STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

A Few Quotes…

To live only for some future goal is shallow. It’s the sides of the mountain that sustain life, not the top. –

Pirsig

Everything has been figured out, except how to live. –

Sartre

What is this mind? Who is hearing these sounds? Do not mistake any state for Self-Realization, but continue To ask yourself more intensely, What is it that hears? -Foyan

It is as though you have an eye That sees all forms But does not see itself This is how your mind is. Its light penetrates everywhere And engulfs everything, So why does it not know itself? - Bassaui

CONSCIOUSNESS: Awareness of both external and internal stimuli or events

Controlled processes: Most alert state in which individuals actively focus their efforts toward a goal

Automatic processes: State that requires minimal attention and does not interfere with other activities

What Happens When We Sleep?

5 Stages of Sleep

SLEEP DISORDERS

Insomnia: The inability to sleep; not feeling well-rested the next day.

Somnambulism: _________________; occurs during the early stages of sleep

Nightmare: A frightening dream that awakens the sleeper from REM sleep.

Night terror: Sudden arousal from sleep, with intense fear.

Narcolepsy: The overwhelming urge to fall asleep.

Sleep apnea: The sleeper stops breathing during sleep.

Why Do We Sleep?

_____________________ theory: Sleep restores, replenishes, and rebuilds our brains and bodies.

_______________________ theory: Sleep prevents animals from wasting their energy and harming themselves during the parts of the day/night to which they have not adapted.

Circadian Rhythm

Jet Lag = Usually takes 1 day per 1 hour of travel to recover.

Sleep DeprivationWhat do you think the record is?

Why Do We Dream?

3 Theories

Wish fulfillment: (Freud) Dreaming is an unconscious attempt to fulfill needs that cannot be met.

Manifest content is a dream’s surface content in symbolic form.

Latent content is the dream’s hidden content or unconscious meaning.

Cognitive theory: Dreaming involves processing information, memories and possibly problem solving

Activation-synthesis view: Dreams are powered by the spontaneous and random firing of neurons.

Dream Questions:

Do all people dream in color?

Does my dog dream?

Do men and women dream about different things?

Why can’t we remember all of our dreams?

Do blind people have visual dreams?

Hypnosis

HYPNOSIS: state of altered consciousness in which the individual is unusually receptive to suggestion

Hypnosis Questions:

What is it like to be hypnotized?

Can everyone be hypnotized?

Isn’t hypnosis some kind of crazy, New-Age, occult, mind-control thing?

If you hypnotize me can you make me do things I would not do otherwise?

If a hypnotist makes me regress to age 6 and draw a picture, will I draw like a 6-year-old?

What is hypnosis used for?