What’s an “altered” state?

This question came into my awareness recently. I found it fascinating to ponder.

By definition, an altered state is usually considered a mindset shift from what we normally experience. It’s usually identified as a distortion of our normal version of reality.

Here’s the current [popular] definition for “altered state” –

A state of mind that differs from the normal state of consciousness, typically produced by drugs, physical or mental illness, or hypnosis.

This would suggest that we’re “normal” when we’re not under the influence of something. In that light, let’s expand the definition.

What if an altered state was produced by?

• Drugs
• Medications (the “real” drugs marketed to us every day)
• Physical or Mental illness
• Emotional and Spiritual illness (which we often neglect)
• Hypnosis
• Lack of Sleep (which is so common for most of us)

And to name a few other things that influence us:

• Excess stress, noise and anxiety
• Constant connection to devices and inputs
• Societal conditioning and programming
• Trauma and internal wounds

All of the things above influence us heavily. They create mindset shifts. They distort our version of reality.

All of those things seem like they would create an altered state… right?

Which leads to the question – What is our “normal” state?

I think that question will challenge most people. I also believe most people have lost touch with their normal state.

Our normal state is the real human experience.

That means walking on the Earth that we come from. It means daily nourishment of real food when we’re actually hungry. It means proper sleep when our system is ready to rest. It means embracing our natural curiosity to explore, experiment and evolve organically.

Being human means putting down the phone. It means investing more time with nature and ourselves. It means learning how to be with our emotions and stressors. It means facing our trauma and healing.

Being human takes us back to our ancestral roots and origins.

In that light, we’ve abandoned our normal state.

We’ve become conditioned to accept stress, noise and anxiety. We’ve chosen couches and screens instead of walks and reflection. We’ve been programmed to think pills and pizza will make us feel better. We’ve been taught to hide and numb our real pain.

This all sparks a better question – How often are you in an “altered” state?

To be continued…

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