Altering Brain States - By c0verst0ry

Altering Brain States
By c0verst0ry
There are many ways to alter your state of mind. One of them, of course, is meditating. There is also hypnosis and trances. Before we get into that, let me explain the states, or levels, of the mind.
The states of mind are Beta, Alpha, Theta, and Delta. Basically, to put it as simple as possible, you can think of Beta being the wakened or alert state of mind. Alpha is considered the relaxed state. Theta is the state where you have become drowsy. Delta is the shut down state, or sleep. In this article, I'll be explaining how to alter your state of mind using little more than your own mind.
HYPNOSISstate of mind
The first thing that I shall discuss is hypnosis. It is not just some odd thing involving a psychiatrist and a pendulum. It can be very helpful. The reason you may want to try self-hypnosis is because it brings you either into the lower Alpha state of mind or the high Theta state. Once you are in a state like this, you can focus your mind on any one thing of your choosing. Now, time to begin your self-hypnosis.
Find a comfortable place to be. Go somewhere quiet where you will not be disturbed and cannot hear very many noises (you may want to try using ear plugs to help you). Your bedroom is probably the best place. Lie on your back in a soothing position or in a very soft, comfy chair. It does not matter where you sit/lie as long as you find the most comfortable position that suits you. You do not want to cross your legs or arms because you'll end up cutting off the circulation and then start fidgeting. If you try this at night you may find that you'll just keep falling asleep. While this may help you at night, it's no good for what we want. You need to relax and stay awake.
Now, you need to concentrate on relaxing. Move around and change positions until you feel comfortable. Be sure not to rush, though. Just take your time. Concentrate on your breathing. Take slow breaths in and feel yourself relax as you let each breath out. Don't force your breathing. Just breathe slowly until you find a rate that's comfortable for you. You may be surprised at just how slowly and naturally you can breathe. Starting with one of your toes, imagine and feel all the tension float up, and as it does, you can feel that toe becoming very heavy, just like a lead weight. This limp, stiff sensation will be the most relaxed your body may be able to get. You may need to make a conscious effort at this if it's the first time, but keep trying until you feel a difference in how your toe feels. Do the same with the remaining toes, your feet, your legs, then your thighs etc., gradually working your way up your body. Be sure to relax every individual area one at a time, releasing all the tension. You may have to keep going back to different parts of your body as you will probably find that different parts tense up as soon as you stop thinking about it. This is normal at first, but with practice you will find that you will be able to relax your body just about anywhere and very quickly. Don't expect immediate results and don't get upset if it doesn't seem to work at first. If you tried to do anything else that could be complicated, you normally wouldn't expect to be able to do it right away, would you?
Relaxing the the body is important. You will probably find that it will be easier to get to sleep at night if you can relax your body, but once more, you do not want to hypnotize yourself while trying to go to sleep. This will result in you falling ASLEEP.
When you've found that you can relax your body then you can start relaxing your mind. There are many ways of doing this and everyone has to find whatever way suits them, but whichever way you find, it will probably involve your imagination. You can concentrate on a picture of a flower, or going through a tunnel with all intrusive thoughts outside the tunnel, or in an empty room with all intrusive thoughts outside the room and unable to get in, or a candle flame flickering in the darkness. Another thing is to take all the thoughts that are swarming in your mind and visualize them entering a trash can that is locked and taken away from your mental screen.
What you are trying to do is to think of only one thought and thinking of this one thought to such a degree that no other thoughts can enter your mind. If you make yourself aware of your normal, constant thoughts then you'll find that you're constantly thinking random thoughts what you did yesterday, last week, last year - what you have to do tomorrow, next week, next year. You're aware of noises around you and outside, other people near you, the TV etc., etc.. We are constantly bombarded by ever-changing distractions and thoughts and while this is happening you cannot relax, so you need to eliminate the unwanted thoughts and concentrate on one thought of your choosing. Once you are capable of relaxing completely and ignoring all that around you, concentrating only on an individual thought, you have successfully hypnotized yourself.
Many things can be done through hypnosis. Just go out and try any that you can think of. Have fun and be safe.


TRANCES
The next thing that I'll be going over will be trances. A trance is a state of mind where you almost naturally block out all outside thought and focus on a single thing. There are many ways to induce a trance. Some involve becoming extremely tired. Others involve ingesting foreign substances into your body. Still, others require starving or even pain. The simplest trances involve nothing more than a cognitive loop. With a single thing repeating over and over for a long period of time, you will go into a trance. You probably do it all the time without even realizing it. Here I will cover a few ways to enter a trance that involve nothing that is actually harmful to you. Each of these trances will involve constant repetition of something. If you don't concentrate on whatever you wish to achieve (whether it be making a psiball or remote viewing, for example) before you actually start the trance, you may end up going into a trance and concentrating on something that has almost nothing to do with what you want. Set your goal ahead of time. Remember WHY you are entering a trance.
The first trance will require you to make use of some music. It doesn't matter what kind of music as long as it involves more than one actual instrument that you can identify and distinguish between. Sit down and close your eyes. Listen to the music. Single out a single instrument such as drums, piano, or a guitar. Focus strictly on that instrument, gradually drowning the rest of the music so that the only thing you hear is the notes being played by your instrument. As time rolls on and you concentrate solely on that instrument, you will go into a trance.
The next trance still involves music. In this one you will be listening to the beat of the music rather than a single instrument. This method can prove to be slightly harder for some and easier for others since throughout the either song you will be focusing on a single sound. Pick out your favorite part of the song. Listen to the beat of that part and pay attention when it changes. Learn that beat. Now, listen to the song repetitively, concentrating only on that beat for some time. Basically, if your song goes ba-da-da-da-dum-ba-ba-ba-ba, you may want to listen only to the dum part.
This method will deal with nothing more than you chanting. That's right, you'll be vigorously saying the same thing constantly. Go on, pick out a phrase. You may want you phrase to be whatever your goal is. Now, while standing, or moving around, or sitting still (I've found that moving in some way, even if you just rock back and forth, helps a great deal) just start saying your phrase out loud. Be quiet and calm at first. As you say it more, get loud and say it faster and faster. Keep repeating your phrase until it's the only thing that you can think about.
For this one, you'll need either a scented candle or some incense. Light your scented article and allow the room to fill with fragrance. Now, get in a sitting position and close your eyes. Concentrating on your goal, begin to breath calmly and slowly through your nose only. Listen to your breathing. Feel the air come into you, filling your lungs and your body before finally being expelled. Taste your fragrance in the air you breathe. Continue this for a while and you should fall into a trance.
This may be the fun one. All you have to do is dance. Think of a simple dance routine. It can be as easy as stomp your right, stomp your left foot, clap your hands, repeat. It doesn't matter what your dance is, but try not to make it too complicated. You do have to repeat it a lot, remember? Now, starting slowly, do your dance, picking up your tempo constantly until you're pouring with sweat, the tired feeling you had is gone, and all you can think about is your goal and that blasted dance you’re doing.
There you have it. Those are just a few ways to induce a trance and alter the state of mind. Go out and try to find and think of more. Just about any cognitive loop will produce a trance. Try mixing some of these methods, like dancing while focusing on a single beat or any combination. Have fun and please don't try to go into a trance by way of anything illegal or harmful. It's not required.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Take a look at Ness’ article: Trancing