This theoretical study attempts to reflect the general problematic of modern society in complexity, the gradual constitution and development of estranged being as well as the contemporary effort to interconnect being as an integral whole. The study also contains an analysis of altered states of consciousness, which are understood as a certain means to view the world as integrated. We use the notion of consciousness to define the altered states of consciousness. The structure of the thesis is divided into five chapters. While the first chapter is focused on description and analysis of alienation and other negative aspects of modern society, the second chapter is based on this reflection of the crisis of western society. Its subject is the work of several scientists who contribute by their works to a qualitative change of the mechanistic and materialistic conception of the world and who promote holistic approach to reality. The key topic of the third chapter is phenomenon of consciousness and interdisciplinary theories of consciousness. We deal also with the qualitative altered states of consciousness, that offer some potential. The fourth chapter concentrates on the history and methods of research of altered states of consciousness and delineates their basic characteristic and their functions. The...

Classic psychedelic substances, such as lysergic acid diethylamide and the active compound in magic mushrooms, psilocybin, are being studied again in a renaissance of psychedelic research. Psychedelic substances have profound effects on perception, emotion, and cognition, as well as the capacity to induce mystical-type experiences and ego-dissolution. Recent clinical studies indicate that these substances have positive effects on patient populations and healthy participants, both acutely and long-term. Neuroimaging studies show that psychedelics alter neural integration, by the disintegration of normally stable resting state networks, and increasing network connectivity between normally anticorrelated networks. This thesis will review the phenomenological characteristics of the psychedelic-induced altered state of consciousness, the therapeutic potential of the psychedelic-induced altered state of consciousness, and neuroimaging studies on the psychedelic state. Two theoretical accounts are compared on the brain basis of psychedelic-induced altered state of consciousness. From the recent research on psychedelics a novel theory of conscious states has evolved, the entropic brain theory. This theory will be compared to the integrated information theory, a well-established theory of consciousness within cognitive neuroscience.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2016-10-28T08:57:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thales Barbosa Ramalho.pdf: 827307 bytes, checksum: 477da781d53d76afaa9ba540038f5464 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-28T08:57:31Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Thales Barbosa Ramalho.pdf: 827307 bytes, checksum: 477da781d53d76afaa9ba540038f5464 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-08-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The current research aimed to develop a critical analysis and bibliographic survey of the knowledge produced in the scientific literature of the Brazilian Psychology between 2000 and 2015, in what regards religious trance, trance and altered states of consciousness. The analysis purpose was to present when, where, who and how the studies in Psychology regarding religious trance have been conducted. To do so, a search in Brazilian journals of Psychology Qualis A1, A2, B1 and B2 was made from online articles published between 2000 and 2015, indexed on basis of virtual data BVS-Psi, with at least one psychologist author or coauthor. Taking into consideration these standards, the bibliographic review resulted in 17 articles, which were analyzed based on the following analysis categories: (1) Identification Category, (2) Theoretic-Methodologic Category, (3) Content Category. It was possible to observe a majority of psychologist authors (82,60%), with concluded or attending postgraduate education, linked with postgraduate institutions. There was a visible growing movement of publications between the years 2002 and 2010, which stabilized in 2011, but start decreasing in 2012 and 2013, and there were no more publications on the following years of 2014 and 2015. Some themes where recurrent, prevailing articles about religious trance (trance experiences characterization and differential diagnosis between positive religious trance experiences and psychopathological experiences), followed by articles related with the use of trance as a therapeutic tool through hypnosis, altered conscious experiences induced by psychoactive substances, and trance as an innate human potentiality related with aspects of spirituality. It was possible to raise some contributions of these studies for the Clinic Psychology and the psychotherapist work. It was possible to raise some contributions of these studies for the Clinic Psychology and the psychotherapist work, like: 1) the apparent therapeutic effects brought by religious trance experiences (search for health/ cure, insight/ self-knowledge); 2) differences between positive religious trance experiences from disruptive psychopathological experiences; 3) some articulations with theoretical-methodologic thoughts of Psychology, for understanding the meanings behind religious