Dive into the flow state with me on The Unlimited You as we explore how to surrender to the moment for peak performance in martial arts, flow arts, and life. Discover the secrets to unlocking this powerful state of being for creativity, agility, and a precognitive sense of awareness. Tune in to learn how to harness the flow state and become the ultimate expression of yourself.

So when you go to practice, put everything you got into it, focus on what you're doing, focus on the technique, focus on the feeling of the movement. And then that feeling will become what you tap into. Also repeat the practice over and over and over and over again. Don't just stop when you get it.

Stop until you cannot get it wrong. That's when you have understood that movement.

You just do as you hear, as it comes, you do. Oftentimes you get to this point in the flow state where you know, what's going to happen in the beat. You know, what's going to happen in the fight. You know what's going to happen in that creation process. And it almost gives you this kind of a precognitive view.

Of the future. You're like, you literally are able to predict it because you have turned off your mind. You're not having to receive an input and then put it out. You are literally in the moment. You have become that moment and you are a channel of expression. Right? So the flow state is getting out of the way of yourself.

That's how I characterize it. You know, there's different ways that you can get yourself to get into the flow state and there's certain conditions that allow you to get into the flow state better. For example, let's say you're doing something new. You're not very good at it. You're not very confident at it.

You don't understand either the moves or the concepts. It's going to become very difficult for you to attain that flow state. In those situations, because you're oftentimes in your mind, you're having to receive that input. You're having to learn, really be focused on what you're doing. Now, the flow state does require focus, but it's a different type of focus where let's say you've been doing something for five, 10, 15 or more years.

You're probably going to hit this wall. You're like, Oh, I don't think I can do it. And then you're back in the mind and you'll exit the flow state. A few of the triggers for myself that I use to enter the flow state is relaxing. You have to be completely relaxed. It is a type of surrender to yourself, right?

We're trusting ourselves to be able to do or perform these actions in a state that could potentially be stressful or dangerous. And we're doing these actions calmly. And it increases the speed, the power, the expression. You free the mind from what everybody's thinking, what I'm thinking. And you just do, you become that movement.

And It helps clear out that emotion, get you out of the mind and get you into this moment. Now, when you can feel the ground under your feet, when you can feel the clothes on your skin, when you can smell the air coming in, when you can visually take in and hear all of this information around you, right?

You bring yourself into this moment. You become this moment, right? Those are the things I use to help bring myself. Into the flow state. If I'm spinning my bow staff, that's probably my favorite weapon just comes the most natural to me. I don't think about what I'm doing. Absolutely not. Because if I'm thinking about what I'm doing, I'm in the thought.

Sometimes when I throw my staff in the air. I don't think about, Oh, it's spinning this many times. It's going to land here and I'm going to catch it. I've done it enough that I throw it. I just look at it. I'm listening to the beat. I'm in the moment and I catch it and I keep it going. I surrendered my mind and trusting myself to do what I need to do.

And the flow state can be applied in many different situations. The way that I personally apply it is in my martial arts training. Through rigorous training of different techniques, different movements, especially stepping drills is really important. Stepping drills in Taekwondo gives you the ability to move and then combine different techniques together in an application that can be used for self defense.

I just do it. I will see it. I will either block it and strike or I'll move and throw a kick. And I let the moment be expressed in whatever way it needs to be. And that allows me to one, not be very predictable. react or act faster. I don't necessarily want to react to something and want to act. So oftentimes you get into this rhythm you're hopping, you throw a jab, you throw another jab, you throw a hook.

Next thing you know, you throw a kick and your movements become predictable. And once you know yourself and you know your opponent, you can literally predict what they're going to do next. And if you're in the flow state, That prediction that awareness increases and your ability to see what that next move is before it even happens is just clear.

Like, yeah, exactly. So the, that's the application for in the self defense state. If anyone watches Dragon Ball Z, you'll love Dragon Ball Z. The Dragon Ball Super introduced the Ultra Instinct State, which to me is the Flow State. Where Goku, for example, would see the block coming, and then he would instantly block that strike.

