As a professional ballet dancer, Julia Christensen knew the flow state well: a total absorption in her body’s movements, without the constant chatter that typically accompanies our waking lives. The hours could fly by without her even registering the time that had passed.
A back injury put an end to her career, and alongside the other life changes this brought on, she missed the mental calm that had accompanied her practice and performances. “I became aware that I couldn’t control my thoughts,” she said. “And I’d never had to deal with that before.”
Christensen is now a senior scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Empirical Aesthetics in Frankfurt, Germany, and her latest book, The Pathway to Flow, charts her attempts to