Change of consciousness by available means. States of consciousness

28.09.2019

There lies an area fraught with a lot of unknown and unusual. Altered states of consciousness are a hidden area of human mental activity, which even at the current stage of development psychological science is uncultivated virgin land. The functions and nature of this phenomenon, despite the abundance of clinical and experimental data, continue to be thoroughly unexplored. Dreams and dreams, sleep and drowsiness, hypnosis and hypnotic states, and historical states of dissociation, depersonalization, pharmacologically induced mental disorders, etc., having a clear natural origin, are presented not as variants of the manifestation of something in common, but as separate phenomena. In every specific case processing of the material led to conclusions that have applied value and practical use.

There have been so few attempts to systematize and organize into a clear system all the material accumulated over the years that all research in this area borders on a first discovery.

Before proceeding to the study of the concept of “altered states of consciousness”, it is worthwhile to understand what the most important concept of both philosophy and psychology is for us - consciousness. First of all, it denotes the ability to ideally reproduce reality using specific forms and mechanisms on different levels reflections. Consciousness can manifest itself as an individual (personal) and social phenomenon. An attempt to systematize knowledge about consciousness was carried out by Sigmund Freud. His clear hierarchical system played an important role in the development of human knowledge in this area, but on present stage even it shows inconsistency in many areas and requires radical improvement.

The state of consciousness is clearly fixed, but nevertheless it can undergo a number of changes while being on various levels states. The most familiar and ordinary is the waking consciousness that accompanies us in daily affairs, worries, and even on vacation. Next comes sleep. This is the only natural state of altered consciousness, which not only accompanies the important physiological process of restoring all the forces of the body, but also immerses a person in the world of dreams.

A special form of the dream state is the hypnotic state, in which consciousness can abide in a subjective fantasy. Artificially induced hypnotic altered states of consciousness force a person to be in a half-awakened state, which is accompanied by flashes of intensification of consciousness.

Severe shock, stress, mental crisis, emergency situations, and even anger or fear can provoke the emergence of a state when consciousness obeys a certain force. The appearance of changes in the nature of sensations, feelings and behavior can signal that a change in the state of consciousness is taking place.

As a result of some systematization, it was possible to produce a certain typology of these phenomena. Altered states of consciousness of the first group are artificially evoked. For their appearance, it is necessary to use psychoactive substances (for example, psychedelics) contained in dope, marijuana, etc. They can also appear under the influence of certain procedures (sensory deprivation). , hypnotic trance, meditative actions.There is also a group of spontaneously arising states in normal conditions. The reason may be significant stress, listening to music, sports game.

The study of this problem is of great importance for anthropology, psychiatry, clinical and

I am glad to welcome the curious readers of our project, who, like me, are cramped within the framework of their usual thinking and want to further development of his personality. I propose to study the issue together: an altered state of consciousness - what it is, and what additional opportunities it reveals for a person. Since ancient times, magicians, alchemists, healers, astrologers have been interested in an altered state of consciousness. Nowadays, the topic has not lost its relevance: psychotherapists, hypnologists, and esotericists use it in their practice. As Albert Einstein wrote:

"None difficult situation cannot be overcome at the level of consciousness at which it arose.

To begin with, I want to tell you a real story on behalf of the esoteric Sergey:

At the age of 11, I fell in a gym class and hit my head painfully. Subsequently, I was haunted by severe headaches, dizziness, nausea, and sleep disturbances. Doctors diagnosed a concussion, prescribed a large number of medicines. Over time, the pains periodically recurred, I didn’t want to “sit on pills”, I just had to endure. At the age of 18, when I became interested in esoteric and spiritual practices, I was lucky to meet an experienced mentor. He taught me the technique of reviewing past events in a state of meditation in order to identify and eliminate the cause of what happened.

In a meditative state, I began to remember and, as it were, replay the events of 7 years ago in reverse. I saw that during the fall, not only did my leg unfortunately twist, but also another phenomenon. At that moment, something like an energy cord extended to my head from above. I would not be able to recognize this in the usual state of consciousness. Being in meditation, I managed to break the connection with the source of pain by an effort of will and imagination. It turns out that in a state of altered consciousness, I got rid of an illness that doctors could not cope with in 7 years.

The concept of an altered state of consciousness

To understand what an altered state of consciousness is, we first turn to authoritative scientific sources. Let's open the all-knowing Wikipedia and treatises on psychology. An altered state of consciousness (ASC) is a qualitative transformation of the subjective experiences and psychological functioning of an individual in comparison with certain norms of behavior, fixed by him or by outside observers. Subjective experiences are unique individual features of thinking and perception of the surrounding world by each person.