So being in the flow state, you have to be very gentle. You have to be confident. You have to surrender and accept the moment. You become the moment and in doing so, you become the expression. And in becoming the expression, it is raw, it is pure and powerful and you feel it. And it's not like it takes strength or effort.

What would be maybe extremely exerting in the flow state becomes calm and joyful. Which is crazy to think about. Now, a few of those limitations and I get further into it later would be, you know, I think I already mentioned the coordination, the muscle memory, the major and minor motor skills, and your mobility could be restrictions in you attaining certain aspects of the flow state.

Sometimes I can look at a painting and move like what I feel the painting is. I can do that with the music. So I'm like combining what I see and what I hear into my movement and creating an entirely new expression that is extremely powerful in expressing ourselves in like in, in learning new ways we can move.

Keep doing it. And then you're going to not only build the awareness, the confidence, the muscle memory, the coordination to do it. But you'll be able to hit that flow state easier and retain it. For artwork, for example, when I'm blowing glass, if I'm thinking about, I do demonstrations, I'll go to different shows, events, Renaissance festivals.

If I'm thinking about what everybody on the audience is thinking about what I'm doing, I'm not focused on my piece. I want to be focused, right? So it's a, it's almost a state of meditation, like state. When you are in the flow state now, it's not meditation because meditation, we're hyper focusing on one specific spot with all of our willpower in the flow state, it is a meditation like state.

If you're sitting there and like you're angry or you're dissatisfied or you're like, I'm not doing this well. You're probably not in the flow state. You're in your mind. Like usually when I'm in the flow state, I am like ecstatic. I'm so happy about what I am doing. I just have this like big smile in my heart because it just feels so raw.

It feels so powerful and it's an exceptional experience that I think everyone needs to learn and tap into.

Master Victor: Some of the benefits of the flow state is you increase your speed. You increase your expressive ability. The creative aspect of it. Really flourishes where like oftentimes where we're like training specific moves and we learn how to combine different things together.

I'll do some glass blowing. I'll get in that flow state afterwards. I feel wonderful. I'll feel like I'll feel content with what I've done. I'll feel that joy from that release of expression. And aside from that, we're also learning to turn off the thought, surrender to our minds. And we're reinforcing that pathway, the trigger to get into the flow state.

I'm just going to be and do what needs to be. It gets reinforced and then you can use that in other applications. Maybe you're like walking down the street and you get into the state where you're feeling that flow. Maybe you're dancing on the dance floor and you're learning some new moves and you're just expressing this rawness, right?

It can be very beneficial. And applicable in many different situations, driving, when you get into the flow state, let's say your go karting or your professional race car driver, you're often in the flow state. They're making such split second reactions. They're not thinking about it. They see something boom, boom, boom.

That's not the flow state. It's not. I mean, you can have that process happening in your mind, but it's going to be a subconscious thing. It's going to be, They do it, I see it. And next time they do it, my foot's already at their face. It's not a thought. It's just an expression.

You just do. And when I get into thinking, Oh, I'm getting tired. Oh I don't know if I'm going to catch this. This looks dangerous. Oh, I might be afraid of this. I leave that flow state. As soon as I start thinking, I leave the flow state. And I've experienced this where. And I do those throws. If I'm not in the flow state and it's really dark and I can't see my staff, I will oftentimes drop it.

Well, you flow state may like call you to do that and then you drop down and then you're going to feel that stretching, ripping feeling and you're growing and you're not going to be able to do the full splits because your body's not able to do that. So some of those challenges could be our preconditioned thoughts.

Our how our body, the state of our bodies. And you know, this is where our training really comes in and strengthening the body to be able to handle certain movements, stretching the body to increase our mobility training techniques beforehand. Like I'll do a specific throw 20 times, drop it a whole bunch and I'll keep going.

