Try looking at something on the other side of the room over your training partner's shoulder. This way, you're still observing and absorbing information with your peripheral vision, but your conscious mind is less likely to interfere with the experience through your central vision. A student today who was having trouble getting out of his own head during flow got great results from this, to the point where he told me that every time he allowed himself to look directly at me during flow (as opposed to past me or to my side), his body froze as his conscious mind started to take over, like that overeager child who wants to speak up and take over even though he doesn't know what he's doing (that's one of John's analogies).
TODAY'S TIP: If you're having trouble getting your conscious mind out of the way during contact flow, note where your eyes are looking. Your central focal vision (using the "cones" in the retina) tends to draw the attention of your conscious, thinking mind, while your peripheral vision (using the "rods") does not. Your peripheral vision, tuned more to subconsciously detect movement than to consciously analyze and identify stuff, is less likely to draw your conscious attention to what it sees. Therefore, it's easier to stay in the flow without conscious interference if you do not look directly at what's going on.
Try looking at something on the other side of the room over your training partner's shoulder. This way, you're still observing and absorbing information with your peripheral vision, but your conscious mind is less likely to interfere with the experience through your central vision. A student today who was having trouble getting out of his own head during flow got great results from this, to the point where he told me that every time he allowed himself to look directly at me during flow (as opposed to past me or to my side), his body froze as his conscious mind started to take over, like that overeager child who wants to speak up and take over even though he doesn't know what he's doing (that's one of John's analogies).
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July 2023
Ari Kandel
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