Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy puts the recipient into an altered state of consciousness, which enables them to explore and tune into their inner

How to Explore Altered States of Consciousness Without Psychedelics

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2021-07-11 19:00:12

Psychedelic assisted psychotherapy puts the recipient into an altered state of consciousness, which enables them to explore and tune into their inner experience in order to enhance the quality of their lives and capacity to show up in the world.

But given that these therapies are not available to everyone as yet, we thought it would be helpful to explore some other practices that support the natural (and legal) development of altered states of consciousness. These practices can be used to help prepare individuals who are waiting for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy through the SAS-B scheme, or for those who are not eligible but would like to experience the benefits of self-exploration in altered states of consciousness.

Currently, psychedelics are restricted in most countries, which means that many people have been travelling overseas to visit legal psychedelic retreat providers and psychedelic therapy centres. Unfortunately, due to the restrictions on travel caused by COVID-19, this option is not currently available for most people. People in Australia who have a diagnosis of PTSD and or chronic depression may be eligible for a psychiatric assessment and treatment with MDMA and psilocybin via the SAS-B scheme. In the meantime, for those who are waiting for their SAS-B psychedelic assisted psychotherapy session (and for those who are not eligible) there are benefits from practices that support the natural development of altered states of consciousness.

Psychedelics create a temporary altered state of consciousness induced by a psychedelic compound. While psychedelic altered states are highly specific to particular compounds (e.g. the psilocybin experience is different to the LSD experience) and the range of effects and responses that people experience is wide, there are certain subjective features of the psychedelic experience that occur for most people. These include changes in perception, emotion and cognition. These experiences are characterized by a sense of interconnection, insight and positive feeling with a brain state which makes it easier to shift old beliefs and perceive new ideas. Psychedelics exert these effect in part, by increasing the ‘dynamic flexibility of the brain’ by decreasing the rigidness of major brain networks, such as the Default Mode Network (DMN) and increasing communication across brain regions that don’t normally communicate (Carhart-Harris & Friston, 2019).

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