Peak Experience: A Definitive Guide with Insights from Maslow & Others

OVERVIEW: This in-depth guide outlines the anatomy of what psychologist Abraham Maslow called a peak experience. Then, we explore insights from the optimal performance field that we can apply for greater flow and more frequent peak experiences in our own lives.

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Do you know that indescribable euphoric feeling when you’re at your best?

The volume of the world turns down.

Internal resistance falls away, and with it, your sense of self.

Fully absorbed in the present task, you access more of your innate potential without effort.

The psychological literature calls it a peak experience.

Unfortunately, this experience tends to be the exception, not the rule.

In this guide, we will explore the science of flow and peak experience to discover ways to access this state with greater consistency.

Let’s dive in …

What is a Peak Experience?

Peak experience is a term humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow used to describe a higher state of consciousness when humans perform at their best.

A common term for a peak experience is flow or a flow state.

Maslow believed that when having a peak experience, we are closest to our authentic selves—our true identities.

The concept of flow and peak experiences is a kind of bridge between psychology and mysticism.

In his research, Maslow found that although anyone (including children) can have a peak experience, self-actualizing individuals have these heightened experiences more frequently.

That is, peak experiences are a sign of positive mental health and a part of our birthright.

The Anatomy of a Peak Experience

In Toward a Psychology of Being, Maslow highlights 16 qualities he observed in those who realize a peak experience:¹Abraham Maslow, Toward a Psychology of Being, 1999.

1. Integrated
2. Oneness
3. Powerful
4. Effortlessness
5. Self-determined
6. Free of inhibitions
7. Spontaneous
8. Creative
9. Uniqueness
10. Present
11. Merging of self and other
12. Nonstriving
13. Poetic expression
14. Completeness
15. Playfulness
16. Surprise

Maslow points out the interrelatedness and overlapping nature of these qualities of a peak experience.

So it’s not that these qualities are separate; they just represent various identifiable attributes of a peak experience.

But just listing out these attributes doesn’t help us too much, so let’s go deeper and explore each dimension in more detail.

1 – Integratedness

A person in a peak experience feels more unified and whole. That is, they feel less fragmented and dissociated. With less internal splits and tensions, they feel more autonomous and at peace within themselves.

Naturally, in this state, we feel more like our true selves. In Eastern traditions, this is often referred to as “Holding to the Center.”

2 – Oneness

Maslow writes,²Ibid, 117.

As he gets to be more purely and singly himself he is more able to fuse with the world, with what was formerly not-self.

In this state:

• The creator becomes one with his work being created.
• The appreciator of the music becomes the music.
• The astronomer merges with the stars “out there.”

So even though we feel more ourselves in a peak state, we simultaneously transcend ourselves—going beyond our selfhood to an egoless state.

3 – Powerful

In a peak experience, we often feel that we’re at the peak of our internal power. We can use our capacities at their best and fullest. This is a quintessential idea behind self-actualization: realizing our fullest potential.

It’s as if all of our highest capacities get activated during a peak experience. We become “fully functioning” with greater intelligence, perceptiveness, strength, and grace.

4 – Effortlessness

Another key characteristic of a flow state is effortlessness. When we’re in a peak experience, there’s no friction; only a naturalness and ease to whatever we are doing.

This quality relates to the Buddhist concept of the Middle Way, or what the Taoists call Wu Wui (nongoverning).

There are no doubts or hesitation—just “right action” emerging as a function of being natural.

Maslow notes that great athletes, artists, creators, and leaders exhibit this quality when they are functioning at their best.

5 – Self-Determined

Self-determination is an important quality of mature adulthood. Psychiatrist Carl Jung considered it an essential component of individuation.

From Maslow:³Ibid, 118.

The person in peak experiences feels himself, more than at other times, to be the responsible, active, creating center of his activities and of his perceptions. He feels more like a prime mover, more self-determined.

In this state, you feel fully responsible—the CEO of your own life (“CEOsage”). The locus of control is fully within yourself.

Now, you are the master of your fate. You are decisive, strong, confident, and single-minded, ready to overcome opposition.

6 – Free of Inhibitions

In a peak experience, individuals are not ruled by feelings of lack and deficiency. Mental blocks, fears, doubts, reservations, outside controls, the inner critic … they all simply fall away.