Altered states of consciousness, which are of a short-term nature and arise naturally, are inherent in the psyche of healthy people. ASC in sleep is a physiological need of the human body. And now I propose to do without abstruse terms and formulate a more accessible definition. Altered consciousness is a state in which there are significant changes in the thinking and worldview of a person, in his physical and emotional sensations, in behavior and intellectual abilities. In my opinion, it sounds simpler and clearer. Altered states of consciousness are divided into:

spontaneously arising from physical activities, listening to monotonous speech or music, experiencing stress or feeling acute pain;
artificially induced by taking psychotropic drugs or by changing the respiratory rhythm;
psychotechnically conditioned accompany hypnotic trance, meditation, religious rituals.

Trance state of consciousness: how to enter

One of the types of ASC is a trance state of consciousness. It is generally accepted that trance refers to the area of supernatural manifestations of the human psyche. In fact, you and I experience a state of light trance almost daily, without even noticing it. Recall how you felt when you:

passionate about interesting book or a movie
listening to your favorite music;
“automatically” follow a familiar route or drive a car along an empty road, while mentally immersed in yourself;
are in a state of emotional or mental stress;
doing art or other favorite thing;
experience euphoria from traveling to other cities and countries, from contemplating works of art;
go in for sports, dance.

In all these cases, our consciousness concentrates on a single sensation or thought and is disconnected from the "insignificant" surrounding reality. The state of deep trance, otherwise called " the highest degree awareness” is achieved through meditation or hypnotic influence.

Varieties of an altered state of consciousness

Learning theory is great! But I believe that any phenomenon is easier to comprehend if we consider specific thematic examples and delve into their essence. Forms of altered states of consciousness:

Hypnotic influence - ASC that occurs as a result of the purposeful influence of a hypnotist or through self-hypnosis. It has an intermediate position between wakefulness and sleep. In a state of hypnotic trance, a person is able to remember and rethink the events of past years, get rid of psychological trauma, gain control and get rid of addictions.
Sleep as an altered state of consciousness is the only natural way prescribed by human physiology. In the process of sleep, all organs and resources of the body are restored. In a dream, a person can literally see the solution to his problem.
Meditation is a process of gradual relaxation physical body with a concentration of attention on the sensations of your body, your own breathing or on a specific object. As a result, the “unloading” of the mind from negative experiences, an uncontrolled flow of abstract thoughts, irritants of the surrounding world takes place. In a state of meditation, a person is able to mentally ask a question in the surrounding space and get an answer to it.
The impact of psychotropic substances. It's no secret that alcohol, nicotine, narcotic substances have the most detrimental effect on human body. First of all, brain cells are destroyed, therefore, a person’s consciousness does not just change - it degrades to hallucinations and mental disorders.
Coma is one of the varieties of impaired consciousness, in which a person has no connection with the surrounding reality, mental activity stops. It occurs as a result of severe brain damage due to injuries, inflammatory processes, poisoning.
"Shaman's Journey" is an ancient way to comprehend parallel levels of reality, located beyond the limits of perception of physical senses. It implies moving to a different energy spectrum. Experience and knowledge accumulated in an altered state of consciousness contribute to new and unusual insights in spiritual search and help in solving problems. Everyday life person.
Pathological state of a person. A state of altered consciousness is observed due to prolonged fasting, dehydration, lack of sleep or complete lack of sleep, elevated temperature body.

Positive and negative aspects of entering the ASC

Altered states of consciousness and ways of entering them have a beneficial effect on a person only in the case of their natural manifestation and positive impact on physical and mental health. The state of light trance from sports, creativity or connection with nature allows you to get rid of negative experiences and stress. Thus, attention is switched from adverse circumstances to another area of perception, where the human psyche relaxes.

The state of altered consciousness through deep sleep, meditation or hypnosis allows people to draw information from their subconscious. And you and I know that the human subconscious interacts directly with the energy-information field of our universe. Thus, you yourself can get the information you are interested in, program the events of your life, and even get rid of ailments. In the event that a person tries to change his consciousness with the help of alcoholic or narcotic substances, the result of such experiments will be tragic. At first, a person will experience an incredible expansion of consciousness and see the versatility of the universe in the most bright colors. It will seem to him that he has risen above the "gray routine", that the level of his intellect is many times higher than the level of "primitive people".

All this is temporary and ends with the complete decomposition of the individual. I sincerely apologize for similar comparison, but to expand your consciousness and comprehend the secrets of the universe through the use of "drugs" - it's like trying to keep warm in the cold by pissing in your pants. It will be warm for a couple of minutes, but then ... The use of narcotic substances is justified only in the case of drug anesthesia of the patient during surgery.

