What is Altered States Of Consciousness?
An altered state of consciousness (ASC) is any condition significantly different from a normal waking state, describing induced changes in one’s mental state that are almost always temporary. These states encompass conditions in which awareness, perception, cognition, emotion, time sense, or responsiveness to the environment are significantly altered. The term describes a wide spectrum of experiences—from the commonplace flow state or hypnagogic transition into sleep, to profound mystical experiences or psychedelic journeys that fundamentally challenge one’s sense of self and reality.
Altered states differ from ordinary consciousness not in degree but in kind. They involve multivariate shifts across multiple dimensions of subjective experience simultaneously: changes in temporal perception, body awareness, emotional intensity, perceptual vividness, and the sense of a bounded self. To qualify as an ASC, multiple dimensions need to be altered such that the individual believes their mental functioning is distinctly different from certain general norms for their normal waking state.
Origins & Lineage
ASCs have likely been part of the human cognitive repertoire for at least 100,000 years, with archaeological evidence for institutionalized ASCs found in human societies across the globe and throughout human history. Ancient civilizations used excessive dancing, meditation, and mind-altering plants to modulate the activity of the mind. Shamanic traditions across cultures developed sophisticated techniques for entering altered states to serve their communities.
By 1892, the expression “altered state of consciousness” was in use in relation to hypnosis. In academia, the expression was used as early as 1966 by Arnold M. Ludwig and brought into common usage from 1969 by Charles Tart. Tart’s classic book “Altered States of Consciousness” (1969) and “Transpersonal Psychologies” (1975) were widely used texts that were instrumental in allowing these areas to become part of modern psychology.
William James’s “The Varieties of Religious Experience,” comprising his edited Gifford Lectures delivered at the University of Edinburgh between 1901 and 1902, concerned the psychological study of individual private religious experiences and mysticism. Due to the behaviourist paradigm, altered states were dismissed as scientific inquiry during the early 20th century, pathologized and seen as symptoms of intoxication or demonic possession, before their return into psychology began with William James’s interest in mystical experiences and drug-induced states.
How It’s Practiced
Altered states can be accessed through numerous pathways. These states can be induced through both chemical means, such as psychoactive drugs, and non-chemical methods like meditation or hypnosis. Methods include breathwork, dance, lucid dreaming, sexual intercourse, sleep deprivation, fasting, music, meditation, sensory deprivation, hypnosis, psychoactive substances, and physical exercise.
Meditation focuses on training the mind to focus on a single point of concentration, such as the breath, a mantra, or an object, with practitioners aiming to achieve deep concentration and mental clarity leading to inner peace and spiritual insight. Sound therapy uses frequencies and rhythms that can induce trance states through practices like shamanic drumming, singing bowls, and binaural beats. High ventilation breathwork uses deliberate, intensified breathing to create altered states, offering an accessible, drug-free way to reach these states.
Classical psychedelics such as psilocybin and LSD shed light on the neurophysiology of altered states, with effects mainly mediated by agonism of serotonin receptors. Many contemplative traditions explicitly aim at dissolving the sense of self by eliciting altered states through meditation, while classical psychedelics produce significant disruptions of self-consciousness, a phenomenon known as drug-induced ego dissolution.
Altered States Of Consciousness Today
Contemporary seekers encounter altered states through multiple avenues. Meditation has entered mainstream clinical practice, with hospitals incorporating it as psychological intervention. Psychedelic-assisted therapy has experienced a renaissance, with research institutions studying psilocybin and MDMA for treatment-resistant depression and PTSD. Breathwork facilitators offer group sessions and retreats combining holotropic or high-ventilation techniques. Sound healing practitioners lead experiences with gongs, crystal bowls, and binaural beat technology.
Retreat centers worldwide offer week-long or month-long intensive meditation training in traditions including Vipassana, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism, and non-dual inquiry. Ayahuasca ceremonies continue in their traditional Amazonian context while spreading to urban centers globally. Contemporary research combines contemplative practices with neuroscience, using fMRI and EEG to map brain changes during altered states. Studies examine brain changes in relation to various altered state interventions including Soma breathwork, Vibroacoustic Therapy, virtual reality meditation, and cannabis in therapeutic settings.
Common Misconceptions
Altered states are not inherently therapeutic or spiritual. Pathological and uncontrollable ways people experience these altered states include psychosis, epilepsy, or brain trauma. The quality of the experience depends heavily on set, setting, guidance, and integration.
Altered states are not inherently mystical. While profound experiences may occur, many altered states are mundane—the hypnagogic state before sleep, the absorption in reading, or highway hypnosis. Not all altered states dissolve the ego or produce lasting insight.
Meditation does not require silencing the mind. Meditation is not about silencing or quieting the mind but includes methods of increasing awareness, the capacity to ‘be with’ all conscious processes including sounds, sensations, vision, thought and emotion.
Scientists cannot agree on what constitutes an ordinary state of consciousness, therefore altered states of consciousness don’t have a clear definition. This definitional ambiguity persists despite widespread recognition that these states matter for understanding human consciousness.
How to Begin
Start with accessible, legal methods that require minimal external support. Establish a daily meditation practice using apps like Insight Timer or Waking Up, or attend a local meditation center offering instruction in basic mindfulness or concentration techniques. Explore breathwork through recordings of Wim Hof method or attend a facilitated session.
Read William James’s “The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature,” comprising his edited Gifford Lectures on natural theology delivered at the University of Edinburgh between 1901 and 1902. For contemporary perspectives, explore Charles Tart’s anthology “Altered States of Consciousness” (1969) or Michael Pollan’s “How to Change Your Mind” for accessible journalism on psychedelic science.
Attend a multi-day silent meditation retreat once basic practice is established. Consider working with experienced teachers rather than attempting intensive practices alone. Approach psychedelic experiences only with proper preparation, experienced guides, and legal access where available. Prioritize safety, gradual exposure, and integration support over intensity of experience.