Flow isn’t magic

Physiology, intention, perception and body self-organization as drivers of good times on stage.

Why does this matter?

Because Flow transforms the path into a goal and allows simultaneity of events in our body to enhance precision and expression.

Singers and instrumentalists know the paradox: achieving precision and, at the same time, letting go of control so that the sound becomes alive. Between stage fright, body work and the desire for freedom, flow is often presented as the “ideal state” in which everything fits together.

We often think of flow as unpredictable: it appears if we are lucky and vanishes when we need it most. Technique, on the other hand, is perceived as something concrete and deliberate.

But the reality is more integrated than this dichotomy.

Flow is not a magic moment; it is a way of organizing the brain, the body. It requires coherence between the task, the tools that allow self-organization of the body and the emotion.

Pursuing flow in practice pushes us precisely in that direction:
toward working with the body rather than against it, orienting our attention to what actually matters, and integrating bodily and emotional experience in relation to the sound and the music.

Understanding what flow is – and what it is not – transforms the way we understand technique, expression and stage presence. It frees us from the idea that you have to “feel something special” to sing well and opens the way to a performance where musical precision and fluidity coexist with ease.

What is flow?

According to Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, flow is a state in which we are completely immersed in an activity:

high focus on one activity,
deep connection with what we do,
absence of self-evaluation,
feeling that everything “flows”.

Sometimes the perception of time changes: it seems to speed up or disappear.

Flow requires two conditions:

A task that challenges us without overwhelming us.
Enough skill to be able to perform it.

Flow occurs in activities in which we use our capacities; not in passive or contemplative experiences such as watching a sunset or meditating.

In this article I use the word flow in a neurofunctional sense applied to the performing arts: an integrated performance mode where movement control decreases, somatosensory feedback becomes more reliable, auditory feedback becomes more meaningful, and movement patterns self-organize based on already acquired skills.

This approach relates also to research in motor learning and elite performance, which describes states of optimal coordination under conditions of clarity, safety, and intention.

With this understanding, practice, rehearsal and performance are revealed as stages of the same neurobiological process.

The contrast that every musician knows

There are moments when everything is connected and flows, and others when making music seems like a fragmented succession of actions. Both states arise from the same organism: body, brain and nervous system.

The difference is not in luck or talent, but in the mental, emotional, somatosensory and bodily tools we use.

Flow does not want to be controlled.
wants to be invited.

From:

somatosensory sensitivity
body balance and movement
the connection to sound
interaction with other musicians
the emotion
acoustic clarity

Flow is not to distract us from the technique.

It is to integrate a large number of actions into a coherent gesture.

It is not a fragile state reserved for the “good morning”. It is an accessible state when somatosensory tools acquired in practice are available.

Fluency is brain work: an efficient mode of organization that arises when intention, sensory feedback and a sense of safety align.

What really happens in an ideal performance?

Somatosensory feedback becomes clearer and less noisy (confusing, contradictory, excessive or inaccurate sensory information such as protective tension, perception-altering anxiety or overexertion).
Attention is directed outward – toward the musical and acoustic target.
With this external focus, the action begins to organize itself.

Motor learning research shows that an external focus-directing attention to the effect of sound or resonance in space-generates more efficient movements than an internal focus on mechanics.

When the singer orients toward an acoustic target, the mind-body system receives the clarity needed to self-organize. It is not “letting go” in a vague sense, but offering meaningful direction for coordination to emerge.

External focus reduces the overactivation associated with self-monitoring and frees resources for the audio-motor networks that coordinate movement, breathing, articulation, phonation and resonance.

Therefore, it promotes efficiency, reduces unnecessary stress and allows the body-brain system to organize itself around the expressive objective.

Flow is not a magical moment reserved for exceptional days.

At best, we have tools to achieve moments of musical fluidity and bodily self-organization.

Two modes of learning and performance

1. Study mode (deliberate)

we fine-tune our movements
we reflect on music, text and emotion
we coordinate breathing, resonance and articulation
we make decisions
we solve problems

This slow mode of thinking, according to Kahneman, builds maps and expands possibilities into complete landscapes of skills.

2. Performance mode (integrated)

the body operates in a more “automatic” way
the mind analyzes less and perceives more
sensorimotor coordination dominates
the body accesses accumulated experiences

This generates the experience of fluidity.

What does this imply for the study?

If performance depends on self-organization, practice must prepare that state.

The practice room is not just conscious effort: it is the place where we train the states we want to make available on stage.

And flow can also appear there.

According to Csikszentmihalyi, it arises when it exists:

clear objective
balance between challenge and skill
reliable feedback
sufficient physiological sense of security – the opposite of feeling threatened, by a certain bar for example.

The more often the nervous system goes through states of clarity, security and acoustic intention in the studio, the more easily it accesses them in situations where we are under pressure.

External or internal focus?

External focus – for example, attention on your sound – is a powerful tool, but not always the starting point.

Before a concert we reconnect with the inner experience, we adjust to the state of now: instrument, resonance, bodily sensation. The focus can shift outward as we “warm up”.

In the studio, an excessive use of the external focus can become a way of avoiding one’s own sound or body experience.

The external focus on stage can be:

connect with the sound in the room and
allow vibrato to “travel” through the phrase
modeling a vowel to an acoustic color
scanning space with your eyes

These objectives provide the system with significant information to reorganize itself.

Do we need flow to sing well?

Not at every moment. Flow states can come and go.

The internal experience of the singer does not determine his or her impact on the audience.

I’ve sung shows where I’ve found myself thinking that I didn’t have time to make the tomato sauce I wanted to leave ready to eat when I got home from the theater – and yet the show went well.

It is the restless and protective nature of the brain.

Musicians can have internal battles and still deliver solid performances.

Flow is not a magic switch. It is not stable.

And it is important to de-romanticize it.

But we cannot ignore that:

Flow is a neurophysiological state of greater integration.

The body’s capacity for self-organization facilitates its access.
Improves fine coordination of movement, phonation and resonance.
Stabilizes and reduces the feeling of vulnerability.
Organizes the internal experience.

The ability to access this mode is essential for a sensitive and sustainable coordination of the fine musculature that we coordinate to make music.

The stage is the place where we integrate what we have learned and experienced. The state of flow allows clarity, ease and expression to appear as a single organism.

When the intention is clear, we do not feel threatened and we have the possibility of variability, the body tends to find efficient solutions “on its own”.

It is not passivity: it is guided responsiveness.

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