Anyone who has spent significant time running has likely experienced a flow state—“getting in the zone”—the mental experience of deep presence and moment-to-moment immersion. People often report this state as if they were feeling part of a rhythm. While in the flow state, runners recount getting part of a song stuck in their head. Sometimes it’s just a beat, sometimes even a single word.
If you haven’t experienced this version of “flow,” it doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong, but if you have, you’re not alone. And while there’s no strong correlation or causation, there seems to be a considerable overlap between musicians and long-distance runners.
Perhaps that’s because the brain gets a similar response from running and, say, playing the piano. Playing a musical instrument is the brain equivalent of a full-body workout. Unlike other activities that require intense brain work, like chess or puzzles, playing an instrument recruits almost every part of the brain, including multi-sensory responses. Making music requires vision, sound, movement, and memory, and similar things go on in the…
