My casual observation about society is that a lot of people like using a lot of drugs. If you include alcohol and tobacco as drugs, then this world is full of a bump of people that like to get high. People will claim a lot of reasons why they want to consume these substances. Part of the reason is that people like to escape reality and alter their state of consciousness for a while. There are a lot of ways to get this done though without touching a drug. I am grateful for all the ways we can alter our state of consciousness safely and sanely.
Altering our state can lead to many perceived benefits. How real they may be doesn’t matter so as long as they are believed in. Altered states give our minds a break. Altered states can make us more creative. An altered state can also remove our minds of mental clutter. I am starting to learn more and more how to alter my states.
Finding a flow state alters consciousness a lot. Getting into flow on a project creates great satisfaction. This is so easy to do once we find the kind of work we like to do. There is really no tools needed for this, we just push our focus and it happens.
I spend time meditating and for me this is nothing but altered consciousness. I use the Calm app and drift off and come back to reality. I think it really helps me manage my thoughts a lot.
Flow and meditation alter my state of consciousness a lot, they put me into a calm place. I also go the other direction when I’m in the gym. When in the gym an intense aggression comes out. This is definitely an altered state. I go to a different place when lifting weights, I always feel really good coming back from this more primal place. This is not an out of control place, just a place that is more aggressive. You can’t workout hard without a touch of aggression, and that is really what I am inducing.
Altering state seems to be just another tool in our box for navigating this world. I don’t know if there is a lot of science behind some of these things, or if we even understand the science. I think this might be filed under “if it works for you then do it.” I am so happy I have found a few things that work for me, and continue to find more.