Flow, The Optimal Experience

Francesco Siri

In this research I would like to investigate the psychological aspect related to the practice of a musical instrument, going deeper into the experience of the flow state that the musician can live intensely. It is a state of mind of complete absorption in what one is doing. The process started by reading and informing myself as much as possible through books, articles, and personal experience. Based on these I created a strategy of work and exercises that would help me to be more focused and inside the music both in my studies and especially in my performances. I prepared two questionnaires to be filled in after the performances: 1) Personal Questionnaire 2) Group of critical friends To check whether the strategy I had been using over the last few months was helping me to achieve my goal or not. From the results of the two questionnaires until now, I can deduce the most effective and useful aspects of the strategy I implemented. It is also interesting to see how the suggestions of critical friends are similar to the "criticism" I made myself in the personal questionnaire. Over the last few weeks while analysing my latest performances and the results of the questionnaires, I have realised an increase in pleasure in playing and concentration on the task to do, which was not always present before I started this work. I am quite convinced that whatever strategy you want to use, you need patience to see over time if it really works.

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II.3. Meditation

I would never have guessed it, but right from the start the meditation work gave me great benefits. Especially during daily study.
During the work of this year and a half, almost two, I didn't go into detail about this incredible world of meditation, but I was able to experiment with some strategies that were useful for my purpose.

I had the opportunity to take an online yoga course where at the end of each class we did 30 minutes of guided meditation with the teacher.
This really impressed me, especially the feelings I had during the first few times.
Talking to the teacher I asked him for advice on how to start practising meditation on my own. He gave me valuable insights from which I realised that the most effective way to train the ability to stay focused is, the moment you realise you are distracted or thinking about something else, to retrace your steps. Go back to your goal!

The little exercise I try to do (after the breathing exercises) before each study session is in these steps:

sit down (on the floor or in a chair)
set a timer between 10 and 15 minutes
take 10 breaths through the nose without controlling the breath
concentrate as much as possible on different parts of my body --> starting from the soles of my feet to the top of my head, focusing more on the parts where I feel the most tension

I am aware that I am only at the beginning of this journey, which I understand is long but truly fascinating!

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