What Happens After the First Glimpse? Loch Kelly on Awakening and Flow

Amanda Wilson · 2026-09-15

Ever had a moment where everything just... stopped? The mental chatter went quiet. The sense of a separate "you" dissolved, even if only for a second. That's what meditation teacher Loch Kelly calls the first glimpse. But here's the question that keeps people up at night: what comes after that glimpse? In a recent conversation with host Michael Taft, Kelly unpacked this exact territory. And what he shared might change how you think about mindfulness, flow, and the whole point of waking up. ### Waking Up vs. Waking With: A Crucial Distinction Most of us have heard about "waking up." It's that recognition of openness, stillness, and the absence of a separate self. Sounds great, right? But Kelly points out there's another dimension that often gets overlooked: "waking with." Waking with is when you start to see that appearances—sights, sounds, thoughts, emotions—aren't separate from that awake awareness. They're inseparable. This is what some traditions call "one taste." It's not about escaping experience. It's about experiencing everything as already awake. Think of it like this: waking up is realizing you've been dreaming. Waking with is realizing the dream itself is made of the same stuff as the awareness that knows it. ### Flow States and the Awake Awareness Connection So where do flow states fit in? You know that feeling when you're so absorbed in what you're doing—playing an instrument, running, writing—that time disappears and self-consciousness vanishes? That's flow. Kelly suggests flow states are a kind of gateway. They're moments when we naturally drop into a more unified way of being. The problem is we usually can't sustain them. We come out of the flow and immediately contract back into the separate self. The invitation here is to recognize that the openness you taste in flow isn't something you have to manufacture. It's already here. You're not creating it. You're just noticing it. ### What This Means for Your Daily Practice If you're a mindfulness professional—or just someone who's genuinely curious about this stuff—here's what you can take away: - **Don't chase the glimpse.** The first glimpse is a beautiful opening, but it's not the finish line. It's a door. - **Practice "waking with."** Instead of trying to transcend experience, try seeing experience as already awake. Thoughts, sounds, sensations—they're all expressions of awareness. - **Use flow as a reminder.** When you notice flow happening, pause and recognize the awareness that's holding it. That recognition is the practice. - **Be patient with the process.** This isn't about achieving a permanent state. It's about recognizing what's already true, again and again, until it becomes second nature. As Kelly puts it, the goal isn't to escape the world. It's to wake up *to* it—and *with* it. ### The Bigger Picture This conversation isn't just for advanced meditators. It's for anyone who's ever felt like there must be more to this whole "awakening" thing than a fleeting moment of peace. The good news? There is. And it's not somewhere else. It's right here, woven into the fabric of your everyday experience. So the next time you catch a glimpse of that open, spacious awareness, don't cling to it. Don't try to hold on. Just notice what happens next. You might be surprised to find that the awakening doesn't end. It just keeps unfolding.