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Consciousness is a big interest of mine as it probably sh0uld be for everyone as it impacts every moment of your life. What are our brains are paying attention to, what they do when we aren't paying attention, and how we can play with this awareness and stream of information going to our brains. As I have previously dissected, looking at art can largely influence us in varied neurological, cognitive, and psychological aspects. Art leaves a very big impact on our conscious and unconscious minds, but what happens when that consciousness gets altered by more than just art? Broken down simply, consciousness is what you are actively aware of and giving attention to at any given time. There are different definitions of consciousness given it is such a robust field, but it can generally be boiled down to your level of awareness and alertness at a given point or in a given state. Take for example drinking, you are likely going to remain aware of yourself and your situation, but your judgements may be impaired, your cognitive functioning is impacted and all those other fun (or not fun) things that happen when you drink. We're going to look at some of the most common types of altered states and break them down a bit to better understand and possibly utilize them. Some of the most common states of consciousness we all go through are sleeping, using a substance, and zoning out/daydreaming, so these will be the focus of today's article. If you like this article and want each state broken down even more on their own, leave a comment down below!
Sleep it off!
Throughout the day, we experience different levels of consciousness. Levels of consciousness can be characterized and identified by a few different things. Brain wave patterns tell us a lot about what it is doing and what level it is functioning at. We can also take a look at brain area activation, with the proper imaging equipment (an EEG), to look at and identify the different parts of your brain that are "lit up" or active while you are hooked up to the device. Some of the most obvious and vital states of consciousness we all experience occurs whilst you're asleep. Sleep studies utilize things like EEG's and imaging equipment as mentioned earlier to get more details on what's really going on when we go through the different levels of consciousness that sleep provides. That's right, even within sleep you go through different levels of consciousness. Throughout our sleep cycle, we generally go through somewhere between 4-6 (it's different for everyone!) phases of non-REM and REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. These stages of sleep make up your sleep cycle and you go through approximately two or three sleep cycles a night. This accounts for why everyone needs different amounts of sleep, because everyone sleeps so differently. Our sleep cycles and patterns are dictated by our individual circadian rhythm. A circadian rhythm is the roughly 24-hour cycle that humans have an internal clock for. Throughout the day, the circadian rhythm enters different physical, neurological, and biological states at varied times of day dictated by your individual internal clock. Recently, using an app, I discovered that I needed somewhere around 9 hours to not go into sleep debt with my rhythm. I really do need my beauty sleep! Do you know how much sleep you need? What about why you sleep?
What is the point of sleep?
We spend roughly 1/3 of our lives sleeping, this is approximately 26 years of an average humans lifespan. That is a lot of time, but there is a lot of important stuff that happens while we are sleeping and it is a crucial part of our existence. Back in the 40's, 50's and 60's sleep was thought of as a passive activity in which the body basically powered down, all functions ceasing. Now we know that is not true and that at some points of sleep, the brain is as active as when we are awake. A big part of understanding what goes on in these sleep states, is looking at why we need sleep. There are lots of theories and suggestions as to why we need sleep, but there is no doubt that we do need sleep. Many studies have taken different looks and lenses to the questions sleep brings and have come up with differing answers and results. We know that one of the reasons for sleep is to give the body a chance to drain different toxins that build up in our spinal fluid that are incurred throughout our waking hours. If we do not get a chance to drain these toxins, it can lead to serious health issues or even death. This intense and rather ethically questionable study proves the necessity of sleep at the most drastic level. Sleep also provides a time for the vital functions that work hard throughout the day (like your heart, lungs, muscles, etc.) to shut down and recover from a hard days work of their regular functions. This break additionally gives your body a chance to further break down and process all of the delicious (and possibly unhealthy if you're like me and struggle with good eating habits) food you had in the day. Your liver gets to process in peace.
When we sleep, it also gives our brain a chance to process our days, sort and manage all of the information, and get rid of or "prune" old, unused information. Sleep is a detrimental factor on our memory because during the day we are constantly making new memories we don't have clear recollections of yet because they are so new and fresh. When we go to sleep, our brain works to sort through these accumulated memories and keep the good stuff, recycling or scraping the deemed unimportant. Dreaming that occurs in REM sleep is thought to serve the function of forming new associations between all of the information freshly catalogued and what may already be there. Dreaming is a whole different topic and brain wave of its own best saved for a new article ;) Our brains enter distinct and varying brain wave patterns when we sleep due to these background processes at different points of sleep.
Within our sleep time there are four stages we all go through, each of these marked by different brain wave activity, breathing changes and muscle contractions and relaxation. These give us different levels of consciousness as we go through them, such as in the first stage, some people may notice themselves falling asleep. Your muscles start to relax and can sometimes tense suddenly which can sometimes cause what are known as hypnagogic jerks. These sudden body consciousness ordeals are totally normal and are a natural part of falling asleep as your brain starts to shut off certain regions or activate others. This first stage of sleep is particularly light and you may even experience it while awake in case of extreme tiredness or zone out, or if you're working with a hypnotherapist (stay tuned for more information on hypnotherapy ;).
By tracking your sleep, you can start to learn a little bit more about your habits and start to connect different behavior patterns within yourself. When we know our sleep cycle, we can achieve a higher quality of rest that then benefits us throughout the day. This simple, yet large-encompassing sleep tracker is a good place to start for those interested in tapping into their consciousness. Filling out this tracker in the morning is a good way to start your morning tech-free and with positive introspection. Sleep is such an important part of our lives, yet we usually don't know very much about it. Can you tell me how many hours of sleep you usually get in a night? How about how many times you've woken up? By becoming aware of the altered states of consciousness you experience in your day, you can have even more control and influence over yourself and your life as a whole.
