts. They lose their executive function.
When I meditate in the morning, I think that down-regulating my PFC actually helps it to function in other times of day. Meditation has also helped with interrupting thoughts, which feel to me like an over-active PFC. Anxiety also feels like a PFC which is using more metabolic resources than is helpful. I need to move those resources elsewhere, and meditation really helps to do that.
Repetitive actions like crochet (Thanks Kathryn!) and meditation feel to me like they do something different than listening to audio while I paint, or "watching" tv. Distraction seems different than choosing to be in a different state. I don't know enough about the brain science, but I can't wait to check out some of the books and articles people have listed here.
Caroline, I'm glad someone brought up the ADHD connection here. Your observations as an art teacher are so affirming to me, because I don't feel like we as a society appreciate that there are legitimate trade-offs between creative work and work requiring high executive function. Most of my best ideas and many of my greatest weaknesses stem from the same thing. It's a really challenging balance to strike: You have to use self-management techniques and, perhaps, medication to get through the things that need to get done, but you have to honor what makes you unique and creative or you won't actually get to the things that really matter.
Running has been the most indispensable tool in my toolbox since I was 17.
Also, I found your remarks about your own creative process very interesting. I sometimes listen to podcasts while doing art, and you've given me a new insight into why that may be so helpful. I will make a point of doing it more often.
“Watching” really repetitive formulaic tv (law and order, reality relationship shows) helps me get into some weird mental state that sounds a lot like this. I don’t exactly watch - just have it on and sort of know what’s going on. Often I am simultaneously crocheting or playing a dumb repetitive phone game.
I feel like my answer sounds weird or wrong. In the past I had a lot of shame or resistance around how much “bad tv” I “watch”. And definitely sometimes I have to turn it off completely to tune into my own mind. But there’s this sweet spot where it actually really helps me get into a state that fosters my own creativity rather than interrupts it.
I'd say, it's most likely the crocheting that's putting you into a "loose" state. Repetitive hand movements can affect your body & brain just as thoroughly as running, without the sweating & heavy breathing (unless you're working a particularly difficult pattern 😉).
Absolutely true. It’s something I have studied extensively - I wrote about it in my book Crochet Saved My Life and for many magazines. And I used that knowledge to develop crochet exercises for healing for my book Hook to Heal. You described it perfectly. But I do also reach this state regularly with tv when not crafting as well. It’s a bit like a daydream state.
Wonderful. Would love to connect. I have been thrilled to see so much more research emerging in this field. When I wrote Crochet Saved My Life in 2012, I couldn’t find much about it. Betsan Corkhill’s work with Stitchlinks was a notable exception. I am actually working on a second edition of the book right now because soooo much more research and writing has emerged about it.
I have broadened my own work to look more deeply at the complex intersection between art and mental health and how “symptoms” impact creative content and process but for over a decade my primary focus was the mental and physical health benefits of crochet (and by extension knitting and some other handcrafts).
As a busy working mother, I seem to be able to enter into this state in the early morning. And it must be accompanied by a ritual of poetry and coffee. There must be something to poetry and early mornings. My mind is loose and so much more capable of moving beyond conditions of knowing and controlling.
Thank you for this newsletter! One of the things I do to deepen my own creativity is to play in my sketchbook in the mornings before I am fully awake... that is before my inhibitions come online so to speak. I find it helpful.
Perhaps when on reaches their “runner’s high” all possibilities for multitasking are shut down. Physically, the body shifts into “survival mode”. Mentally, the brain goes into a similar survival mode, which makes the impossible problem being pondered suddenly solvable.
I’m not one for running or biking with headphones plugged in. Physical and mental single-tasking has brought on big ideas and unexpected solutions.
Thanks for posting this, Annie, and the discussion, everyone. There's so much in all this that talks to me. I've been studying the creative process in myself for about ten years, with the help of science and readings such as these.
I’ve often thought of this myself as how dreaming, meditation, sex, creative flow, physical flow, etc are all very similar and in fact more ‘normal’ states of mind than what tends to be regarded as ‘higher’ and normal, i.e. fully awake and engaged in analytic thinking.
I've written a lot about my own experience with this
Fascinating. How does this relate to the creativity that can come after walking or taking a shower or doing the dishes which also feel like they may turn off the frontal regions of the brain?
First, really enjoyed this Annie, thanks for sharing.
