Sound and Altered States of Consciousness
An exploration into how sound meditation can induce deep states of consciousness
By Temple Haze
Have you ever had a moment where your perception of time melts away? Where you were so focused and poised that only the present moment existed?
Have you ever attended a meditation or sound journey and felt as if you were taken somewhere else? Maybe you felt deep relaxation, a feeling of floating, saw colors behind your closed eyes.
Have you ever been in a conversation with someone and then mid-conversation realized you have no idea what was said?
These are all examples of altered states of consciousness (ASC).
All Art by Emil Bisttram
What are Altered States of Consciousness?
An ASC is a psychological state that is abnormal or different to your day to day, waking consciousness. What is essentially happening is the activity of the brain lowers into a slower rate of brainwave activity, so everything slows down. In this altered state, the perceiver becomes deeply immersed in the present moment.
Neuroscience and neurobiology have taught us that when our minds slow down into these lower brainwave states (known as Alpha and Theta brainwaves) a plethora of positive benefits are achieved; such as stress release, nervous system restoration, and improved memory recall. In these states our brains automatically move into a recovery mode, information is processed, and you're brought into a state of rest.
One intriguing part of ASC is, while technically the brainwaves are slowing down, there is a feeling of opening up and of elevating through one's own consciousness. Many people report an abundant feeling of being fully present and “in” the experience itself. Time, space and bodily perception can melt away, sometimes even bringing us into a somewhat psychedelic frame of mind. In these states there is no thinking mind, there is no judgment, there is only the acute experience of “Being”.
It is only once we come back into our waking state of consciousness that we can reflect and decipher what it is that has happened in such altered states.
In these states there is no thinking mind, there is no judgment, there is only the acute experience of “Being”.
The Benefits of Altered States of Consciousness
What is fascinating about ASC, is that our brain actually needs to drop into these states to maintain its wellbeing and good health. In fact, when we don't cultivate enough time in these states, our brains will go on autopilot and drop into an ASC automatically, sometimes when you least expect it. This is what happens when you drop out of a conversation, such as in our example above, when you daydream staring out of a window, when you read a page of a book only to realize you have no idea what you just read, or often times when you are driving a car and forget exactly how you got where were are going. When such “drop out’s” occur, it is a sign that we should give our mind more space and time to be in prolonged ASC.
In addition to the neurological effects on the brain, there are many emotional and psychological benefits from cultivating prolonged ASC.
These include:
A feeling of flow
A feeling of unity or “oneness”
A feeling of receptiveness and openness
Appreciation and enhanced sense of gratitude
Improvement of mood
Mental and emotional insights
Mystical experiences
A release of negative emotions
Oceanic Boundlessness (Dietrich)
Changed meaning perception
The list goes on and on…
There are many different ways to reach ASC. The most sustainable of which are meditation, singing, and sound meditation. Of course there is also extensive research on how Psychedelics bring us in ASC, but here we are focusing on self induced methods.
Sound Meditation is one of the best practices to give your brain prolonged periods of ASC, therefore promoting optimal brain health and wellbeing.
ASC & Sound
Sound Meditation is one of the best practices to give your brain prolonged periods of ASC, therefore promoting optimal brain health and wellbeing.
When one facilitates a sound meditation with proper training and equipment, they will create an experience that encourages brainwave entrainment (this means that your brainwaves follow the soundwaves of the sound meditation) into Alpha and Theta states (ASC).
Studies from the British Academy of Sound Therapy have found that such Sound Meditations show immediate effect on the majority of participants, with most encountering different states of ASC, even without any previous meditation experience.
This research shows that sound meditation is one of the best methods to reach optimum brain health and wellbeing, while opening the world of ASC for anyone who is interested.
There are also no contraindications for most people when working with sound meditations.
For example, in a 90 minute sound journey, you could potentially be in an ASC for more than 80 minutes, giving your brain ample time to recover and heal.
If you are interested in learning more about entrainment we have a great article on our blog that you can read by clicking the button below.
Would you like to harness the tools to create your own sound meditations and induce Altered States of Consciousness?
If you are curious about diving deeper into the research behind ASC and sound click on the link below
https://www.britishacademyofsoundtherapy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/ASC-research-article-HealthySound.pdf