Basically, without internal splits and tensions—when we’re no longer at war within ourselves—all of these self-imposed limitations evaporate.

7 – Spontaneous

Maslow often described spontaneity as a key attribute of creativity and self-actualizing individuals.

Rigidness is a quality of neurosis (mental illness). Spontaneity and creativeness are qualities of positive mental health.

In a peak experience, we’re more spontaneous, expressive, natural, and free-flowing. When we’re free of inhibitions, spontaneity arises naturally.

8 – Creativeness

I’m sure you’re getting a clear sense of how these qualities are all overlapping and interrelated.

With greater spontaneity, we are naturally more creative. Studies on divergent thinking illustrate how young children (age 5) are virtually all geniuses (98%). Yet, after a decade of “education,” that number drops to 10 percent.

By adulthood, the number of individuals who score at the genius level is a paltry 2 percent.

The Taoists call this the result of “mundane conditioning.” It’s the conditioning of the external world that inhibits our natural potential (and makes us mentally ill). But in a peak experience, innate qualities like creativeness shine through.

9 – Uniqueness

Maslow used the terms “acme of uniqueness, individuality, or idiosyncrasy.”

In a peak experience, all of our roles and personas (social masks) drop away so we can access our “unique selves.”

This, again, is consistent with Jung’s findings on individuation.

10 – Present

Maslow observes:

In the peak experiences, the individual is more here-now, most free of the past and of the future in various senses, most ‘all there’ in the experience.

Those in the mindfulness movement will appreciate this description. Maslow describes the goal of mindfulness meditation: to be fully present in the here and now.

In this state, we can listen better to others without prior conditioning including judgments, biases, emotional triggers, and projections.

This sense of present-moment awareness is the result of greater selflessness.

11 – Merging of Self and Other

Here, there’s a “letting be of the self and of the other.”

That is, in a peak experience one can respect and love oneself and respect and love another simultaneously.

From Maslow:

I can grasp the non-self best by non-grasping, i.e., by letting it be itself, by letting it go, by permitting it to live by its own laws rather than by mine …

12 – Nonstriving

In a peak experience, we are no longer motivated by our basic human needs. That is, we are not motivated by the external world.

As such, we enter a state of non-striving. Non-striving is another way of defining Wu Wei:

• Non-striving
• Non-action
• Non-governing
• Non-doing

In this higher state, we just are.

Our conscious minds can have trouble understanding this important concept because the ego is driven by doingness and action. The ego deploys will and effort with specific purposes.

But in the peak experience, all of this falls away. The ego/mind takes a back seat, which is what enables the qualities highlighted above to manifest.

Maslow explains:

At this level, I have called the person godlike because most gods have been considered to have no needs or wants, no deficiencies, nothing lacking, to be gratified in all things.

With non-striving comes a complete absence of wants and desires. (This is the goal of many of the Eastern traditions.)

13 – Poetic expression

Maslow notes that when we are having a peak experience, our communication and expressions are often poetic and mythical. It’s as if we are expressing what’s deeply embedded within our psyches.

This attribute, once again, points to the importance of creativity in self-actualization.

14 – Completeness

A sense of inner completeness defines the peak experience.

Maslow writes:

Probably the authentic person is himself complete or final in some sense; he certainly experiences subjective finality, completion or perfection at times; and he certainly perceives it in the world.

Jung referred to this attribute as wholeness. Arriving at psychic wholeness is the goal of integration—of bringing one’s unconscious in harmony with their consciousness.

But in a temporary peak experience, we can all get a glimpse of this state of wholeness.

15 – Playfulness

Maslow said he had difficulty in describing this particular quality due to limits in the English language, but here’s his attempt:⁴Ibid, 123.

It has a cosmic or a godlike, good-humored quality, certainly transcending hostility of any kind. It could as easily be called happy, or gay exuberance or delight. It has a quality of spilling over as of richness or surplus. It is existential in the sense that it is an amusement or delight with both the smallness (weakness) and the largeness (strength) of the human being, transcending the dominance-subordinance polarity. It has a certain quality of triumph in it, sometimes perhaps also of relief. It is simultaneously mature and childlike.