So if you're thinking about the move, the details of the move, like my arm up here, but if you're feeling, Oh, when I throw the staff, it feels light. It feels like my elbows loose. It feels, I feel the stretch. I feel this muscle moving. And then when you tap into that feeling. And you hear the beat, you start to connect these different things.

And when you clench up, you're going to waste a lot of energy. You're going to be slow. And you're not going to be able to move and you're probably going to get hit. If we can stay calm in a sparring situation, right? When we spar, I like to have fun. It shouldn't be about like who wins. It should be about, Hey, let's enjoy ourselves.

Let's also learn how to defend ourselves. If you put your hand down, tap you on the head, remind you to keep your hand up so you don't get knocked out. And in training that and becoming comfortable in that chaotic situation in remaining calm inside of ourselves. No matter what is going on outside and our meditation teacher, Paramahansa Yogananda says that, you know, we can retain that inner calmness in an ever chaotic world.

Some of the tips that I recommend for those of you trying to attain that flow state practice, practice makes permanent. So what you practice is what you do. So if you go into your practice. And you're practicing a move and you're doing it lazily and you're looking around at everything. Well, it's going to take you a lot longer to attain that confidence to attain that technique.

Stop until you cannot get it wrong. That's when you have understood that movement. If I throw a roundhouse kick and I only throw that roundhouse kick until I hit my target, Oh, and then I go a week without practicing and I go to throw my roundhouse kick again. It's probably not going to be the same. But if I practice my roundhouse kick and then I can hit that target with my eyes closed and I know exactly how I have to move my knee, where I have to bring it, where I have to snap and put it down.

And I remember the feeling and I don't miss 20 times in a row. I'll be able to use that kick a lot more effectively. under a stressful situation than I would if I didn't practice it to that degree. So that practice making it permanent works on the muscle memory, works on your confidence and utilizing that move in a situation where it needs to be used.

Enjoy what you're doing. Surrender to your higher self and allow yourself to become a channel for it. I feel like when I'm sparring, when I'm doing all these things, it's not me out there. I'm just surrendered. I am an expression of the universe in that moment. And like a few years ago, I don't feel like I could have done a lot of the dance and flow moves that I do now.

And it all comes from a surrender. And not thinking I don't give a damn what anybody else is thinking about what I'm doing in that moment. I am just doing it because I love to do it. It feels good. And that's what you got to focus on. Just enjoy it. Fill yourself with that joy. And when you find that joy, go deeper into it.

Keep going. Find that flow state again. Get used to getting into that state and it'll become easier the next time you do it. If you get used to defeating yourself up here and every time you get something wrong, you're like, Oh, I suck. I can't do this. Well, guess what? You're probably going to suck and you're probably not going to be able to do it because you just told yourself that if you say it's okay that I failed.

And let's say you, you hit a plateau, you've been training, you haven't felt like you've been getting better. Well, do get into that flow state and let yourself try something new. When I'm in the flow state, I've done some stuff with fire spinning. Like I can't even remember what I did. I remember the feeling.

I kind of remember what it looked like, but I couldn't replicate it for you. If I even tried, because it was just such a raw expression and it was beautiful. And like, I wouldn't have attained that if had I been in my head thinking. So practice makes permanent. Keep pushing yourself. Be patient, be kind to yourself.

Sometimes it's okay to do it like halfway. Maybe you don't do the full, you know, hour training. Maybe you only do 30 minutes that day, but still do it. But give your, give the most you got that day. Give what you can and reinforce your brain and your body to surrender to you. Because we're not here. We're not this thing.

Don't get to the flow state, become the flow state. If you have any questions, you know, leave a comment, send us an email, make sure to check out our website, FeraAcademy.Com. And if you would like to learn more about our martial arts program, you can go to FeraAacademy.Com slash you. We also have our hoodies and our t shirts available for sale.

They are embroidered. And everything except for our ghee is fire safe. So you can use this stuff if you're flowing rep out fair academy. Yeah. All right, y'all. If you have any topics also that you would like us to talk about, leave a comment and make sure to subscribe and like, I'll see you all on the next episode of the unlimited you.