Flow and Focus

Flow + Focus = Flocus

What is ‘Flocus’?

Flocus is a word that I coined with the intention of describing the experience when there’s a harmonious combination of Flow and Focus, that, when practiced, can be harnessed to enrich all areas of life.

Flow

Flow is a state of mind that occurs when a person is totally immersed in an activity. When in flow, we are deeply absorbed in our actions, with an intrinsically rewarding sensation, yet there is no feeling of exerting effort.
If you have ever experienced that blissful feeling of being so engrossed in what you’re doing that you lose track of time and become unconscious of where you are, then most likely you have entered a flow state. It can be described as being ‘in the zone’, you gain heightened perception and as a result can achieve ‘peak human performance’.

Usually such a state of mind is associated with forms of creative expression, be it playing an instrument, dancing or doodling, these are things that tend to lend themselves well to a complete absorption in the activity. I describe this immersion as ‘thoughtless present moment awareness’; when you are joyfully aware of the present moment, but not thinking about it, like that calm, euphoric feeling of drifting into a trance. – When you’re doing something, but not consciously controlling how you’re doing it, you’re just allowing it to be, to happen through you, your body as a conduit for the flow.

As well as the aforementioned creative pastimes, Flocus can be an art form in its own right that can be directed towards every aspect of life.

Focus

The second element of Flocus is about the practice of focusing a flow state towards any particular activity with which you engage. If you focus the flow in all you do, you can turn even the most seemingly mundane tasks into something purely pleasurable.
Yes, even washing the dishes! Of course, there’s not one right way of undertaking such a chore, but if you divide the task into patterns of movements that suit your current situation and allow the accomplishment of the dishes getting washed to flow through you, the whole activity becomes like a dance. A dance that also has a practical purpose.

This principle of flowing patterns of movements can become the underpinning of everything you’re involved with in life. From playing sports to creating art, and from gardening to daily household tasks.
First you need to understand the nature of the activity in hand and be able to execute the necessary techniques involved. Then comes the practice of Flocus within that activity: Allow the patterns of movements to flow through you, without attaching too much thought to their manifestation, and allow your focus of mind to direct the flow to where you choose it to go. To Flocus!

Personally, I practice allowing every individual task I undertake to be a fractal repetition of this flow and focus ethos. – Aiming to experience maximum enrichment, with minimum resistance on every level of life.

Tasks and activities that seem to be particularly effective for practicing Flocus are ones that involve a series of similar, consecutively repeated actions, as they naturally allow a rhythmic pattern of movements.
For example, imagine bouncing on a trampoline; if you’re feeling overexerted, there’s probably a more effective way to be doing it. Don’t force it, but by just allowing every part of your body to be in the right place at the right time, the best bounce will happen for you. – With a Flocused mind and a relaxed body, you get more bounce for your ounce!

I utilise this Flocus principle when creating my light sculptures. Initially I experience visions of a potential piece and, without forcing the idea, I allow it to happen through me. Manifesting it into reality via the focus of the creative flow through my physical manipulation techniques with the tools in my workshop. – My Art of Flocus.

Flocus is also an effect that I aim to catalyse in the people who experience my geometric light sculptures.
The forms of the pieces are based on sacred geometry, tessellation and fractal patterns found in nature that have been proven to have a calming effect. The sheer symmetry and cohesion of these patterns soothes the part of our brain that is constantly trying to make order from the chaos around us.

Then comes my addition of lighting and electronics in my artwork. – The synchronised audio-visual display of my sound responsive light sculptures encourages focus in the observer. This brings their awareness into the present moment, thereby helping to ease tension and enhance mindfulness; states that are conducive to initiating Flocus. As such, I’m creating interactive light sculptures to help encourage the art of Flocus in the observer’s life.

Thank you for reading about my principle of combining flow and focus, I hope it will enable you to enrich your life with Flocus and that my interactive light sculptures further inspire such a state of enhanced wellbeing.

To see more of my sculptures, Please Click Here.