Ways to alter consciousness without the use of psychoactives?

[BlindSoothsayer]

I can't believe I forgot religion. If you read Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley, he makes a lot of comparisons between religious experiences and drug-induced states.

 

[herbavore]

Wear a blindfold for three days straight.

 

[muvolution]

Most of the physical methods are variations on the theme of applying stressors to a certain body system to achieve somewhat predictable results, so perhaps a meta-analysis of the methods would be more revealing and perhaps cover new territory?

 

[MyDoorsAreOpen]

I can't believe I forgot religion. If you read Heaven and Hell by Aldous Huxley, he makes a lot of comparisons between religious experiences and drug-induced states.

Are you talking about the fact that religions (to varying degrees) incorporate non-drug mystical practices, or are you talking about the power of being among a group of believers, similar to a contact high or group hypnosis?

I've talked before about my visit, as a non-Jew, to the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. I felt a definite spiritual energy there, a distinct sense that I was standing on holy ground. But when I told this story to an acquaintance of mine who's an avid traveler and a very polite atheist, she said that she felt the same thing at the Wailing Wall, but attributed it entirely to the behavioral cues of the devout believers gathered there.

In any given religious group, not nearly everyone needs to be a mystic. In fact, only a very small number are needed. The other congregants simply believe in and vicariously experience the spiritual ecstasy that their revered mystics, shamans, or mediums do.

 

[rangrz]

I don't imagine this person's consciousness is exactly intact.

 

[TJ5]

LOL at dickheads on yahoo answers, agreed. Water deprivation I understand will bring on hallucinations
just like fasting, although I dont remember ever going without water more than 24hrs & although thirsty
did not reach an altered state. I tried drug free mmeditation during the 2yrs I was completely drug an al-
cohol free & failed miserably at being able to accomplish the ability to eradicate ALL thoughts from my damn
non-stop thinking brain, BUT the closest thing I did manage by accident some 30 yrs ago was going into a hypnotic
trance sitting in the very small but cozy waiting room of my psychologist. It was dark, I was alone in the waiting room
and didnt turn on the light because I became focused on the mini Xmas tree with its rapid blinking multicolored
lights--just gazing and fixated on the lights to the point where I was in a trance--and without the aid of drugs. It wasnt
planned so probably why I was able to be so relaxed. Thats something I wanna try again.

 

[XThexXTank]

Works pretty damn good

 

[KeyMiNDer]

kunnalini

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Daily meditation will eventually produce feelings on par with the extreme euphoria of many notorious drugs, albeit qualitatively superior--one must simply find out to know.

Fasting cleanses; it can be depressing and even torturous initially but will invariably clean out the mind and leave one feeling physically healthy, not to mention the first few meals back will give a comforting contentment.

Exercise speaks for itself.

Socialization with the genuine desire to find out about someone else produces euphoria--something I recently re-discovered...

 

[steingalkrs]

Whats the difference in the brain from taking MDAI or being reborn again (religion), or talking in tongues?

It's our own serotonin reseptors being tweaked. Using drugs to achieve some shorcuts definately opens up strange perceptions of reality, what is it indeed? We are made of subatomic particles that are noe there when not looking - being waves - and when observing them they appear and are two three at a time if we want, or gone in other dimensions? We are made of this...

Our brain is either one huge playground of devine possibilities with the ability to walk through walls, build matter by though or even float as a consciousness in a vast subspace of energy... Those that know know!

 

[webbykevin]

Falling in love, losing a partner, hitting your thumb with a hammer, bereavement, skydiving, self induced asphyxiation, probably heaps more.

 

[Jrhguitarist1]

Music can do it for me

 

[gforgregarious]

Apparently lucid dreaming is a thing, though I can't advise on how to achieve it at will.

 

[P A]

Vigorous masturbation.

And perhaps yoga.

 

[webbykevin]

My wife suggested gratitude and forgiveness as ways to alter consciousness.

 

[ParappaTheRapper]

Works pretty damn good

lololoollol

 

[methamaniac]

^
lulz
Warning:
This drug has possible side effects
and has been known to cause death in some.
May cause drowsiness, be careful when operating heaving machinery or driving.
Do not take in conjuction with stupidity
or death is a likely outcome.