I think he did a pretty job …

16 – Surprise

During and after a peak experience, individuals report feeling lucky, fortunate, and graced.

Maslow notes that these peak experiences aren’t planned; they just happen.

We might get the feeling, “I don’t deserve this.” In this state, there’s a profound feeling of humility. With a peak experience often comes profound feelings of gratitude and joy.

This feeling of gratitude and joy can lead to an all-embracing love for humanity and/or existence itself.

Peak Experiences are Our Birthright

In Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences, Maslow writes:⁵Abraham Maslow, Religions, Values, and Peak-Experiences, 1976.

Man has a higher and transcendent nature, and this is part of his essence, i.e., his biological nature as a member of a species which has evolved.

Instead of seeing peak experiences as something relegated to a gifted few, Maslow understood that these experiences are part of our biological destiny.

In reviewing the above attributes, I’m sure every reader can relate to them.

Everyone has had these experiences, no matter how infrequent or fleeting they might be for some.

Although this world seems designed to rob us of this experience, the fact is that peak experiences are our birthright.

So now, let’s explore what each of us can do to enable peak experiences to manifest more frequently in our lives.

Peak Experiences and Self-Actualization

Maslow found that self-actualizing individuals have peak experiences with far greater frequency.

He defined self-actualization as the need to become what one has the potential to be.

This need for growth leads us to:

• An ongoing actualization of our capacities and talents,
• The fulfillment of our mission (calling)
• Self-knowledge and a full acceptance of nature,
• An unceasing trend toward integration.

So the more we invest in our own natural development, the more chances we have of having a peak experience.

The Key to Cultivating Talent

Interestingly, available research on talent and learning suggests we’re not born with talent.

Instead, we cultivate talent through deliberate, deep practice.

Let’s say you want to improve your skills in tennis. You have a strong forehand, but a weak backhand. Your overall performance will increase by strengthening your backhand.

To accomplish this, you need to embrace the discomfort, focusing attention and effort on your backhand. It’s awkward at first.

But by staying conscious of your movements as you strike the ball with your backhand, you get feedback.

You notice:

1. How you feel when you swing the racket and contact the ball, and
2. Where the ball lands on the court.

And perhaps you get additional feedback and suggestions from a coach.

If you pay attention to this feedback—adjusting your performance and behavior through continuous repetition— over time you improve your skills in tennis.

The Art of Deep Practice

In The Talent Code, Daniel Coyle explains:⁶Daniel Coyle, The Talent Code: Greatness Isn’t Born. It’s Grown. Here’s How., 2009.

Deep practice feels a bit like exploring a dark and unfamiliar room. You start slowly, you bump into furniture, stop, think, and start again. Slowly, and a little painfully, you explore the space over and over, attending to errors, extending your reach into the room a bit farther each time, building a mental map until you can move through it quickly and intuitively.

The key to improving your talent is knowing where you want to grow and then breaking the technique down into smaller chunks.

That’s why top performers have master coaches, as Coyle’s research on talent illustrates.

A peak performance coach knows where to direct your attention at that particular moment of your development.

For example, before you learn to transition between chords on a guitar, you must first practice strumming and hitting your chords cleanly. Learning these skills takes deep practice.

At first, the tips of your fingers are soft, the muscles in your fingers are weak, and your fingers lack the dexterity to maintain the proper positions on the guitar’s frets.

As Coyle wrote, you start in a dark, unfamiliar room.

But through conscious repetition, the darkness begins to subside, and the light enters the room.

Deep Practice Strengthens the Brain

Through deep practice, our brain grows myelin, a kind of insulation between neurons that reinforces neural connections.

The more myelin you have, the more automatic your response becomes. With practice, your strong neuron connections brighten the room.

Learning anything takes us through four stages of competence:

1. Unconscious incompetence
2. Conscious incompetence
3. Conscious competence
4. Unconscious competence

Myelin gets stronger between the third and fourth stages.

For mastery, our goal is to realize unconscious competence.

Here, we can perform a task well without effort or concentration.

Deep Practice Supports Peak Experiences

Now, think back to the attributes of a peak experience we highlighted above, like:

• Effortlessness
• Free of inhibitions
• Spontaneity
• Presence
• Nonstriving
• Completeness

All of these qualities relate to unconscious competence where the ego-mind takes a back seat and the body takes over.

