The Garden of Flow

There is a state we are all meant to live in—a state of effortless movement, alignment, and ease. It is what athletes call being “in the zone,” what artists experience as creative immersion, and what monks have described for centuries as presence. The modern term for it is flow.

Yet, for many of us, flow is elusive. It seems to come in fleeting moments—when we are deeply engaged in something we love, when time seems to disappear, when action and awareness merge into one seamless experience.

So why don’t we live in flow all the time? If nature itself is a continuous, harmonious dance of change and adaptation, why do we struggle to find our place in it?

The answer lies in what disrupts flow.

What Blocks Us from Flow?

Flow is our natural state. It is the default setting of our body and mind before interference.

But there are two primary forces that pull us out of flow:

• Reactivity – The mammal mind’s emotional contractions.
• Distraction – The monkey mind’s incessant thinking.

Each of these creates friction against the effortless movement of life. They act as dam walls in the river of existence, redirecting energy in inefficient ways, causing turbulence where there should be smoothness.

Today, let’s focus on reactivity—the first major obstacle to flow.

Reactivity: The Original Disruption

In many ways, reactivity is the original sin—the moment we first resisted the natural flow of things. If we take a metaphorical look at the Garden of Eden story, it serves as a useful model for understanding how we lost touch with flow.

The story tells of an existence in harmony, where all needs were met, where life simply was. But then came the knowledge of good and evil—or, in our language, like and dislike, craving and aversion, wanting and rejecting.

The moment we started labeling experience as “this is good” and “this is bad”, we created the possibility of dissatisfaction—the feeling that things could be wrong.

This is the moment reactivity was born.

Before that, life was just life. Now, life could be liked or disliked. And the moment that happened, we stopped flowing with the river of existence and started trying to control it.

How Reactivity Blocks Flow

Reactivity takes us out of the present moment. Instead of simply experiencing what is, we resist it, judge it, or attempt to manipulate it.

• We don’t simply feel heat; we think, “It’s too hot, I hate this.”
• We don’t just hear criticism; we react, “They’re wrong, I need to defend myself.”
• We don’t just experience uncertainty; we panic, “What if things go badly?”

In every case, flow stops.

We become like someone fighting against the current of a river—exhausting ourselves in resistance rather than allowing the water to carry us.

The Body as a Gateway Back to Flow

Here’s where our awareness of body sensations becomes the key to breaking free from reactivity.

The body does not resist flow. The body is flow.

• The heart beats, lungs expand and contract, cells regenerate—without hesitation, without resistance.
• The skin cools itself when hot, muscles relax when needed, digestion occurs—all without a single thought or preference.

When we bring awareness to our body sensations, we are directly observing flow. The sensations come and go in perfect harmony with the moment, shifting and changing without attachment.

This is why observing our sensations without reaction is so powerful:

• We see that everything is in motion—even discomfort.
• We recognize that change is happening on its own.
• We no longer feel the need to force anything.

When we stay with our sensations, we begin to experience the truth:

Flow is already happening. We just have to stop interrupting it.

Relearning Flow Through Awareness

By practicing awareness of sensations, we are retraining ourselves to:

• Let go of resistance. (The river is already flowing.)
• Observe change rather than fear it. (Nothing is truly stuck.)
• Live in a body that is in harmony with life.

This isn’t about forcing flow—that would be missing the point. Instead, it’s about:

• Dropping into the awareness that flow is already there.
• Allowing sensations to rise and fall without reacting to them.
• Trusting the body’s intelligence to align with nature’s intelligence.

When we practice this, we don’t have to find flow—it finds us.

The Deeper You Go, the More Flow You Find

The deeper we go into our sensations, the more flow we uncover.

• At the gross level, we see body movements, breath, posture.
• At the finer level, we observe micro-sensations—heat, tingling, pulsing, movement.
• At the deepest level, we begin to feel the constant, natural vibration of all things.

And the more we observe, the less interference we create.

We start living in alignment with reality rather than fighting against it.

Final Thought: Entering the River

Imagine a river flowing steadily toward the ocean.

Most of us are clutching onto rocks along the riverbed, resisting movement, trying to control where the water takes us.

Flow is not about learning how to move forward. It’s about releasing our grip and trusting that the current knows where to go.

The body already flows. Sensations already flow. Life already flows.

Our job is simply to let go.