How to enter an altered state of consciousness

Well, let's get down to practice! In order to master the ways of entering an altered state of consciousness, it is necessary to learn how to change the wave vibrations of the brain. Brain rhythms are directly related to the processes in our mind. There are 4 levels of brain radiation:

Beta Wave is the natural state of waking consciousness. The frequency range of brain radiation ranges from 14 to 37 rhythms per second. The respiratory rate is 12 to 18 breaths per minute.
Alpha Wave - a passive state of rest of the brain. Rhythm, commensurate with meditative and hypnotic trance, day dream. The frequency of brain radiation is from 8 to 13 oscillations. The respiratory rate is 7 to 11 breaths per minute.
Theta Wave - State REM sleep: mental images rise above the level of our subconscious. Access to supernatural experiences and visual perception of images outside of everyday reality is opened. The level of "Shaman Journey", the feeling of unity with the universe. The frequency of brain radiation - from 5 to 7 rhythms, breathing - from 5 to 6 breaths.
Delta Wave - a state of deep sleep when a person is under general anesthesia or unconscious. It is characterized by immunity to any irritants. The frequency of brain radiation is from 0.6 to 5 oscillations. The respiratory rate is extremely low - from 2 to 5 breaths per minute.

And now - the most interesting!

Ways to enter an altered state of consciousness:

Feel a deeper level of inner silence when you are in a quiet, private environment and close your eyes. You move away from the sounds and phenomena of the world around you. Feel the relaxation of the muscles of the body, focus on pleasant images. Do not try to abruptly stop the flow of thoughts: this can cause a reaction that is the opposite of relaxation. Take the position of an observer of your thoughts, do not try to evaluate them. Create a stream of smoothly flowing consciousness in your head. Now you are ready to move from the harsh everyday materiality to a more subtle worldview.
From the entire thought flow, choose the image that is most attractive and interesting to you. Making sure that the chosen image is the most harmonious for you in this moment, start wrapping it in layers of thoughtforms. The finally formulated thought-form will give you the feeling of a complete internal merging of images and feelings with the information field of the universe. (A thought-form is an independent living structure created by a person's thoughts. It already exists in the astral world, but has not yet been embodied on the material level. A person generates it with his imagination and feeds it with personal energy).
Now look around and feel the psychological area that you have created. Under the condition of the highest concentration on the selected object, you will feel how your concentration smoothly moves into a kind of “parallel” space. Don't try to catch the details. Calmly follow the flow. In case you have a feeling of fear or discomfort, loosen your psychological concentration. Get distracted by the details physical world. Gradually and carefully adjust to the changes that are taking place.

In conclusion, I express my sincere gratitude to like-minded readers for your interest and desire for self-improvement. I am glad that together we are on the way to knowing the secrets of the universe and the amazing possibilities of man. An altered state of consciousness can provide answers to pressing questions regarding everyday problems, spiritual search, and also teach a person to materialize his desires. Mahatma Gandhi said a simple but brilliant phrase:

"If you want to change the world first, change yourself.

In our project you will find a large number of fascinating and informative articles for the development of thinking, mental and creativity. The most important thing on the way to yourself is to meet yourself. Good luck!

One of the ways to study consciousness is to study its states and their changes.

In psychology, two states of consciousness have traditionally been studied: the state wakefulness, or the active state, and dream regarded as a period of rest.

AT modern psychology to characterize consciousness, the concept of “altered states of consciousness” was introduced, which denotes a way of adapting consciousness to changes in external and internal conditions.

Altered states of consciousness are divided into spontaneously arising, artificially caused and psychotechnically conditioned.

Spontaneously occurring changes in the state of consciousness appear at normal this person conditions (for example, when falling asleep or with a significant overvoltage), as well as in unusual or extreme conditions of life and work of a healthy person.

Artificially induced altered states of consciousness arise under the influence of psychoactive drugs (alcohol, drugs) or psychoactive procedures (sensory isolation or sensory overload).

Psychotechnically conditioned altered states of consciousness accompany the processes of mental regulation or self-regulation in modern psychotherapy, as well as in the application of special psychotechnics.

Consider spontaneously occurring changes in the state of consciousness on the example of wakefulness and sleep.

Psychotechnically conditioned changes in the state of consciousness will be shown on the example of the application of the psychotechnics of meditation.

Wakefulness is a normal state of consciousness corresponding to the activation of the whole organism. The perception of the external world and events in it, the actions of a person largely depend on the state of consciousness - on whether a person is tense or not, excited or drowsy. Information processing changes, sometimes very significantly, depending on the level of wakefulness and readiness to perceive signals (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Dependence of the effectiveness of behavior on the level of wakefulness

According to the Yerkes-Dodson law, a person's behavior will be the more effective the closer his level of wakefulness is to some optimum - it should not be too low or too high. At low levels a person's readiness for action gradually decreases and soon he falls asleep, and at higher ones he becomes agitated and his behavior may even be completely disorganized.

On average, the human body functions approximately with the following alternation: 16 hours of wakefulness, 8 hours of sleep. This 24-hour (with slight variations) cycle is controlled by the internal control mechanism called the biological clock.