So by embracing these four stages of learning and committing to deep practice, we are greatly increasing our chances of having more frequent peak experiences.

The Inner Game of Optimal Performance

But talent is only part of the story. Not all talented people have frequent peak experiences. We can have “talent” but still fail to realize our innate potential.

Sadly, this is the case for many of us. Why? Because achieving peak performance requires mastering the inner game.

Timothy Gallwey was a nationally ranked tennis player and the captain of his Harvard University team in the 1960s.

Then, he went to India and met a guru who taught him meditation techniques. Gallwey noticed how these methods increased his concentration and improved his game.

In 1974 his book, The Inner Game of Tennis hit the market. It became a bestseller as did his follow-up books Inner Skiing and The Inner Game of Golf.

These books were revolutionary at the time. Instead of focusing on external techniques, they highlighted the athlete’s internal state.

As an expert tennis coach, Gallwey realized that if he could help a player remove or reduce the mental obstacles to their performance, an unexpected natural ability flows with less need for technical input.

Lessons from Bagger Vance

Author Steven Pressfield’s character Bagger Vance, a mystical golf mentor to Rannulph Junuh in The Legends of Bagger Vance, shares similar wisdom.

In the film version, Bagger Vance says to Junuh:

Inside each and every one of us is one true, authentic swing. Something we was born with, that’s ours and ours alone. Something can’t be taught to you or learned. Something that’s got to be remembered.

Over time, the world can rob us of that swing and [it gets] buried inside us under all our woulda’s and coulda’s and shoulda’s. Some folk even forget what their swing was like.

Bagger Vance plays the role of our Divine inner coach. Pressfield modeled his book after the Bhagavad Gita. Bagger Vance represents Krishna while Rannulph Junuh is Arguna.

In this scene from Robert Redford’s version of the story, watch how Bagger Vance helps Junuh get out of his way.

The Battle With Our Inner Saboteur

So if we’re open to the idea that we have an inborn, authentic swing in whatever field that interests us—why do most of us rarely experience it?

Why are peak experiences the exception, not the rule?

The answer is that we get hijacked by an aspect of the mind sometimes called the inner critic or inner saboteur.

If we observe our minds, there’s a constant internal dialogue between multiple voices or parts.

In his Inner Game series, Gallwey distinguishes two selves: Self 1 and Self 2.

Self 1 is the voice that commands and criticizes. It represents the brain (prefrontal cortex) and it likes to instruct.

Self 2 stays quiet and does the actions. It represents the subconscious mind or body and it likes to act.

When we watch this inner dialogue between Self 1 and Self 2, we observe several things:

1. Self 1 is very bossy, critical, and often unfriendly.
2. The conversation is one-sided; Self 2 doesn’t say much.
3. There’s little trust between these two selves.

Even though Self 2 does the work, Self 1 often intervenes and tries to take control.

Why We Fail to Perform at Our Best

Put simply, when Self 1 tries to dominate Self 2, we tense up and make mistakes.

Self 2 is more akin to our natural Center. It’s intuitive; it knows what to do. Self 1 only knows about what to do.

Self 1 is essentially our personality, or what the Taoists call the acquired mind. This acquired mind is conditioned by our environment, which includes anyone who has ever judged us.

First, someone judges us (usually our parents, teachers, and peers), and then an inner judge or inner critic is born in us.

And so Self 1, when in control, hijacks our performance in anything we do. When Self 1 is at the wheel, we can not have a peak experience.

Imagine having someone stand next to you as you write, play music, or compete in sports that continuously tells you why you’ll fail, what you’re doing wrong, and why you can’t improve.

It’s like being a comedian with a heckler sitting in the front row.

Well, that’s what happens most of the time internally for the majority of us.

When Self 1 doesn’t trust Self 2, we get tripped up by a myriad of interferences.

A Formula for Optimal Performance and Peak Experiences

Gallwey offers a simple formula:

Performance = Potential – Interference

When Self 1 doesn’t intervene, we can enter a state of flow and become immersed in whatever we are doing.

That is, the absence of interference gives way to peak experiences.

Said another way: a peak experience can arise when we’re in Self 2, not Self 1.