trance experiences; 4) Possible applications of techniques related to trance and conscious alteration in psychotherapy. But the low number of publications, considering the importance of the theme and its possible contributions for the Clinical Psychology, indicate that more studies in Brazil are necessary. (Support by CAPES) / A presente pesquisa teve por objetivo realizar uma análise crítica e mapeamento bibliográfico do conhecimento produzido na literatura científica da Psicologia no Brasil entre 2000 e 2015, no que se refere a transe religioso, transe e estados alterados de consciência. A análise buscou apresentar um levantamento sobre quando, onde, quem e como vem sendo desenvolvidos os estudos na Psicologia em relação à temática. Para tanto foi realizada uma busca em periódicos brasileiros de Psicologia com conceito Qualis/ CAPES A1, A2, B1 e B2 indexados na base de dados virtual BVS-Psi, por artigos online publicados de 2000 a 2015, contando com ao menos um psicólogo entre os autores de publicação. Levando em conta esses critérios, a revisão bibliográfica resultou em 17 artigos que foram analisados a partir das seguintes categorias de análise: (1) Características de Identificação, (2) Características Teórico-Metodológicas, (3) Características de Conteúdo. Foi possível observar uma prevalência por autores da Psicologia (82,60%), pós-graduados ou cursando pós-graduação. Houve crescimento na quantidade de publicações de 2002 a 2011, havendo uma redução em 2012 e 2013, notando-se uma inexistência de publicações nos anos seguintes a partir de 2014. Algumas temáticas foram recorrentes, prevalecendo artigos sobre transe religioso (caracterização de experiências de transe e diagnóstico diferencial entre experiências positivas de transe religioso e experiências psicopatológicas), seguidos por artigos relacionados ao uso do transe por meio da hipnose como técnica terapêutica, experiências de alteração de consciência induzidas pelo uso de substâncias psicoativas, e o transe como uma potencialidade inata do ser humano, relacionada a aspectos da espiritualidade. Foi possível levantar algumas contribuições desses estudos para a Psicologia Clínica e atuação do psicoterapeuta, como: 1) os efeitos terapêuticos que as experiências de transe religioso parecem trazer (busca de saúde/ cura, reflexão/ autoconhecimento); 2) a diferenciação das experiências positivas de transe religioso de experiências psicopatológicas de ruptura; 3) algumas articulações com reflexões teórico-metodológicas da psicologia para o entendimento dos significados das vivências de transe religioso; 4) aplicações possíveis de técnicas envolvendo a alteração de consciência e transe na psicoterapia. Mas o baixo número de publicações, levando em conta a importância desta temática e as contribuições possíveis para a Psicologia Clínica, aponta para uma reflexão maior sobre pesquisas a serem desenvolvidas no Brasil. (Apoio CAPES)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 438-447).

A temporalidade compõe os atos da pessoa no mundo. A subjetividade assume papel importante, a partir dela é que o tempo adquire sentido e significado. Desta forma, a percepção subjetiva do tempo torna-se essencial para a percepção da realidade, delineando uma distinção entre o decurso temporal dos eventos vividos ao longo da vida, o que implica que o processamento da informação temporal é indispensável ao cotidiano. A Nova Estética Experimental, que estuda estímulos musicais ou outros fenômenos estéticos por meio de experimentos, nos quais atributos musicais são manipulados, é um campo de pesquisa que se dedica a investigações sobre o tempo subjetivo e visa verificar quais são seus efeitos sobre algum aspecto do comportamento do ser. No contexto ritualístico, as músicas xamânicas e de meditação são utilizadas por participantes que realizam rituais em função da bebida ayahuasca. Os rituais xamânicos afetam estados de consciência, dependendo do uso da substância e das músicas. Alterações nos estados de consciência devem alterar o tempo subjetivo, em função destes elementos específicos do ritual que produzem estas alterações de estados de consciência. Os participantes dos rituais xamânicos relatam que suas experiências possuem caracteres diferentes ao serem expostos por músicas conhecidas ou desconhecidas durante os ritos. Questiona-se qual seria a influência da atividade musical em exposição ao gênero conhecido ou desconhecido e como essa relação se daria em condições nas quais os participantes apresentassem alterações nos estados da consciência em função da bebida ayahuasca em rituais xamânicos. Assim, a proposta deste trabalho foi examinar os efeitos do tempo subjetivo de participantes com estados alterados da consciência em função de uso da bebida ayahuasca em rituais xamânicos envolvendo música. Foram selecionados apenas participantes experientes, que tomaram ayahuasca mais de 60 vezes nos últimos três anos. Cada participante foi avaliado nas condições do ritual, com o registro de estimações subjetivas de tempo, que foram reproduzidos por estímulos musicais com durações de 20 segundos, contendo músicas conhecidas e músicas desconhecidas pelos participantes dos rituais. Foi preenchida uma Lista de Estados de Ânimo Presentes antes da ingestão da ayahuasca, no decurso temporal da ação da bebida e ao final do ritual. Após a coleta de dados, os participantes foram entrevistados com perguntas envolvendo os rituais xamânicos com ayahuasca. O registro de alteração de tempo