In da Zone.

I always lock myself in my room with my computer and very rarely go to that big room called "Outside", you know, the one with a very bright yellow-white bulb and lotsa concrete structures. (Infact, I must be the only kid in my friend circle who had the honour of his parents asking hopelessly to "go roam the streets"). Though I've started to go to a local Gym for some time now, I usually release my pent up energy by jumping, walking, running in-place in front of the mirror, or, if I am extremely annoyed/exhilarated, punch the walls in my bedroom with my knuckles a couple-a times.

The other day, I had just finished creating a 3D scene which I thought will inevitably join the list of unfinished 3d scenes. So I was euphoric, especially because the render turned out not-so-ugly too. So I was punching the wall a few times listening to iTunes, while I remembered my new gloves distributed in the Gym to aid in lifting barbels. I donned one on my right hand and punched once with my usual reserved force. This was when I made my mistake of thinking that the padding might protect me no matter what the force is. So there was I, punching with all my might into the wall a few times.

But was there pain then? Nope. There was no pain at all. This encouraged me to sock it to the wall a few more times. It's needless to say, I still have terrible pain over my knuckes though it's been a few days now. I don't know if they have cracked or not, but the color of the skin there has changed a bit to the darker side.

But wait, Why didn't I feel anything? Why did the pain wait for sometime to be felt? What was going on in my mind?

Here's another such experience in my life. When I was in sixth or seventh (I really don't remember) standard, I had joined a local karate class. I was attending this class for a year, I guess, and obtained an Orange belt. Shortly before my Master decided to start a new class somewhere else, he made us participate in a karate tournament. It was an awesome experience, needless to say. But I was throughly distraught at the possiblity of facing a well placed round-house kick from some of the l33t black belts there. I remember that in the first round, I sparred with an equally matched opponent. But I bet him by some points. This boosted my confidence to high levels.

In the second round, I was again sparring with someone of equal stature to me. Punches were exchanged and kicks were dealt. I was concentrating so much on landing left punches (of which I was famous for in my karate class) on my opponent that I had barely noticed any other thing. I heard no sound. I saw no faces peering from all around us. I saw no referee(or whatever he is called) moving close by us.I had no realization of whether I am within the sparring ring line that I was not supposed to cross. There was no nagging thought about home, doubt of losing, how bright the light is, what people are thinking about me right now, does my stature make me look awkward or not, etc. I was doing the only thing that I was supposed to be doing: defeat the opponent.

Then came the whistle.

This shook me up. Suddenly, as though someone has turned the master volume of the world up, the loudspeaker from the results of the sparring ring next to me, the cries of encouragement and suggestions to land a round-house kick from the eager crowd, the call of the referee towards him, plastic bags and covers crinkling as their owners took out snacks from them and everything else could suddenly be heard. My eyes too seemed to have suddenly recognized the world as if for the first time since I got there. The referee had called us because one of us had stepped out of the ring (i don't remember which one of us, clearly).

But the damage has been done. I feared that state of nothingness and actually felt a bit stupid. This loosened me up considerably and I lost to my opponent.


What is this state of automatic response by the body and mind to the present situation? I didn't know it then, but this is when psychologists say that you are "In the Zone".

What is this 'zone' thing? (And where are you when you are not in the zone?)

It is the state where your are performing automatically, kinda pre-programmed. Mostly, soldiers and athletes NEED to be in the zone. To give you a glimpse of what athletes and sports people experience when they are at their peak, take the everyday activity of brushing your teeth. For almost as long as you can remember, you have been brushing your teeth in the morning (and night, if you are unlike me). Now, can you think of someday when you have been on your way to your work and suddenly wonder whether you had brushed your teeth or not? Then there you go, you've been in the zone, albeit a smaller one than what hte atheletes occupy.

So being in the zone means that your body and mind are performing at their peak. You may think that it's certainly a good thing, and you won't be wrong. But how to acheive this state of harmony? Certainly not in an easy way.

Since your mind and body are involved, getting in the zone needs you to train them together. For the body, as hinted in the above example involving brushing, practising to the point of automation is the only way in. For the mind, you need to practice zen meditation. Don't worry, zen meditation, according to my Max Excel guide atleast, "is the easiest to do, although none of us practice". Zen means to "live in the present". In other smaller key word terms; concentration, feeling challengd, confident, being positive and calm.

How you acheive all those at the same time, is through another keyword: dedication. I guess it will be clear now why athletes seem like a well oiled machine at their activities. Writing an exam, computer gameing, driving a car, eating food (i guess), etc are some of the automatically programmed sequence of movements that we access, much like calling a pre-made function that can be called by the program. This is definetly faster and efficient than when it has to figure out a new way of doing it.
Perhaps your life was littered with such events and was bewildered like I was. Now, I guess, you know what it means.

(originally posted: Aug09)