“The best moments of our lives do not occur when we are passive, receptive or relaxed… The best moments usually occur when our body and mind are pushed to the limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and rewarding. “- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi author of the book Flow, The Psychology of Optimal Experience.

A striking example alive in the memory of the generation that followed Ayrton Senna's career, is his testimony about his mental state during the Pole Position dispute for the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix, where he put a 1:47 second difference over Alain Prost, who had exactly the same car as him. In his own words Ayrton described: “I was already on pole, first for half a second, then for a second, and I kept going down. I was suddenly two seconds faster than everyone else, including my teammate in the same car. And suddenly I realized that I was no longer consciously driving the car. I was riding on a kind of instinct, like I was in a different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel, not just the hotel tunnel, but the whole circuit was a tunnel. I was going and going and getting more and more and faster. He was well over the limit, but still able to find much more. So I woke up ”.

Among the many obsessions I have had in my life, few compare with the passion for paragliding. To achieve a degree of proficiency in paragliding it takes years of practice, a lot of self-discipline and patience, as it is a sport of self-risk and any mistake can have very serious consequences. In addition, there are many variables that must be taken into account such as weather conditions, air traffic rules, terrain geography, thermodynamics, navigation and your own physical and mental state.

Since I first took my feet on the ground on my first solo flight in 2003 in Switzerland, for many years it has been the focus of studies, travel, practices and courses in order to perfect myself and improve techniques. And more than that, this obsession came in dreams during the day, where I imagined and imagined situations of extraordinary flights that served as inspiration and objective. This impetus led me to practice more and more, and so the experiences gained and incremental improvements fed back into this obsessive process.

In 2008, I had the opportunity to do a two-week free flight clinic in Governador Valadares, considered one of the Meccas of this sport in the world. Towards the end of the season, there was a day that marked me a lot. It was late afternoon, when I took off from Ibituruna peak without any intention of taking a flight away, but simply to enjoy it, after several days of intense and intense practice. At one point, I took a thermal (upward current of air) and started to circulate to take advantage of its energy to gain altitude. Then some vultures joined me and we started to share this same thermal. My focus started to feel the thermal using all my senses to correct my trajectory to follow the vultures. Suddenly, I realized that my mind and body acted in tune, where every movement in the paraglider commands became natural and instinctive. Literally the equipment became an extension of my body, just one thing, at that moment it was as if I had wings. I was so connected to that moment, that those few minutes took forever and finally I was able to perceive the landscape, breathe the air and enjoy what was around me. It was a feeling of pleasure and tranquility.

I had many other moments of Flow not only in free flight, but in other obsessions such as searching for proficiency in topics of my interest and at work executing challenging projects. My search continues and today I am behind other obsessions that involve technology, entrepreneurship, knowledge dissemination and the third sector.

Probably the biggest benefit we get from the state of Flow is an internal change in our psychological “I”. Many people live to achieve goals that are imposed by third parties (eg their parents, friends, society, etc.). Flow experiences make us to be someone who chooses their goals and practices activities simply to reward the pleasure of doing so. With focus and proficiency, we pay more attention to the world around us, appreciate its beauty and complexity and become more curious to learn more. We are not slaves to fame, fortune or power, because we do not need these things to make sense of our lives.

And you, what are you waiting for to seek a state of Flow?

Flow, you don't know what you're missing.