Written by: Dora Kurimay, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
When I first picked up my table tennis paddle at the age of eight at the only female table tennis club, Statisztika Petofi Sports Club in Budapest, in Hungary I never imagined the places I would go playing table tennis as a table tennis professional. From traveling around the world playing juniors, to meeting other amazing athletes – table tennis opened many doors for me to make friends, experience other cultures, and ultimately find a passion for sports psychology. By the age of 14, I was encouraged to seek help from a sports psychologist. Other elite athletes on all Hungarian sports national teams regularly met with sports psychologists, so it was a normal expectation. At first, I was highly skeptical. I thought I could handle the pressure myself… I had trouble handling my performance in important situations. For instance, I missed my serves in crucial moments, and my muscles continued to get tight. In other words, I choked, and I lost against people to whom I shouldn’t have lost.
During this critical time, I started working on my mental game. It helped me become a better player and eventually allowed me to be one of the top table tennis players in Europe under the age of 18. The amazing results not only delighted me but also intrigued me about the field of sports psychology. The psychologist taught me how to use visualization when I was injured, how to prepare for tournaments, and how to pull myself back together after setbacks. I also learned new breathing techniques to keep me calm and focused. However, one of the most critical ideas that changed my game and truly the trajectory of my life was a book titled, Flow in Sports by a world-famous Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Some of you might be more familiar with this idea as “being in the zone.”
The concept of “flow” is the mental state 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. Even as a teenager, I recognized that I had been having “flow” state experiences during sports activities and throughout my table tennis career!
Once I read about the “flow”, I became even more aware of its influence on my life. As I began to understand the concept, I became more skilled at sustaining this state over longer periods during my training and tournaments. I love playing table tennis because when I achieve a state of “flow”, I forget about everything, and I enjoy being in the moment when everything seems effortless. My muscles feel loose, and I feel that I am capable of doing almost anything. Everything is automatic, and my decisions are intuitive during the game.
I was always curious about the difference between mindfulness and “flow”. Sometimes people use the same terms interchangeably, but they are different states.
Mindfulness and “flow” both live “in the here and the now” and involve engaging the present moment with willingness. While “flow” happens during pleasant experiences, mindfulness can happen all the time. They both contribute to well-being and happiness. “Flow” is a psychological state that might be viewed as desirable, and it occurs when a person is aware of his or her actions but out being conscious of them. For example, when you are in the “flow” you don’t know how you are capable of doing excellent strokes such as a perfect forehand loop or a quick counterattack when you play table tennis or tennis, or exceptional dance and surf movements. Mindfulness is viewed as the achievement of any particular state, but it is a conscious effort to reach that state. For example, you are aware of how you feel and what you are thinking when you are playing or doing any activity. You are aware of what you are doing, for example, you do not lose track of time like in the state of “flow”.
Mindfulness, the awareness that arises from paying attention to the present moment without resistance, is a fertile environment for “flow” to appear. However, being mindful does not guarantee a “flow” state but rather creates the optimal conditions for “flow” to happen.
Meditation and yoga are mindful practices where the task is ‘paying attention to the body, mind, and breath’ from a state of movement and “flow” and these techniques are very helpful for you to reduce stress, increase productivity, well-being and it creates the optimal condition for “flow” to happen. I’ve been applying these practices and they’ve been helping me to stay calm, increase my productivity, well-being, and the ability to perform under pressure situations.
When you get in the “flow”, peak performance happens. I've listed a couple of triggers that help you to get in the “flow” state:
1. Intrinsic Motivation (Self-Motivation): Money won’t do it. We need to be motivated through autonomy, purpose, and mastery; that is, we need to be in control of what we do and how we do it, we need to feel as though we are working toward something grand and meaningful, and we need to feel a sense of constant improvement and growth. Intrinsic motivation means you do something because it’s fun but challenging and there is fulfillment from the activity itself.
2. Clear Goals: If you need to think about where to go after each step, you’re not immersed in the activity. You should also aim to set small goals; big goals are great but too distant. We need smaller goals that give us an immediate direction. I recommend you break things down into steps — small enough to achieve them in one go but large enough to allow for an extended flow period.
3. Immediate Feedback: Quick little tests are a great way to achieve this when learning, simply trying to recall the material or solve a set of problems will usually provide immediate feedback — better yet, the regular retrieval of knowledge helps strengthen your memory.
4. Skill/Challenge Ratio: If the task is too easy, we’re more likely to get bored or start daydreaming. If the task is too challenging, then the result is anxiety and frustration. The best is when you feel challenged, but you believe that your skills would allow you to meet the challenge.
5. High Consequences: In the case of learning it’s also important not to be afraid of failure. If you make a mistake just move on and learn from it.
6. Deep Embodiment: We should aim to use more than our eyes or ears to learn something new. We can become far more engaged with what we’re doing when it involves more of our senses, especially using touch during sports activities.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Let me know if you have any questions, comments or if want to set up a performance coaching session or consultation with me.
Dora Kurimay, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Dora Kurimay is an author, coach, and mental performance coach. She has been interested in psychology since a young age. Since her dad is a psychiatrist, she heard about the theories of Freud, Jung, Fromm by the time she was in high school. As an introvert, observing people and wanting to analyze and understand their behavior came naturally to her. When she played for the Hungarian Table Tennis National team, she came to realize the importance of the mental game and she also had a chance to work with a sports psychologist. In the process of working with a sports psychologist, she learned about the concept of “flow”, developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi about how she can perform her best effortlessly, which turned out to be transformative for her as a player. Along with the technique of visualization, these two things helped me to become one of the top players in Europe under age 18. Having experienced sports psychology’s ability to personal empowerment and professional success firsthand, she knew that after her sports career, she would transition into the field of psychology and sports psychology. Which she did.
She is the founder of Dora Kurimay Inc. She works with athletes, professionals, teams, and anyone who seeks fulfillment and well-being in their mind, body, and spirit. Dora's effective training programs are designed to reduce stress, successfully manage internal and life balance, and maximize performance.
