Mindfulness, Flow, Hypnosis, Guided Relaxation. How can they help? and what is the difference?

I spend much of my working life helping leaders and people working in high-impact and frontline jobs to find a sense of peace and ease. My training as a mindfulness teacher, hypnotherapist, coach and climbing coach means that I use a variety of methods and practices in order to do this. The terms mindfulness, flow, hypnosis and relaxation techniques have some similarities, some differences and they also have common misconceptions. If you are wanting to find more clarity on your journey away from burnout and towards improved wellbeing then look no further.

Flow

Flow has been written about extensively since it was first described by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in 1975. In essence though, flow is when your level of skill meets your level of challenge so that there is no capacity to focus on anything else. On one level this might mean that if we are commonly occupied with stress and difficulty in life then we can get a sense of ease and relief through flow as we have no room for these sensations. A surfer, for instance, might encounter a wave that requires all of their physical and psychological focus in order to ride it. During their short time on this wave, the shame, regret, grief or everyday background thought that they might have been carrying disappears.

On another level the individual might have a more mystical experience. They may also let go of the rigid boundaries of who they are. It is essential for us as human beings to have a sense of self in order to fit in with society. The self however is an illusion. The surfer on the wave for example, may feel as if they are the wave or even the ocean. This feeling again can be incredibly freeing as it can allow background senses of loneliness and isolation to dissolve and instead feelings of belonging to emerge.

All of these sensations may only last seconds, although they might have an afterglow that can remain and help us to feel more empowered in the world. How long this feeling remains for is, to the best of my understanding, mysterious.

Many people chase a sense of flow in their lives. Understanding what it is they are seeking and how they may be able to obtain it can be very helpful. Seeking flow can be detrimental if done without awareness. It may lead to addictive behaviours that can push out other aspects for a healthy lifestyle such as minimising time for family, job or learning.

Being in flow is not the same as being mindful, although it might be that a mindfulness practice can help us to transition into flow more easily.

Mindfulness

Here are some key ways of describing the essence of Mindfulness:

Paying Attention to the present moment without judgement on purpose.

Pay Attention, Let go, Be kind.

Awareness with acceptance.

Heartfulness.

Mindfulness can not be described as a single thing. It is a state of being as opposed to an activity. In this way we can be mindful whilst having a conversation, driving a car, or going for a walk (or literally just about anything). We can flip this the other way around and say that it is possible to sit cross-legged in meditation and not be mindful if we are not meeting any of the sentences I used to describe mindfulness. It is about intention and attention and not about what we are doing.

Whilst we all have the natural ability to be mindful without needing to practice or learn. Mindfulness is definitely something that can be greatly deepened and enriched by understanding it deeper and practicing it regularly. There are many books and teachers available to help individuals and groups to learn more about mindfulness and how they can practice to be more mindful.

By practicing “paying attention to the present moment without judgement on purpose” we begin to become familiar and more at ease with how our thoughts, feelings and our emotions have a habit of pushing and pulling us without our even realising. We also begin to truly notice the world around us, in the present moment through our five senses.

The benefits of mindfulness are numerous and very well studied. Some of the key benefits include: Lower stress and anxiety (including physical symptoms such as head and stomach aches etc), increased emotional regulation (being able to manage our reactions in stressful situations), being more ‘present’, iincreased calm, compassion and connectivity. By practicing mindfulness we literally change pathways in our brain that help these benefits to become more habitual and commonplace.

Mindfulness, like flow, can lead to a mystical experience, whereby the individual might feel the 'self' dissolves and they are connected to something much larger (such as the world, humanity, universe). This is in a way a natural and real experience of coming to realise that we are indeed not at all separate from the world around us. It must be stressed that Mindfulness isn't about achieving some kind of mystical state, it is as the sentences first described "paying attention". Striving to attain a particular way of being paradoxically interferes with being in the present moment.

Mindfulness and flow are separate as we can be mindful without being in flow and we can be in flow without “Paying attention on purpose”. However by taking on an activity with the presence of Mindfulness we may find that we are better able to access the flow state more easily.

Hypnosis

A state of focused attention, concentration and inner absorption, accompanied by a loss of awareness of the other things around you.