At first glance, it seems that sleep and wakefulness are opposite states. However, both of these conditions have much in common:

we think when we sleep, we dream, although the type of thinking in sleep is different from the type of thinking when we are awake;
we remember events in a dream and can retell them while awake; some dreams are remembered all my life;
sleep is not absolute rest. We move in a dream;
in a dream, we do not disconnect from external information and are ready to receive certain signals, for example, a mother immediately reacts to the crying of a baby;
sleep does not destroy our plans. So, some people plan a wake-up time and wake up at the scheduled hour.

There is no strict boundary between sleep and wakefulness in terms of the presence of mental processes occurring in these states.

For a long time, it was believed that sleep is just a complete rest of the body, allowing it to restore the forces expended during wakefulness. It was noted that lack of sleep significantly affects behavior: after several days without sleep, hallucinations arose, the ability to perceive stimuli from the outside world was lost, and so on.

It is now known that sleep is not just a recovery period for the body, but is a state of paramount importance for maintaining a normal state of consciousness. The brain continues to function actively during sleep.

Sleep is not at all a homogeneous state, but a complex mental process that includes stages slow wave and paradoxical sleep.

Slow-wave ("slow") sleep accounts for 80% of total sleep time. When a person is immersed in slow-wave sleep, the rhythms of the heart and breathing slow down, the muscles relax and the body maximum degree restores his strength.

REM sleep occupies 20% of the time, accompanied by a drop in muscle tone with an increase in brain activity and rapid eye movements. All dreams occur during paradoxical sleep. REM sleep is just as necessary for the body as deep sleep, although its significance for understanding the activity of the psyche is still not entirely clear.

Psychotechnically conditioned altered state of consciousness It is achieved by meditation, which is a way to achieve the desired state of consciousness through the application of a special technique.

The purpose of meditation is narrowing of the field of consciousness enough to cut him off from the outside world. In a state of meditation, the human brain responds rhythmically to the stimulus on which the person has focused. There are several ways to achieve this goal: focusing on thoughts or physical sensations, using rhythmic dances, accompanied by endless repetition of the same word, doing yoga, which emphasizes the possession of bodily postures and breathing.

Some people even achieve such a level of control during meditation that they can slow down their heartbeats or reduce oxygen consumption by up to about 20% at will.

The meditation technique has been widely popularized in the West as supposedly effective method solutions psychological problems. It must be borne in mind that the technique of meditation is an element Eastern culture and is often used within various occult sects. Propaganda of the technique of meditation is aimed at the decomposition of traditional forms of consciousness and prepares the ground for all kinds of destructive, totalitarian and satanic sects. This kind of propaganda under the flag of freedom of conscience is widely carried out in our country and poses a particular danger to young people, many of whom become victims of totalitarian sects.

ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS

ALTERED CONSCIOUSNESS - a special state of consciousness, significantly different from the state that is considered normal for a person. All or almost all aspects of normal consciousness can be subjected to more or less profound changes, for example, the sensory image of the "I" typical of it as a set of ordinary sensations of one's own body, together with the boundaries of the body and its scheme. The “I-concept” of a person, the usual image of the perceived world, the ratio of the world perceived and represented, orientation in time and space, the ability to give self-report in what is happening, to exercise self-control and self-regulation of behavior may change inadequately. There is an impressive variety of I.S. states, including hallucinations and pseudohallucinations, phenomena of derealization and depersonalization, multiple personality, sensory delusions, various mental automatisms, I.S. during sleep (normal or hypnotic), with somnambulism, and many others. A significant number of factors are known that cause I.S. For example, sleep as a special state of the body, as well as prolonged sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, drugs, alcohol, increased or decreased pressure, mental trauma, etc. Not always the states of I.S. are a consequence, a manifestation of psychopathology. One can speak of psychopathology only when these states are not controlled by the individual, are persistent and do not disappear without special therapeutic intervention. In many cases, the state of I.S. are short-term and disappear without a trace along with the disappearance of the factor that caused them. Moreover, known various ways, allowing consciously, purposefully to cause certain states of I.S. (yoga, autogenic training, the method of S. Grof, based on the use of hyperventilation in combination with a certain musical influence). Found in the states of I.S. intellectual experience can be so unique that it has a strong impact on the individual and his subsequent life (for example, prophetic dreams). The range of emotions experienced during IS is huge - from horror to ecstasy. For this reason, the known methods of calling I.S. they often try to make the individual a source of new creative abilities (Sri Auro-bindo and others). It is indisputable that I.S. - a sphere almost unexplored and mysterious. According to some researchers (S. Grof), accumulated in the process of studying I.S. facts are often completely inexplicable from the standpoint of established ideas about the consciousness of the individual, the forms of his interaction with the world, and may eventually lead to their radical changes.

The latest philosophical dictionary. - Minsk: Book House. A. A. Gritsanov. 1999

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