Elizabeth - I think this is a really good point, though I suspect the brain function that's operating with showering and dish washing is a bit different. I've written about this in relationship to "involuntary attention" where enough of your attention is maintained by a task to keep you busy, but not so much that your mind can't wander: https://rossblankenship.substack.com/p/work-and-vision
This hypofrontality effect is a bit different I think because of the way that blood flow changes in the body based on activity. The age old brain as "hydraulic fluid movement" metaphor can be useful here, a metaphor I frequently use with coaching clients when they're feeling anxious about their work or what they have to do in the future. The PFC is what drives that feeling of anxiety and inhibition, and if we can move that blood to other parts of our body (e.g., legs while running), it can precipitate a powerful change in the mental state as well.
Looking forward to reading more about this - thanks again!
I get it—science needs to place creativity in neat, study-able buckets. But in doing so, it often strips away the essence of what makes creativity so profoundly human. Philosophy of mind, especially thinkers like Jung or William James, recognizes that creativity isn't just neurons firing in structured patterns; it's an emergent quality of consciousness. It’s about meaning-making, depth, and lived experience. Science might provide useful frameworks, but let’s not reduce creativity to just mechanical brain functions. I studied this field in grad school but became increasing disturbed by lack of research on real world application in the arts.
This description of the state of flow resonates so much! I am curious about the difference between "being in the zone" and "zoning out". I think they are in fact different, and there's a whole taxonomy of substates and related states we could be identifying.
For instance, when I paint in my studio, I enjoy listening to audio - podcasts, books, music with lyrics. It seems to engage my language centers so that I don't think in words while I paint. (I could never listen to them while writing.)
I also teach an AP art. I often find my students with ADHD are the absolute best at generating ideas, and in critique they are great at finding connections in other students' work that those students didn't see at first. These students struggle to engage their PFC for executive function and time awareness. What I see in my ADHD students when they seem distracted, miss deadlines, and don't turn in work, seems like a glitch of sorts. They lose their executive function.
When I meditate in the morning, I think that down-regulating my PFC actually helps it to function in other times of day. Meditation has also helped with interrupting thoughts, which feel to me like an over-active PFC. Anxiety also feels like a PFC which is using more metabolic resources than is helpful. I need to move those resources elsewhere, and meditation really helps to do that.
Repetitive actions like crochet (Thanks Kathryn!) and meditation feel to me like they do something different than listening to audio while I paint, or "watching" tv. Distraction seems different than choosing to be in a different state. I don't know enough about the brain science, but I can't wait to check out some of the books and articles people have listed here.
Thanks for a wonderful article!
I have notice over my teaching career (33yrs) how art is therapeutic.
Hands dance as the mind wanders and wonders.
Caroline, I'm glad someone brought up the ADHD connection here. Your observations as an art teacher are so affirming to me, because I don't feel like we as a society appreciate that there are legitimate trade-offs between creative work and work requiring high executive function. Most of my best ideas and many of my greatest weaknesses stem from the same thing. It's a really challenging balance to strike: You have to use self-management techniques and, perhaps, medication to get through the things that need to get done, but you have to honor what makes you unique and creative or you won't actually get to the things that really matter.
Running has been the most indispensable tool in my toolbox since I was 17.
Also, I found your remarks about your own creative process very interesting. I sometimes listen to podcasts while doing art, and you've given me a new insight into why that may be so helpful. I will make a point of doing it more often.
“Watching” really repetitive formulaic tv (law and order, reality relationship shows) helps me get into some weird mental state that sounds a lot like this. I don’t exactly watch - just have it on and sort of know what’s going on. Often I am simultaneously crocheting or playing a dumb repetitive phone game.
I feel like my answer sounds weird or wrong. In the past I had a lot of shame or resistance around how much “bad tv” I “watch”. And definitely sometimes I have to turn it off completely to tune into my own mind. But there’s this sweet spot where it actually really helps me get into a state that fosters my own creativity rather than interrupts it.
I'd say, it's most likely the crocheting that's putting you into a "loose" state. Repetitive hand movements can affect your body & brain just as thoroughly as running, without the sweating & heavy breathing (unless you're working a particularly difficult pattern 😉).
Absolutely true. It’s something I have studied extensively - I wrote about it in my book Crochet Saved My Life and for many magazines. And I used that knowledge to develop crochet exercises for healing for my book Hook to Heal. You described it perfectly. But I do also reach this state regularly with tv when not crafting as well. It’s a bit like a daydream state.
We should talk...my research focuses mainly on handcrafts (knitting in particular) to achieve the same ends!
