ContactJuggling.org

I feel like there is a lot of discussion on this site about the tech side of things, and that we don't very often explore the flow side of contact juggling. So I wanted to start a place where people could come and share what there experiences with flow have been. I would love to hear stories for about what it is like for different individuals to experience flow weather it is the first time, your rediscovering it, or you practice it as a way of life.

I'll start with a story from last night. I was at the end of about a 3 hour practice session and I had not played with an acrylic the whole night, and so I broke it out to do some isolations as a warm down. Next thing I knew it was 10 minutes later and I was doing full body rolls and almost dancing around the room with. It was as if I had lost track of everything else except the ball. We, the ball and I, we connect not just in the way we connect with anything we come in contact with but deeper than that. It was like the ball could tell me where it was going to go and at the same time it could help stay in contact with my body. No matter where I moved the ball would respond and like a good dance partner counter my motion and create poetry through movement.

Granted this is not the first time I have felt this, but it was more pronounced and vivid a feeling than it has been a long time. I wanted to share this in hopes that I could hear other people stories of flow so I could have something to compare to my experiences and to try to incorporate into my practices.

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I am a mother pheasant plucker.
I pluck mother pheasants.
I am the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker, to ever pluck a mother pheasant.

dsakfuasilfjdsailcmewqioreqwfduio FLOW IS A FUNCTION OF TECHNIQUE.

You know I love ya mang but I'm so sick of that false dichotomy. That said, big ups... even those of us who do it every day don't "hit it" every day.

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http://www.gravitydefiance.net

Good thread.

My most profound moment would have to be the first time I felt it. I was living in Mendo County at the time and I must have been contact juggling for about a year and a half. It seemed to be an all around perfect day. Friends were over partying, the sun was out, plants were green, mountains were vivid...everything was tip top. At one particular prestine moment, I decided my roof would be a wonderful place to contact juggle; and man was I right. In every direction I turned, everything seemed to be alive. So after breathing in the moment, I decided just to have fun- No practicing, just fun.
For first time, contact juggling seemed to make sense. All of my moves and motions were fitting together in a crazy dance--like knowing exactly where all of the puzzle pieces went. That feeling lasted for about an hour or so and solidified my decision to keep contact juggling in my life as much as possible.

What was interesting is though this was the first time I felt this sort of flow with body movement and contact juggling, I recognized the feeling completely. I used to feel this way every so often when my life was dedicated towards guitar training; Though those moments were never as intense.

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I am not trying to say that they are separate, or should be thought of as such. I know that the more tech I have the better my flow feels, I just wanted to hear more about flow.

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I am a mother pheasant plucker.
I pluck mother pheasants.
I am the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker, to ever pluck a mother pheasant.

My experience has found flow to be when I've found the difficulty of what I'm trying to do is just matched by how practiced I am. Very much like finding my groove. I'm working on trying to keep the ball in control as I move and juggle, and I'm able to push myself just shy of actually losing control, while making the ball do everything I want it to.

It's like those fleeting, profound moments when you look at something that's been puzzling you, and you see how it all fits, just for a second. Flow is when you have the ability to look constantly at the challenge at hand, and see where the pieces fit together, and the possibilities that come when each move rolls into the next. As your physical ability grows, more and more of your repertoire begins to become included in possible solutions to that puzzle, and it becomes easier to remain in flow for longer periods of time.

I get similar flow when I'm running or cycling, when I'm able to balance my effort with how hard my body can actually go. Pushing harder will start to exhaust me, and going easier will just become monotonous. Both will need to be done in order to increase my ability, but flow is the constantly changing culmination of them both, when I can just go forever, and I'm filled with the drive to push onward.

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I've always noticed that my flow is even better outside then when I'm inside. It just feels natural and everything just fits.

I find that my learning progression goes a lot faster if I can get into the flow with every practice session, and that certain music or meditation techniques can help. Some nights I end up getting lost in the notes of a certain song and end up playing it repeatedly in order to remain in flow. This can make for a lot of amusing moments, as I end up accomplishing moves that I really don't think I should be able to do yet, and promptly drop the ball with the thought of, "Whoa, holy crap...did that really just happen?!"

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Help! The law of gravity has been repealed!
What doesn't kill you makes you harder to insure.

@Garneta - that is flow in its finest, when you do things you never even thought possible like you had done it 1000 times before. Then you wont be able to do it again that smoothly until you do the trick 1000 more times. Then it will fit into every flow and when you find that space where you have come full circle it will happen to you again with something new! That is how I keep being able to want to practice more because the beginning is so fun and exciting to do something new, and the end is so rewarding to be able to see how far you have come.

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I am a mother pheasant plucker.
I pluck mother pheasants.
I am the most pleasant mother pheasant plucker, to ever pluck a mother pheasant.

Flow and alternate states of consciousness also seem to mesh together.

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www.dawndreams.ca
www.thebuskingproject.com
https://twitter.com/#!/dawn_dreams

So true...I've been doing this for a year and a half and am still having issues with a few moves that I've done perfectly only weeks after beginning, and on the other hand I've done things that I wouldn'tve thought possible for probably a couple more years at least.



I'd refrained from adding that in my post, but was thinking it.

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Help! The law of gravity has been repealed!
What doesn't kill you makes you harder to insure.

Flow IS an altered state of consciousness.

Flow is such a powerful state for me, even just a few seconds of it will make my day.

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It's not true contact unless you're naked.

I like your sig eca. Hilarious.

Flow is an alternate state of consciousness for sure. It just had to be said.

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www.dawndreams.ca
www.thebuskingproject.com
https://twitter.com/#!/dawn_dreams

I know this might seem silly and simplistic but my first experience with what you call flow actually happened a few days ago, just after the end of my second week of practice. I'm finally starting to get the feel for the simple index and pinky rolls so, while outside, I attempted to move each hand a bit while switching back and forth between the two. I have seen several tutorials showing how to combine the index and pinky rolls into one and two handed figure eights but didn't think I had enough muscle memory to attempt them yet. What happened next only served to deepen and solidify my love for this art form.

It was a warm sunny evening so I decided to practice a bit in a field within my apartment community. The sun sets perfectly against an evergreen and birch speckled treeline and the glare it creates amongst the field plays perfectly with my acrylic. I found an area I was comfortable with and began warming up. I was able to roll the ball from the palm of my hand to the back handed cradle position, like so many times before, however this time the ball continued to roll a little farther than expected. At this point I figured, what the hell, and attempted to scoop my hand back under the ball ( pinky roll ) and complete a little figure eight. To my surprise, not only was I able to pull if off, but the direction and weight of the ball after the roll gave way to me passing it into my other hand. I stood there passing the ball back and forth, over and under my hand for what seemed like an eternity. In reality I was only able to pull that off about three or four more times before I finally dropped it into the grass but during those few seconds of "Flow" I simply lost myself within the ball. The way it felt against my skin, the way it rolled across my hands, the way the sun refracted within the sphere, it was simply a breathtaking experience. I'm not quite sure if this is the what you mean when you mention flow, but this was definitely something that held importance to me.

I seem to hit flow more in poi than CJ but both techniques are awesome when you're in the zone x.x

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So many balls to play with...so little time...

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I know this is from aaaaaaaages ago but for me externally induced alternate stated of consciousness induce an illusion of flow. Well, except for the alternate state of consciousness produced by music that is!

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"There's no point in being grown up if you can't be childish sometimes."

Hello to Jason Isaacs