I’ve seen it mentioned in a variety of places (usually in the context of humans naturally seeking altered states of consciousness) that often-times children will experiment with holding their breath until they pass out. The other example that is sometimes given in conjunction with that is the practice of spinning around in a circle to induce dizziness. I’m not sure if that eventually ends in fainting either, but I suspect it might.
Just curious if anyone has ever experimented with either of these techniques (as a child or otherwise) and what their experience was. Are they “safe” to try out? If you see your kids doing them, should you stop them? Do the states of mind achieved during these experiences yield valuable spiritual fruits?
Does anybody know of any other super-simple, completely “natural” methods for entering altered or trance states such as these? Singing and dancing for extended periods of time springs to mind… What about intentionally hyperventilating?
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A few interesting links on the subject:
http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2216.html
http://www.wonderquest.com/breathing-freezing-blinking.htm
http://www.wikihow.com/Hold-Your-Breath-for-Long-Periods-of-Time
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,,1073234,00.html
I don’t know if this constitutes as natural, but similar to when you stare at a candle flame in a relaxed open state, the colors of objects around you change. Almost like morphing colors form one to the next; I’ve been told that this is natural eye processes that are constantly adjusting? and that bright objects like a candle just make you aware of that (what the mind has already edited out). I’ve even been able to see the so called “blind spot” on the retina in this state; or at least that’s what I thought I saw.
A candle is not necessary though, any object that’s bright, or a light color, will do. I’ve just been sitting in a room with 4 windows, the sun shining, and just accidentally gone into that state.
Further, I’ve also noticed that when I’m in that state, sometimes what I’m thinking actually morphs objects into other objects that are related to what I’m thinking. For instance, I could be staring at someone’s face in this state, think of Frankenstein, and the face morphs into Frankenstein. Come to think of it, that’s probably what led me to some of my psychokinesis experiments. Though, I’ve never consciously pushed it to the limits, so I’m not sure what’s possible. Anybody else?
There’s the mirror-gazing thing that Burroughs & co. used to do in the Beat Hotel in Paris in the 50’s. Just stay motionless, sat staring into your own eyes in a large mirror. They used to really go for it, getting people to hand water, food & uppers to keep going for a day or two at a time I think. I’ve only tried it a few times straight - quite interesting, but I didn’t stick with it enough. It’s certainly an interesting thing when you’ve had a few mushrooms. Staring into my own pupils seemed to leave them as a kind of connector, a dark but substantial space of personal essence that threaded through each of the images of myself (past selves?) and my surroundings that unfolded. There seems to be a particular way the images resolve - I would get the sensation that everything apart from the pupils was just vanishing, dissolving, then it would all re-form around the pupils in a slightly different way. I imagine a similar thing happens when you’re straight and stick with it for longer.
As for hyperventilating, that touches on all the breathwork techniques like Holotropic breathing, Rebirthing and Vivation. Each is more than just hyperventilation - you need to learn good technique for varying breath & attention to get the most from it. But that can be immensely powerful - some say as powerful as psychedelics, though I’ve never quite reached those levels with it.
Pain’s an interesting one. I saw a documentary about self-harm a while ago which discussed why most people doing this are female. One doctor astutely pointed out that he thought many men self-harmed for similar reasons (releasing pressure, depression, inner anger, etc.), but directed it via violent sports, or getting into fights in pubs. Anyway, I was struck by how so many of the teenage girls interviewed said it always felt better when they cut themselves. Obviously self-harm’s no wonder cure for depression, but the altered state that the pain induces seemed to be the large part of the motivation for doing it - not actual self-destruction.
self-harm…………………fine line between pain and pleasure.
as an athlete i find that running until one cannot any longer to be an almost transcendendant experience. in soccer games i will routenely run flat out for 50-60 yards as a natural part of the game and always find myself grinning as i struggle to regain my breath. this form of running is distinct from jogging which can go on for hours. i am refering to an all out, physically shattering sprint that only last for seconds.
the whirling dirvishes of afganistan spin until they reach a transcendant state. tis is part of the same process that we are talking about. the action of over-loading our air supply does something to our consciousness that we seem to inately need. we certainly admire those who can function toward that state.
Yeah! You mean that kind of running where you feel like you might throw up. There is something oddly awesome about that!
I practice MMA and have been on the receiving end of being choked out unconscious in training lotsa times… I’ve never gotten anything consciousness altering from it, other than that same “the curtains/walls closing in on you” feeling of a black-out. There is a sense of time distortion though, as you rarely recognize the point at which you go to sleep, and when you’re revived, the “huh, wha happened?” is in full effect.
Spinning I’ve done in a limited way, and experienced slight euphoria, but not much else.
Wait, what is MMA?
the all-out sprinting is something i found the need to do since i was a child. i was a really fast hundred yarder as a kid in high school though i hated track and field…….it seemed to attract all of the retentives………so i stuck to my real love, soccer, where the nature of the artist is admired. similar to the aesthetic appreciation americans have for basketball.
anyhow, the all-out sprinting seems to take one to a metaphysical state where things connect in different ways. as an artist i consciously and unconsciouly understand the necessity for this process as a way for gaining insight……cracking open the head?
MMA is mixed martial arts… combination of standup fighting [boxing/muy thai/karate] and grappling [wrestling/judo/jiu-jitsu]. Best known example is probably the UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship], but variations of the training model, in one way or another, has existed for years… Anyways, submission chokes [from Judo and Jiu-Jitsu], having your air cut off and the valsava [sp?] reflex are fairly common…