Finding flow: Cultivating flow states as a counterpoint to depressive rumination.

The defining feature of emotion regulation is the activation of a goal to influence the trajectory of emotion.Emotion regulation strategies often involve efforts to either decrease negative emotions or increase positive ones and are associated with a range of possible outcomes.Depressive rumination is an emotion regulation strategy involving repetitive negative thinking about oneself, feelings, and personal concerns and is a key risk factor for depression.Flow is a state in which an individual experiences intense, focused concentration on an intrinsically rewarding activity, accompanied by feelings of enjoyment.Perceived progress toward goals underpins both rumination and flow: perceived unsatisfactory goal progress causes state rumination, whereas goals that are well aligned to abilities provide the setting conditions for flow states.This narrative review conceptualizes the cultivation of flow experiences as an emotion regulation strategy that acts as a counterpoint to rumination with promise for the prevention and treatment of depression.We first define rumination and flow.We then review the theoretical and empirical literature examining the relationship between rumination and flow states.We present a novel model that characterizes the phenomenology of flow as a counterpoint to rumination, focusing on elucidating shared and antagonistic dimensions.Finally, we identify key attentional, affective, motivational, and behavioral mechanisms by which the cultivation of flow states might act as an emotion regulation strategy to reduce susceptibility to rumination and explore implications for the treatment of rumination. Public Health Significance StatementFlow describes the enjoyable experience of being fully absorbed in an activity that is at just the right level of difficulty for one's skills.The intentional practice of cultivating flow experiences increases positive emotion, decreases negative emotion, and there is promising evidence that it is uniquely beneficial for treating rumination and depression.We propose that flow acts as a counterpoint to rumination, we review evidence to support this and identify the processes by which the cultivation of flow might change emotional experience and reduce susceptibility to rumination.