In Self 2, we “get out of our own way and let our swing find us.”

The Science of Flow

You’ve heard the term “being in the zone.” Building on Maslow’s work, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi has studied the science of flow throughout his career.

Flow is a mental state where an individual is absorbed in his performance with an energized focus, engagement, and enjoyment in the activity.

In Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Csikszentmihalyi outlines seven elements or conditions for flow:⁷Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, 2008.

1 – A challenging activity that requires skill

Too little challenge leads to boredom. Too much challenge brings anxiety. Enjoyment occurs in the sweet spot between the two.

2 – The merging of action and awareness

When all of our internal resources are engaged, there’s no psychic energy left for Self 1 to engage in counter-productive dialogue. Instead, a person becomes absorbed with full awareness of the activity itself.

3 – Clear goals and feedback

The more awareness we bring to an activity, the more feedback we receive both internally and externally. Goals or a clear vision give us a personal sense of what optimal performance looks like in advance.

4 – Concentration on the task at hand

All distraction falls away. Immersed in an enjoyable activity, the mind (Self 1) has no space for irrelevant information (like rumination).

5 – The paradox of control

Self 1 clings to wanting control, which creates tension. When we’re in a flow state, we experience a sense of being in control while not clinging to it. The desire or worry about control falls away.

6 – The loss of self-consciousness

The more we cling to our self-concepts and self-identity, the more we inhibit flow. Without interference from Self 1, we merge with the activity itself. We find our “authentic swing.”

7 – The transformation of time

One common theme in flow states and other altered states of consciousness is that one’s perception of time changes. Freedom from the “tyranny of time” adds to the enjoyment of our activities.

This flow state is another way of describing unconscious competence.

Realizing Unconscious Competence

In Beyond Boredom and Anxiety, Csikszentmihalyi writes:⁸Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play, 1975.

In the flow state, action follows upon action according to an internal logic that seems to need no conscious intervention by the actor. He experiences it as a unified flowing from one moment to the next, in which he is in control of his actions, and in which there is little distinction between self and environment, between stimulus and response, or between past, present, and future.

This is a critical distinction: in a flow state, there’s no conscious intervention by the actor.

That is, Self 1 has taken the back seat and the natural self (Self 2) is driving the car.

A Mundane Illustration of Unconscious Competence

I recall the process of learning how to type in high school.

At first, the process was awkward. You have to be aware of your finger positions:

ASDF    JKL;

Then, you learn how to shift your fingers up and down from those positions, returning to their starting point.

Q and Z were particularly tricky. Reaching up to the numbers seemed unfathomable. But when you develop the motor skills to type fluidly you achieve conscious competence.

Still, you don’t trust yourself, shifting your eyes back and forth from the keyboard to the computer. (Back then, it was a word-processing keyboard, not a computer.)

The teacher assesses your typing proficiency by two factors: speed (words per minute) and accuracy (how many mistakes you make).

I typed slower when I looked at the keyboard, but I was more accurate. My typing speed increased when I gazed at the page of words I was typing (not the screen).

Shifting From Self 1 (Brain) to Self 2 (Body)

True typing speed didn’t come, however, until I trusted myself. I was typing about 60 words per minute on average with Self 1 still engaged.

When I trusted my fingers—essentially letting go and trusting Self 2—my speed increased to over 90 words per minute.

Self 1 was interfering with my performance. To Self 1, mistakes are unacceptable. With Self 2 doing the typing, my speed increased by 50 percent.

I might have made a few more mistakes at this higher speed, but I attribute those errors to Self 1 injecting comments like, “Wow, look at how fast you’re typing.”

Any comments from Self 1 interfere with our performance.

Three Elements of Focus

The key to optimal performance is to maintain attention and focus on whatever we’re doing. Attention is critical for learning and proficiency in anything.

Distraction inhibits attention. While some distractions are external (like noises, other people, etc.), most of what disrupts our attention is internal, or what Gallwey calls self-interference.

Gallwey highlights three factors that enable us to focus (stay in Self 2):

1 – Awareness

Focus of attention on a particular task.

2 – Choice

Our desires determine where we place our focus. In The Inner Game of Work, Gallwey writes,⁹W. Timothy Gallwey, The Inner Game of Work, 2001.