Let's Party on Another Plane of Consciousness!
*Drugs, alcohol and other substances should always be used safely, responsibly and consensually at all times
If you've ever had enough drinks that you feel it physically, like getting wobbly or weird vision that's blurry or doubled, maybe you've gotten crazy, uber dizzy like me. These are all very obvious and intense signs of an altered state of consciousness, but don't fear. You don't need as many drinks to reach an altered state as you might think. Because really, what is an altered state? It's a state of mind that differs from normal levels of consciousness. So that warm fuzzy feeling that spreads over you after the first one and the sense of giddiness or pleasure you may feel is the beginning of that altered state. If you take psychedelics, hallucinogenics or really any type of drug, these also bring on major altered states, varying on the drug and other factors. These types of altered states are different than sleep, as you have likely experienced, but they also often lead to sleep, maybe even different sleep than normal. At this time, there haven't really been studies that examine the brain waves of people under the effects of drugs but due to symptoms of drugs we do know about, we can pretty safely assume they alter states of consciousness in a big way. Lately, there has been a big push to reexamine drugs that have long been considered illegal, as the prior linked article discusses. This is largely in part to the shift in the mental health and psychology community to look at the possible benefits of medical usage of drugs like LSD, ketamine and MDMA. These conscious altering drugs in certain doses when used with the guidance of a licensed practitioner are thought to help with mental disorders like depression, anxiety, BPD and PTSD.
There are a few ways these types of substances can impact our consciousness and brains in the drastic way they do. Different drugs work differently depending on the chemicals and compounds in them and the levels of these chemicals/compounds. These chemicals do different things to the vital neurons that run our bodies, like how some drugs replicate certain neurotransmitters, attaching to neurons and messing with its normal functioning. Drugs that are described as downers are suppressants, they work to block off certain receptors throughout your body and brain by suppressing your central nervous system (CNS). Uppers are stimulants, these are going to incite the central nervous system and want it to be working harder in some ways. These drug types bring about different biological, mental and physical reactions and symptoms by influencing things like your metabolism, cardiovascular system and nervous system. The state of consciousness is going to be reliant on these natural reactions and is also going to be dependent on factors like mindset of the taker, drug and type, situational and external stimulus and things you would never even be able to account for. This is one of the many reasons why states of consciousness are not something to be played with lightly, nor should you be taking drugs only for this effect. Any and all drugs and substances should be used responsibly, safely and consensually in environments that are positive, with people that you trust.
Are you always aware?
When is the last time you caught yourself daydreaming at your desk or zoned out so hard while you were driving that you don't really remember the last 5 minutes of driving you did? Did you know that both of these experiences are altered state of consciousness? We really do go through all sorts of states of consciousness throughout the day, but daydreaming/zoning out is one we are all likely familiar with. It is the altered state that most people are able to induce themselves without even realizing it. Daydreaming and zoning out are two terms that are used interchangeably, because the two types of thinking activate similar or the same brain patterns. We enter a theta brain wave state when we daydream which is a higher amplitude brain wave that is often characterized by creative and intuitive thinking and operations. These high amplitude brain waves are heavily implicated in introspective and self-aware thoughts and processes that bridge the gap between the conscious and unconscious minds. Our brain adapt to the situations we are in within a moment and react in such subtle ways, we often aren't even aware of them. Like how your body goes through thermoregulation as the seasons change, or how you are aware of something in a room before you are fully conscious of it. These are all different types of thinking and processing that our brain does naturally because it is in alignment with whatever it deems its primary directives to be. You're brain zones out when it is so comfortable with a situation, it feels safe to think about what if's. Let's think about driving home from work, you've done it how many times now? Your brain believes that the situation you are in is predictable and so it gives muscle memory tasks (like driving or walking or sitting in a class you always attend) to a different part of your brain that runs it in the background, making room for all those fantasies to fly in. All of this shuffling around of priorities is run as such an ingrained part of your day, you likely don't even always notice it happening. Being aware of our own minds is a surprisingly tricky thing, so it turns out.
People who meditate (myself included if you couldn't guess) have more influence and control over their level of awareness due to the cognitive procedures they learn and practice. Meditation as a broad practice generally involves a mental turn inward for the practitioner that brings their awareness to a specific goal or mindset (depending on the type of meditation and a variety of factors). These practices have been around for centuries and are present in different historical, spiritual and religious texts throughout that time. Meditation has not only been around long term, it may even have an effect on your brain wave patterns in the long term. Just like with all of the rest of these examples, there are different levels of meditative states and trances and they are as individual as the practitioners themselves. When in a meditative state, the brain is going to have alpha or theta brain waves, which are both frequencies associated with high level thinking, with theta being the high amp creative thoughts I talked about earlier. Alpha waves are slower amplitude waves that are often associated with high level thinking like task management, topic jumping, and mental resourcefulness. Both of these brain wave patterns are beneficial for the brain and can be utilized in different ways on their own once more understood.
Altered states of consciousness are a tricky topic that we are only beginning to understand as a species, but we do know they are a part of being human. You're human, right? So what are you going to do with the new brain wave knowledge you just learned? Ready to test out altering your own states for yourself with meditation, or maybe you're ready to take a nap. Whatever your case may be, now that you know more about your own brain and how it works you can learn to use it in new and exciting ways for yourself. Just remember, alter your states of consciousness responsibly and safely! If you would like to learn more about sleep, meditation or hypnotherapy, click the purple words ;) Get all the best from All Over straight to your inbox. See you there <3
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