What is The Release Phase?

Phase 2 of The Flow Cycle

Release is the bridge between struggle and flow. After sustained effort, you intentionally step back, shifting your focus away from the problem. For ADHD brains, this can be a game-changer. Release isn’t about quitting; it’s about intentionally shifting gears to allow new connections and insights to surface. This phase allows your subconscious mind to process information, with brainwaves shifting from high-frequency beta to relaxed alpha states. Nitric oxide helps flush stress hormones, priming you for flow.

Why Release Is Crucial for Creatives and ADHDers

• Neurochemical Reset: Release triggers the body’s relaxation response, reducing cortisol and norepinephrine, and making way for dopamine and endorphins—the “feel-good” chemicals that underpin flow.
• Subconscious Processing: Stepping back activates the default mode network (DMN), which is linked to creativity and “aha!” moments, these moments of insight are especially strong in ADHD and creative brains.
• Preparation for Flow: Without release, you’re likely to stay stuck in struggle, unable to access the high-performance state of flow. Movement, relaxation, and even daydreaming can help trigger this shift.
• Switch in Intention: The ADHD brain craves novelty and stimulation. Release gives you permission to switch activities, but in a way that supports productivity rather than sabotaging it.

Real Humans Doing It 

Comedian Trevor Noah incorporates physical activity—boxing, traveling, and purposeful downtime—to decompress after intense periods. This practice helps move his mind from tension to spontaneous creativity, making it easier to riff and improvise in the moment on stage or TV.

Singer Solange Knowles uses movement, travel, and shifts in creative medium (from music to visual art, for example) as release rituals. By changing environments, she disconnects from intensive struggle and sparks subconscious insight, priming her for flow during recording or live performance.

Outside the gym, gymnast Simone Biles consciously steps away from routines, practicing visualization and mindfulness. Taking time for hobbies and social connection, she helps her mind recover, process skills, and set the stage for peak performance. This cyclical approach allows her to enter flow more reliably during competitions.

How to Fast-Track the Release Phase?

Engage in Easy Bursts of Physical Activity

• Take a walk, stretch, or do yoga—especially outdoors. Movement helps flush stress hormones and stimulates creative insight.
• Avoid high-stimulation activities like social media, which can reset the struggle phase instead of facilitating release.

Practice Breathwork and Mindfulness

• Breathe: Try deep breathing or short mindfulness meditations. Both activate the relaxation response and facilitate the neurochemical shift needed for flow.
• Acceptance: Embrace both struggle and release as vital parts of a high performance cycle.
• Curiosity: Approach each phase with curiosity about your brain’s creative potential.
• Non-Attachment: Let go of perfectionism and the need for immediate results.
• Language: Remind yourself to “let go of the outcome” and trust the process. Mantras like “I trust my creative brain” can signal release.

Create Environmental Cues

• Space: Designate a specific space or routine for release (e.g., a daily walk after deep work).
• Light: Get the sun on your skin, this helps to regulate your circadian rhythm
• Sensation: using calming scents like candles, or music to cue your brain that it’s time to shift gears.
• Sensory Supports: Use noise-canceling headphones, fidget tools, or calming scents to help shift gears.
• Minimise Clutter: A clean, organised workspace reduces cognitive load and eases transitions.
• Nature Exposure: Getting outdoors or near natural elements accelerates both release and flow.
• Boundaries: Set clear boundaries with others during deep work and release times to protect your flow cycle.

Keep It Short and Purposeful

• Release doesn’t require hours. Even a few minutes of intentional disengagement can be enough to trigger the transition to flow.

Remember:

Treat this article like a buffet of options – pick one and run with it, then taste another. The trick to knowing this stuff, is that you get to skip burnout, one of the most popular side quests in capitalist culture currently. With more hits than Top of the Pops, burnout is, at epidemic proportions. In Japan it happens so much that there is a term for ‘death by work‘ and it’s called karoshi. I’ve previously written about in my blog outlining the 12 Stages of Burnout and How to Bounce Back Starting Now, because burnout is a sneaky one, we can be half way there before we even realise because the first 6 stages are celebrated in business as usual’s burnout culture model.

So let’s carve our own path shall we, push back on burnout and access flow state on demand. Flow state begins not with hacks straight into effortless productivity, but with discomfort. Here’s how to work with your unique brain, not against it.

Ready to unlock more flow and less frustration?

Try working with your ADHD brain, not against it. Start honouring yourself in the struggle and release phases of the flow cycle. With practice, you’ll find yourself entering flow more often, performing at your best, and enjoying the process along the way.Next time you’re stuck, try this:

1. Pick a task that feels challenging.
2. Set a timer for 15–20 minutes. Dive in, using body doubling or a focus app if needed.
3. When you feel your focus slipping or frustration peaking, pause. Take a 5–10 minute movement break, doodle, or step outside.
4. Notice what happens next. Often, the ideas and energy you need will bubble up—bringing you closer to that coveted flow state.

References

1. 4 Stages Of The Flow Cycle: The Scientific Guide To Finding Consistent Flow States
2. The Four Phases of the Flow Cycle
3. The 4 Cycles of Flow State for Athletes – C Wilson Meloncelli
4. FLOW CYCLE – PERSIST THROUGH THE STRUGGLE
5. Ever struggle to start a task and give up after a few minutes? | Philippe Arnez
6. First few seconds for flow: A comprehensive proposal of the neurobiology and neurodynamics of state onset – ScienceDirect
7. The Flow Cycle – 4 Stages to Reliable and Sustainable Flow States – Troy Erstling
8. The Flow Cycle: 4 Phases To Be A Peak Performer | Healthy Wealthy Lifestyle Design
9. 4 Phases of Flow and Why They Matter | The Excelling Edge
10. Hack Your Flow: Understanding Flow Cycles, with Steven Kotler  | Big Think
11. Neurotransmitter Release – Foundations of Neuroscience
12. A Three-Level Framework for Assessing and Implementing Environmental Flows
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14. Four Stages Of Flow | EnthusiastiCLAY
15. Life transitions: How to stop rushing to the next stage
16. Why Do Kids Have Trouble With Transitions? – Child Mind Institute
17. Flow Research Collective  |  Achieving Flow States  |  OA Podcast
18. Biogeochemical cycle | Definition & Facts | Britannica
19. beginning with the flow phase arrange the biochemical processes in the order in which they occur during the menstrual cycle tiles fsh and lh stimulate the follicles to develop and the oocyte 61935
20. The Tenacious Brain: How the Anterior Mid-Cingulate Contributes to Achieving Goals
21. Hyperfocus: the forgotten frontier of attention – PMC
22. Flow States Vs. Hyperfocus: How ADHD Challenges Traditional Motivation Theories
23. Hyperfocus in adult ADHD : an EEG study of the differences in cortical activity in resting and arousal states – University of Johannesburg
24. Cognitive performance and dehydration – PubMed
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