Desire drives focus. Our choice is over which desires to nourish and which to starve. Nourishing the desires of Self 2 builds stability and leads toward self-fulfillment. The nurturing of Self 1 desires strengthens self-interference and leads to inner conflict and distraction.

3 – Trust

We can focus when we let go of mental control. When Self 1 is in command, it provides instructions on what to do or poses questions that lead to doubt.

Again from Gallwey:¹⁰Ibid.

Doubt leads to confusion and to paralysis of action. When you are focused, you are conscious of your purpose, fully engaged in the present, and the voice of Self 1 is not heard.

Again, notice how these desired attributes for higher performance are in alignment with peak experiences.

How to Silence the Inner Critic for Peak Experiences

How do you usually try to focus on or improve your performance?

If you’re like me, you may at first try to force your inner critic into submission or just try harder.

In a sense, we try to fight with Self 1. It doesn’t work. What we resist grows stronger.

Resisting the impulses of Self 1 only makes the voice of Self 1 stronger and louder.

So what’s the alternative?

Gallwey suggests choosing Self 2—acknowledge its desire and allow it to express itself. He observes:¹¹Ibid.

Once I can acknowledge Self 2, I can reach for it and give it whatever attention I have at my disposal. By that conscious choice, I am ignoring the voices of self-interference. A little attention is withdrawn from Self 1, diminishing its influence, and I simultaneously gain greater access to the resources of Self 2.

That makes sense, right? But how do we choose Self 2?

Start With Self-Awareness

The first step is always to increase self-awareness.

We learn to feel the difference between the compulsive forces of Self 1 and Self 2’s natural drives.

From Gallwey:¹²Ibid.

Self 1 desire feels as if I’m being driven by a tight hand at the wheel, Self 2 as if I’m doing the driving with a relaxed but firm grip. Self 2 is naturally joyous in its expression of its excellence; Self 1 is trying to prove itself or earn something it often doesn’t think it really deserves.

Sound familiar? Non-striving, effortlessness, joyfulness—the inherent qualities of a peak experience.

The Power of Attention

If you’ve read many of my guides on this website, perhaps you’ve noticed in many of them: self-awareness and the skill of attention.

Whether it’s owning your shadow, strengthening self-leadership, changing your mindset, or integrating your body and mind, the skill of directing attention inward is vital.

Directing attention inward also helps promote peak experiences and optimal performance.

Gallwey confirms:

There is no general skill more important to learning and the achievement of excellence than focus of attention. Like most skills, focus requires practice and conscious effort. Unlike most skills, though, it can be practiced during any and every activity—mental or physical.

With greater attention and focus, we then strengthen the muscles of conscious choice. We choose the body’s instinctual drives (Self 2) while weakening the tendencies of our mental chatter (Self 1).

Can We Access the Peak Experience?

There are things you can do to quiet Self 1’s interference.

Remember Self 1 is the mind/brain; Self 2 is the body. Self 1 lowers our performance because it’s usually in the driver’s seat.

In essence, our minds impede optimal performance. The conscious mind must be stilled for a peak experience to manifest.

When Bagger Vance said you have to get out of your own way and let your swing find you, this translates to getting out of your mind and into your body.

Removing internal resistance is a key to achieving optimal performance in virtually any activity—and experiencing more frequent peak experiences.

So, to silence Self 1, get rooted in your body first.

4 Guides to Get You More Rooted in the Body

Here are four guides to help you get rooted in your body:

15 Powerful Centering Methods to Reduce Anxiety and Increase Mental Focus

How to Ground Yourself to the Earth to Achieve Instant Calm

Cultivate Internal Energy With an Ancient Chinese Practice Called Zhan Zhuang

How to Breathe Properly to Improve Mental Clarity and Focus

These types of foundational skills help put us on the road to self-actualization, and to more peak experiences.

Use them frequently. Master them. Make them a part of you.

Learn to center yourself before you train, practice, or engage in any activity that requires your focus and attention.

A peak experience is only a moment away …

Books Related to the Peak Experience

Toward a Psychology of Being
by Abraham Maslow

Print

Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences
by Abraham Maslow

Print

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

Print

The Talent Code
by Daniel Coyle

Print

The Inner Game of Tennis
by W. Timothy Gallwey

Print

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