Lately, I’ve been reading an awesome book on happiness. It is written by a psychologist who has been studying happiness and recording his research for the past 40 years. The goal of his study was to discover, above all, what things and activities in people’s lives bring them a consistent and lasting sense of happiness.

He discovered many things contribute to our happiness, but above all, the component that created the greatest and most consistent and lasting happiness was, when people experience “flow” in their lives.  This happy mind state called “flow” is a feeling of complete engagement in creative and playful activities. During flow people will experience creativity, enjoyment and total involvement with life.

This sense of losing oneself in the moment or the activity they are performing, where no psychic energy is leftover to process outside information, is incredibly satisfying. Activities that challenge us also create a greater feeling of happiness than ones that do not. For example: watching tv, playing video games and ordering take-out food are found to be less satisfying than writing, reading and making a delicious home-cooked meal. Playing music is found to be more rewarding than listening to music. And playing sports has shown to be far more satisfying than watching them.

Flow can be found in any activity that challenges us to actively participate in the moment we are creating. Different activities will resonate more strongly with different people so it is up to you, to find what activities work best for you. Even everyday tasks and activities that some may find boring, mundane or monotonous, can be transformed into rewarding flow activities. We can challenge ourselves to find new and better ways to perform these repetitive tasks and discover the feeling of flow weaving its happiness into them.

The center of my practice is improving flow in each person I work with. Chinese Medicine, using Acupuncture and Herbs, restores flow to the mind, body and spirit. It improves the balance and harmony of your physical, physiological, mental and emotional processes of your being. By restoring flow within, you will notice a greater sense of flow and happiness in your life, and the world around you.