I was first introduced to the concept of "flow" from an educational context at Quest University. Specifically, I was in a class that was discussing Peter Liljedahl's applications of flow in thinking classrooms. I think that it is a very powerful idea, to consider reflectively the states that we are in, and I think (or hope) that most people have some experiences in a state of flow. I specifically resonated with Csikszenmihalyi's description of ecstasy and can recall vividly experiencing that state in a number of contexts myself, one of which is mathematics.
Something that Csikszenmihalyi claimed which I disagreed with was the idea that flow could only be achieved by a person with ten years of experience in a field. He contradicted himself to a degree later, with regards to being in a state of flow while watching TV, but I don't think flow is unique to people with real expertise in a subject. Liljedahl's graph of flow which includes an activity where a person has low skill and approaches a small challenge resonates more with me.
Of course we as teachers would want to build flow in our classrooms, since either boredom or anxiety make it harder for students to learn. What Liljedahl describes in his slides is a very active teacher role in not only creating but maintaining flow in a problem, building that staircase up to high skill and high challenge. Part of the difficulty in doing this in a classroom is that every student has a different level of skill, so no one challenge is likely to be appropriate for every student. There are, I believe, some "unicorn problem" counterexamples to this, but by and large a single problem isn't appropriate for everyone.
The key skill, then, is adaptation. Adjusting the challenge or the skill of the group as the problem is progressing is the most important teacher ability for maintaining flow. As a part of this, teachers must also be adept at recognizing when students are in a state of flow and when they stray across the boundaries to boredom or anxiety.
Fascinating commentary! I'm glad that you have encountered this idea before, at Quest -- you're thinking about it is layered and interesting. I agree with you that novices can certainly experience flow, and sometimes people with a lot of experience can also feel jaded about an activity, so it is not dependent upon a certain number of years of experience. I do think there are open enough problems that can give that 'low floor/ high ceiling' experience...you might want to check resources like NRich Maths from the UK, and books by John Mason and Anne Watson, and from Marian Small.
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