States of Consciousness

An altered state of consciousness (ASC), also called altered state of mind or mind alteration, is any condition which is significantly different from a normal waking beta wave state.

There are 5 levels of brain frequencies, each representing a different state of consciousness:

Gamma – When you are highly alert and actively taking in information, learning, etc. and your brain is most active.
Beta – The fully awake, alert state that you experience most of the day.
Alpha – Alpha state occurs when you are awake, but your mind is on autopilot. Daydreaming, fantasizing, relaxed or detached.
Theta – Theta state is an even deeper state of consciousness – this is where you are when you are dreaming or during hypnosis.
Delta – Delta is the deepest level of sleep where there is minimal brain activity.

Meditation allows us to reach alpha state most often, and theta state in the most practiced meditators. Each of these states produce a different kind of intuitive experience and allow us to access different levels of our multidimensional self.

Types of Meditation
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, the thing with meditation is – it can be whatever you want it to be. Walking in the woods is a form of meditation. Being creative can be meditative. Cleaning your house can be meditative. I listened to an entire podcast that discussed masturbation as a form of meditation. So don’t get caught up the traditional notion of meditation – any activity that allows you to put your brain into an altered state is what you’re after.

I find that most novices don’t realize that there are different types of meditation and each type lends itself to an entirely different purpose.

Non-Thinking Meditation
The most commonly thought of type of meditation is the traditional “non-thinking” meditation where you sit and attempt to have as few thoughts as possible. This type of meditation lends itself easily to alpha state, theta state, and is imperative for delta state which can be reached through transcendental meditation. This is the type of meditation that seems to be most intimidating to people, as a frequently asked question or suggestion for blog topics from my readers seems to be, “How can I stop the chatter in my mind?”

The key with this type of meditation is not to block out all thought, but rather ignore it and give your thoughts no attention, and therein lies the most common misunderstanding about meditation. The purpose is not to stop thinking, but rather distract yourself from it.

This style of meditation is best used for reaching higher states of consciousness and getting in touch with intuition. It can also be used as a form of relaxation.

Chanting or Mantra Meditation
This kind of meditation incorporates repetition as a way to ignore your thoughts and help you achieve alpha, theta, or delta state. You’ll notice that when you are doing a repetitive, monotonous activity, your mind tends to wander into a more detached (alpha) state. This is the goal of mantras and chants during meditation. These are also optimal types of meditation if you are attempting to undo negative thought patterns or solidify an intention for manifestation. Often times mantras and chants are incorporated into the non-thinking meditation as a way to deflect incoming thoughts.

This “repetition” can also be achieved through physical actions, not just sitting still, and I gave several examples of that above – cleaning the house. Creative projects. Walking.

This style of meditation is best used for reaching higher states of consciousness and getting in touch with intuition. It can also be used as a form of relaxation.

Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation uses a form of heightened awareness as a way to ignore your thoughts by bringing all of your awareness down into the physical body. This type of meditation is exceptionally grounding and fantastic for anxiety. If you find yourself feeling “out of body” more often than not, constantly thinking about the future or the past, I would highly recommend this style of meditation to bring you back into the now.

Visualization Meditation
Meditations that use visualizations also use a strategy that focuses your thoughts instead of ignoring them. Most meditations that are specifically used to access intuition use a visualization technique. This style of meditation is also great for setting intentions for manifestation.

Guided Meditation
Guided meditations are when you listen to another person’s voice instead of your own. A guided meditation can be one geared toward visualization, a mantra or chant, or mindfulness. The upside to this type of meditation is that someone else is doing the “thinking” for you, you’re just following along, which makes it somewhat easier to reach a meditative state. Hypnosis, at the most basic level, is a form of guided meditation.

You’ll probably want to explore these various styles of meditation to discover which is right for you – or you may even use different styles of meditation for different purposes.

There’s so much more to be said about states of consciousness and the type of information that can be reached through them, the level of self that can be accessed, etc. but I’ll save that for another day!

Xo,

Ash