Wonderful. Would love to connect. I have been thrilled to see so much more research emerging in this field. When I wrote Crochet Saved My Life in 2012, I couldn’t find much about it. Betsan Corkhill’s work with Stitchlinks was a notable exception. I am actually working on a second edition of the book right now because soooo much more research and writing has emerged about it.
I have broadened my own work to look more deeply at the complex intersection between art and mental health and how “symptoms” impact creative content and process but for over a decade my primary focus was the mental and physical health benefits of crochet (and by extension knitting and some other handcrafts).
As a busy working mother, I seem to be able to enter into this state in the early morning. And it must be accompanied by a ritual of poetry and coffee. There must be something to poetry and early mornings. My mind is loose and so much more capable of moving beyond conditions of knowing and controlling.
Morning tea and meditation is my favorite time of day. :)
I'm with you! There is something to it. :)
Thank you for this newsletter! One of the things I do to deepen my own creativity is to play in my sketchbook in the mornings before I am fully awake... that is before my inhibitions come online so to speak. I find it helpful.
Perhaps when on reaches their “runner’s high” all possibilities for multitasking are shut down. Physically, the body shifts into “survival mode”. Mentally, the brain goes into a similar survival mode, which makes the impossible problem being pondered suddenly solvable.
I’m not one for running or biking with headphones plugged in. Physical and mental single-tasking has brought on big ideas and unexpected solutions.
Thanks for posting this, Annie, and the discussion, everyone. There's so much in all this that talks to me. I've been studying the creative process in myself for about ten years, with the help of science and readings such as these.
This was a helpful summary - I really appreciate the level of communication here. Thanks!
Another good one here Annie, thank you.
I’ve often thought of this myself as how dreaming, meditation, sex, creative flow, physical flow, etc are all very similar and in fact more ‘normal’ states of mind than what tends to be regarded as ‘higher’ and normal, i.e. fully awake and engaged in analytic thinking.
I've written a lot about my own experience with this
https://bowendwelle.substack.com/t/body
perhaps especially in this piece about fitness and creativity:
https://open.substack.com/pub/bowendwelle/p/getting-stronger
Painting and making paper sculptures while mind wandering as letting go of thoughts and entering the Flow.
https://books.google.it/books?id=HviTEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=mind+wandering+Holly+B+F+Warren&source=bl&ots=5Htm0C_8ng&sig=ACfU3U0MijTUdjnI6m4QLVjB-lZNeVFaxg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiPq8vigvn-AhUz7rsIHTWrBNEQ6AF6BAgbEAI#v=onepage&q=mind%20wandering%20Holly%20B%20F%20Warren&f=false
Fascinating. How does this relate to the creativity that can come after walking or taking a shower or doing the dishes which also feel like they may turn off the frontal regions of the brain?
First, really enjoyed this Annie, thanks for sharing.
Elizabeth - I think this is a really good point, though I suspect the brain function that's operating with showering and dish washing is a bit different. I've written about this in relationship to "involuntary attention" where enough of your attention is maintained by a task to keep you busy, but not so much that your mind can't wander: https://rossblankenship.substack.com/p/work-and-vision
There are lots of interesting studies about this in the psych research, including this relatively recent one: https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2023-04894-001?doi=1
This hypofrontality effect is a bit different I think because of the way that blood flow changes in the body based on activity. The age old brain as "hydraulic fluid movement" metaphor can be useful here, a metaphor I frequently use with coaching clients when they're feeling anxious about their work or what they have to do in the future. The PFC is what drives that feeling of anxiety and inhibition, and if we can move that blood to other parts of our body (e.g., legs while running), it can precipitate a powerful change in the mental state as well.
Looking forward to reading more about this - thanks again!
Thank you! Super interesting.
I get it—science needs to place creativity in neat, study-able buckets. But in doing so, it often strips away the essence of what makes creativity so profoundly human. Philosophy of mind, especially thinkers like Jung or William James, recognizes that creativity isn't just neurons firing in structured patterns; it's an emergent quality of consciousness. It’s about meaning-making, depth, and lived experience. Science might provide useful frameworks, but let’s not reduce creativity to just mechanical brain functions. I studied this field in grad school but became increasing disturbed by lack of research on real world application in the arts.
I see them everywhere I just don't know what to do or even have to do it even get started
Great read as always!
https://open.substack.com/pub/valueneer/p/beyond-survival-of-the-fittest?r=28zrhq&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post