A 3-STEP GUIDE TO FLOW STATE ON DEMAND
In broad terms the brain can be divided into three separate parts—bottom, middle and top—with each part controlling/managing a different-and-specific set of functions and agendas. Which would be fine of course if all three parts were seamlessly integrated and optimized for consensus and harmony when it comes to meeting needs and making decisions. Which it turns out they are for most life-type things except, unfortunately for Subject Athletes, for shit like managing exposure, stress and comfort-with-discomfort in the pursuit of Endurance Excellence and Flow State.
While nobody really knows EXACTLY HOW to achieve Flow State in terms of like, step by step instructions, we can and do assume that Flow State is reached as a result of moving out of DOING and into BEING—the operative word here being “moving” because of course we need to literally and metaphorically MOVE (transition) OUT of our natural everyday super loud, super distracted state and into one that’s free of bullshit noise and distraction like conscious thought, self awareness, fear, hope, the past, the future, etc.
Okay so how do we force movement in times of extreme stress, anxiety and exposure? How do we keep our 3-part brains from FREAKING OUT so hard we get literally and metaphorically stuck thus preventing us from reaching Endurace Excellence and Flow State?
It’s actually not that hard. Just follow this 3-step process to placate and synchronize your 3-part brain thus unlocking movement.
Even though each step is simple in theory the mental fortitude and sustained focus required is actually kinda gnar which is why we turned each step into a mantra. Mantras help you breathe good while you work to incorporate thinking-thoughts into somatic intention.
But how do you absorb and integrate the mantras into your bod, on like, a cellular level?
We commissioned skateboard and heavy metal artist, Funeral French, to draw the mantras into existence because A) WE WANTED TO B) NOW, IF YOU FORGET WHAT YOU’RE DOING BUT LIKE YOU REALLY NEED THAT FLOW STATE STAT YOU CAN JUST LOOK IN THE MIRROR OR ASK A FRIEND TO READ THE BACK OF YOUR SHIRT C) LIZARDS ARE COOL D) SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME PICTURES AND VISUAL AIDS HAVE HELPED COMMUNICATE COMPLEX IDEAS LIKE HOW CAVE PAINTINGS ARE JUST REALLY JUST DECKS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT.
Obviously this is capitalism and capitalism sucks but it’s tough being a self-funded Metaphysical Fitness Guide so please just think of this as supporting me and the work I do on the way to buying a shirt.
Our heavyweight (6oz) t-shirts are expensive because they’re sourced in America, sewn in Los Angeles and silk-screened by hand in Portland, Oregon.
Also these shirts ARE EXTRA CRAZY because each one required 5 screens because they have so many vibrant, compelling colors because they’re about your brain and so we had to tap into the full color spectrum because we knew your brain would want that.
Even though these t-shirts are fashionable for Lifestyle because they artfully radiate state-of-the-art Endurance Culture ideas and concepts, they’re also good at sports.
In the 80’s and early 90’s Big Outdoor perpetrated an anti- cotton propaganda war against Cardogoths and Outdoor enthusiasts like yourself. They tried to brainwash us into wearing higher-margin plastic clothes that smell and feel bad by claiming that “cotton kills.”
Maybe on Everest “cotton kills” but down here at everyday elevations it’s more like COTTON KILLS IT @ keeping you cool when it’s hot and humid and disgusting out, superb hand feel and comfort, durability and longevity, emotional resonance, being a towel, and as a medium for art and culture.
STEP ONE: Quiet The Lizard
The Lizard Brain (the oldest part of our 3-part brain) is in charge of survival instincts and basic primal instinctual shit like fucking and breathing and meeting our needs. It’s called Lizard Brain because dinosaurs invented this part (the brain stem, cerebellum and basal ganglia) and they were big lizards who were super good at survival except for, obviously, in the face of asteroids which tbh doesn’t feel fair to shade them for sleeping on the prospect of intergalactic impact damage on that scale and subsequent nuclear winters. Anyway, survival instincts are great and have a ton of utility but if you’re just LARPing survival in a packraft with an ATB mounted to the bow on a class IV rapid several hundreds miles from cell service FREEZING UP or panicing is not cute and like, actually, kinda counterintuitive to the whole survival thing.
So the next time you wanna drop in on something real big with commitment and no run-out and it’s exciting but you’re also spooked do this…
Part One: Breath—for the last 30 seconds you’ve been holding your breath or hyperventilating. STOP IT.
Part Two: Focus—game face, bro. See what’s immediately in front of you and nothing else. The rest is noise.
part Three: Act—duuuuuuuuuuuuuude DON’T THINK JUST MOVE GO SEND DROP NOW ACT ACT ACT STOP THIIIIINKING!
STEP TWO: Cuddle The Mammal
The mammal brain aka the Limbic System is the second oldest (middle) part of our 3-part brain and controls emotions and feelings which are great when navigating interpersonal relationships and when you need to show up as an empathic caring complete person but not so great when you need to cross a raging chest deep river at night with no lights and your mammal brain is all dude WHAT A BUMMER THIS WHOLE EVENT IS JUST ONE SKETCHY THREAT AFTER ANOTHER which starts to kill your vibe and cockblock your PMA. It’s in those critical moments that you need to reframe the situation for your mammal brain. You need to say bro, it’s not a threat, it’s a challenge and challenges are fun.
STEP THREE: Turn Off Your Brain
The brain brain aka the Cerebrum is all HIGHER thought. If the Lizard Brain is instinct and intuition and the Mammal Brain is feeling and perceiving, the brain brain is THINKING AND STRESSING AND REASONING which are great when strategy, deductive reasoning and rational thought are helpful like maybe when you’re planning your trip but not when you’re on it and in situation calling for you to start downclimbing now or never into the canyon below even if it’s so steep you cant see where you’re putting your feet which means yeah, if you allow yourself to think about it logically, the chances of stepping onto a rattlesnake basking in the late afternoon sun on a ledge several hundred miles from a road is pretty high. Which is exactly why we don’t, in those moments, have time for the BRAIN BRAIN to run feasibility studies. At a certain point thinking is just a bummer. In those moments, we need to TURN OFF THE BRAIN.