Sounds very similar to flow right? It also has some similarities to Mindfulness. Indeed it appears that similar things are happening in the brain when we are in these states. Entering into a hypnotic state is a little mysterious and misunderstood and I am not going to enter into the depths of the topic here. There are many books on this subject for those who are interested.

Hypnosis can allow for a person to become more suggestible. “Imaging studies show that the relaxation part of hypnotic induction significantly suppresses activity in our frontal cortex the brain area responsible for planning, decision-making and attention.” (New Scientist*) On the surface this can sound like a scary thing. However throughout life we hold onto all manner of unhelpful suggestions for example: “All spiders are dangerous.” “I will freeze if I speak in public.” “I don’t belong here.” A 2019 study showed that hypnosis was 84% more effective at treating anxiety disorders than other controlled studies (New Scientist). Through hypnotherapy we can loosen or let go of rigid and unhelpful beliefs that impact our neurology and physiology and we can assume more powerful ones.

It appears that what happens during hypnosis within our brain and our mind (the way in which we think about our-self and talk to our-self) has similarities to experiences within states of meditation and flow. I will also add here that studies on certain psychedelics when used in controlled environments also seem to enter into similar territory.

Like mindfulness and flow, hypnosis/trance also has the potential for individuals to transcend the rigid boundaries of self and consciousness and to feel more deeply in tune and connected with the world around them.

Hypnosis might also be a way of entering into flow more easily, as a subject can learn through trance to ‘let go’ of some of the physical and mental distractions that prevent them from being able to engage fully with their task. Some athletes may purposefully or inadvertently enter into a trance like state before they access their flow state.

Hypnosis for therapeutic reasons aka hypnotherapy, is different from mindfulness and flow because an individual is identifying a specific area that is causing them difficulty and they are looking to create change around it. Whilst flow is about entering into a level of skill and challenge to attain a certain state or feeling, and mindfulness is about paying attention to the present moment without judgement.

Guided Relaxation

This is the most generalised term used within this article. I write about it because this is what many people are expecting, especially when they want to practice mindfulness. Of course there are many ways to relax. When people are looking for guided relaxation there are probably a few key elements that they are expecting.

Environment. This might be a natural setting as people identify different types of nature (beach, woodland, mountains, meadows, water, tropical, temperate etc) to be soothing and they are right. It might also be indoors in a room with soft lighting, soothing music, scent, objects and imagery (All of which might also be suggestive of natural settings)

Breathwork. A conscious breath work practice is one of the reliable pathways towards letting the nervous system know that it is safe therefore triggering relaxation. Incidentally, breathwork is a very useful way to access mindfulness and hypnotic states.

Guidance. This can be similar to hypnosis. Language is used to help an individual to conjur a felt sense of safety. Whilst the words used are important, the relationship with the guide (even if they are just a recording and all you have to go on is their tone of voice) is equally as important.

Grounding/Centring/Earthing: Whilst it can be argued that there is a distinction between all three of these, the focus is on the individual feeling weighted and connected within their body so that they feel they have a centre of mass and a sense of balance. This might be done through the use of nature such as being barefoot, taking in a view, walking consciously and slowly, touching a tree. It might also be through guidance, such as helping the individual to notice the contact and weight they feel through their feet and into their chair and then to notice the expansion and contraction of the lower rib cage and the space down in their tummy (where the centre of mass tends to be).

Guided relaxation can be incredibly helpful but it can also be paradoxical in nature. Those looking to relax may find that when they try to focus on relaxation they notice how far away from being relaxed they actually are, which can actually increase stress and cause a negative feedback loop that strengthens a belief that they are unable to relax by slowing down; furthermore, people seeking a guide for relaxation may be ignoring more important elements that could be worked on first such as acknowledging and healing past wounds.

So What?

In my experience what has been discussed can be described as same room many doors. Whereby each of these topics might have differences in their approach, but they can all lead us to a similar place of feeling less stressed and more connected.

All of these methods can be free or relatively cheap once you get going with them (although flow might be expensive if your chosen hobby is something like skiing) and they do not require a medicine that contains unpleasant or damaging side effects. What they do require though is patience and practice and a willingness to learn and stay curious.

Through understanding what these practices entail as well as recognising what the common misconceptions are. We have a better chance of choosing what might be of most help for us as well as finding the pathway that is most accessible for us.