<p>I personaly also play piano and see myself into that flow easly,</p>

<p>Check out what I just found</p>

<p>From: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_(psychology)</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an
  activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full
  involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence,
  flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does</p>
  
  <p>(...)</p>
  
  <h1>Components of flow</h1>
  
  <p>Nakamura and Csíkszentmihályi identify the following six factors as
  encompassing an experience of flow.</p>
  
  <ol>
  <li><p>intense and focused concentration on the present moment merging of action and awareness</p></li>
  <li><p>a loss of reflective self-consciousness</p></li>
  <li><p>a sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity</p></li>
  <li><p>a distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered</p></li>
  <li><p>experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience</p></li>
  </ol>
  
  <p>(...)</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Check this out:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p><strong>Roy Palmer suggests that "being in the zone" may also influence movement patterns</strong> as better integration of the conscious and subconscious reflex functions improves coordination.</p>
  
  <p>(...)</p>
  
  <h1>Music</h1>
  
  <p>Musicians, especially improvisational soloists may experience a
  similar state of mind while playing their instrument. Research has
  shown that performers in a flow state have a heightened quality of
  performance as opposed to when they are not in a flow state. <strong>In a
  study performed with professional classical pianists who played piano
  pieces several times to induce a flow state, a significant
  relationship was found between the flow state of the pianist and the
  pianist’s heart rate, blood pressure, and major facial muscles. As the
  pianist entered the flow state, heart rate and blood pressure
  decreased and the major facial muscles relaxed. This study further
  emphasized that flow is a state of effortless attention. In spite of
  the effortless attention and overall relaxation of the body, the
  performance of the pianist during the flow state improved.</strong></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-09T15:42:24.790Z
I'm accepting this answer because it fully answers the question above.  I had intended to ask for neural mechanisms that would allow for such a thing to occur, but I have pulled that into a new question: http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/4108/neural-processes-of-inducing-flow
BenCole
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-09T14:40:27.413Z
2013-08-09T14:45:38.453Z
2013-08-09T14:45:38.453Z
Enoque Duarte
<p>I've found that my typing performance (speed, accuracy, flow) are noticeably improved if I am swaying slightly, mostly side to side, in a non-regular manner.  I would estimate that the overall movement side to side is less than an inch.</p>

<p>This occurs for all typing tasks, and surprisingly also affects my piano-playing performance.  It is not necessary to be listening to music (though it can help), and only sometimes does the movement correspond to the actual typing itself.  I also find that if mistakes are made, this movement is disrupted, and that consciously re-starting the movement helps restore the induced state.</p>

<p><strong>What could account for this effect?</strong></p>

<p>I would personally suspect that it's acts to induce a sort of 'flow' state, but I'd like to know if this has been studied or even noticed elsewhere...  </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-08T19:18:22.533Z
I think it's fine, it's not really self-help as much as a phenomenon that you first noticed in yourself.
Chuck Sherrington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-08T19:20:59.683Z
(see if those tags are okay, if not feel free to modify)
Chuck Sherrington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-08T19:21:43.147Z
@ChuckSherrington - thanks, that's a good way to put it. And thanks for improving the tags!  I strongly suspect that I'm artificially inducing flow in myself, but I'm more curious how/why this occurs.
BenCole
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-08T19:23:34.523Z
It's not something you'd likely go see a clinician for (well, it'd be a unique appointment if you did)
Chuck Sherrington
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-08-09T14:24:45.270Z
nice question, myself i also play piano, and I do the exact same thing when I'm into the music, It realy tunes you with the music and it's like your floating along with the music wave flow, like floating with a boat in sea waves :D
Enoque Duarte
<motor><neurology>
Improved Typing as a result of slight movement
BenCole
# Improved Typing as a result of slight movement

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-08-08)

I've found that my typing performance (speed, accuracy, flow) are noticeably improved if I am swaying slightly, mostly side to side, in a non-regular manner. I would estimate that the overall movement side to side is less than an inch.

This occurs for all typing tasks, and surprisingly also affects my piano-playing performance. It is not necessary to be listening to music (though it can help), and only sometimes does the movement correspond to the actual typing itself. I also find that if mistakes are made, this movement is disrupted, and that consciously re-starting the movement helps restore the induced state.

**What could account for this effect?**

I would personally suspect that it's acts to induce a sort of 'flow' state, but I'd like to know if this has been studied or even noticed elsewhere...

**Tags:** motor, neurology

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I think it's fine, it's not really self-help as much as a phenomenon that you first noticed in yourself.  
> **username_1**: (see if those tags are okay, if not feel free to modify)  
> **username_0**: @ChuckSherrington - thanks, that's a good way to put it. And thanks for improving the tags!  I strongly suspect that I'm artificially inducing flow in myself, but I'm more curious how/why this occurs.  
> **username_1**: It's not something you'd likely go see a clinician for (well, it'd be a unique appointment if you did)  
> **username_2**: nice question, myself i also play piano, and I do the exact same thing when I'm into the music, It realy tunes you with the music and it's like your floating along with the music wave flow, like floating with a boat in sea waves :D  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2013-08-09. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

I personaly also play piano and see myself into that flow easly,

Check out what I just found

From: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow\_(psychology)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29)

> Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an
> activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full
> involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence,
> flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does
>
> (...)
>
> # Components of flow
>
> Nakamura and Csíkszentmihályi identify the following six factors as
> encompassing an experience of flow.
>
> 1. intense and focused concentration on the present moment merging of action and awareness
> 2. a loss of reflective self-consciousness
> 3. a sense of personal control or agency over the situation or activity
> 4. a distortion of temporal experience, one's subjective experience of time is altered
> 5. experience of the activity as intrinsically rewarding, also referred to as autotelic experience
>
> (...)

Check this out:

> **Roy Palmer suggests that "being in the zone" may also influence movement patterns** as better integration of the conscious and subconscious reflex functions improves coordination.
>
> (...)
>
> # Music
>
> Musicians, especially improvisational soloists may experience a
> similar state of mind while playing their instrument. Research has
> shown that performers in a flow state have a heightened quality of
> performance as opposed to when they are not in a flow state. **In a
> study performed with professional classical pianists who played piano
> pieces several times to induce a flow state, a significant
> relationship was found between the flow state of the pianist and the
> pianist’s heart rate, blood pressure, and major facial muscles. As the
> pianist entered the flow state, heart rate and blood pressure
> decreased and the major facial muscles relaxed. This study further
> emphasized that flow is a state of effortless attention. In spite of
> the effortless attention and overall relaxation of the body, the
> performance of the pianist during the flow state improved.**

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I'm accepting this answer because it fully answers the question above.  I had intended to ask for neural mechanisms that would allow for such a thing to occur, but I have pulled that into a new question: http://cogsci.stackexchange.com/questions/4108/neural-processes-of-inducing-flow  

---