subjetivo e a Lista de Estados de Ânimo Presentes permitiram a identificação de como os elementos do ritual afetam as alterações de estados de consciência, com ayahuasca em comparação ao uso de um veículo-controle desenvolvido para a presente pesquisa, no contexto do ritual. As estimações temporais realizadas pelos participantes apontaram que as exposições às musicas conhecidas ou desconhecidas durante os rituais xamânicos, em função da bebida ayahuasca, alteram a percepção subjetiva de tempo. Todos os participantes subestimaram o tempo de reprodução dos estímulos musicais, no entanto, os participantes ao serem expostos às músicas desconhecidas eliciaram uma maior subestimação quando comparados às exposições às músicas conhecidas / Temporality composes the acts of people in the world. Subjectivity assumes an important role, because it is through it that time acquires meaning. Thus, time subjective perception becomes essential for reality perception, outlining a distinction between time course of lived events during life, which implies that temporal information processing is imperative to daily life. The New Experimental Aesthetics, that studies musical stimuli or other aesthetic phenomena through experiments, in which musical attributes are manipulated, is a research field that dedicated itself to investigations about subjective time and aims to verify which are their effects on some aspect of human behavior. In the ritualistic context, shamanic and meditation songs are used by participants of rituals with ayahuasca brew. The shamanic rituals, affect the states of consciousness, depending on the music and substance use. Changes in states of consciousness must also change subjective time due to these rituals specific elements that generate changes in states of consciousness. The same report that their experiences have different characteristics when exposed to known or unknown music during the ayahuasqueiras ceremonies. Exposure to known or unknown music can change subjective time. We questioned what would be the influence of musical activity during exposure of a known or unknown musical genre and how this relation would appear in conditions where participants would present alterations in states of consciousness as consequences of ingestion of ayahuasca brew in shamanic rituals. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the evaluate the effects on participants subjective time in altered states of consciousness as a consequence of ingestion of ayahuasca brew in shamanic rituals involving music. Only experienced participants were selected, people who have drank ayahuasca more than 60 times in the last three years. Each participant was evaluated during the ritual condition, with the register of subjective time estimations, that were reproduced for musical stimuli with durations of 20 seconds, containing known and unknown music for the ritual participants. It was filled a Lista de Estados de Ânimo Presentes (LEAP Present Mood List) before drinking ayahuasca, during the time course of effects and in the ritual ending. After data collection, participants were interviewed with questions about shamanic rituals with ayahuasca. The register of subjective time and the LEAP allowed to identificate how rituals elements affected changes in states of consciousness, with the use of ayahuasca in comparison with a vehicle developed for the present research in the ritual context. Time estimations made by participants pointed that exposure to known or unknown music during shamanic rituals, due to ayahuasca brew, chaged the subjective perception of time. All participants underestimated the reproduction time of musical stimuli. However, the participants that were exposed to unknown music presented a higher under estimation when compared to the exposures of known music

The purpose of this study was to investigate womens experience of yoga. The study applied a qualitative approach with thematical analysis. Six women in varying ages was interviewed and during the beginning of this study they participated in a yoga course. The analysis led to four themes: A different view of life, Demands and increased self-esteem, Body and emotion and Resistance and demands. The results showed that the women experience several positive effects of yoga like increased strength, calm, harmony and increased self-esteem. They also experience transpersonal experiences and altered states of consciousness to some degree. The results also show that the women feel some kind of resistance to yoga but this resistance overcomes because of motivational factors. The conlcusions are that the participants experiences agrees with previous research but other factors may affect the the experiences that are stated. More research in how altered states of conssciousness can affect self-esteem is proposed and also research in what motivates people to do yoga.

This thesis investigates the acute phenomenology of altered states of consciousness induced through psychedelics and various Zen practices through the lens of comparative mysticism. Through inductive reasoning, tentative conclusions are drawn regarding how the acute phenomenological qualities of these states compare to one another. This topic had not been meaningfully studied, so the data from which these conclusions were drawn is limited. Though these findings are tentative, they have important implications for the study of comparative mysticism involving psychedelics, and for policy decisions regarding the credentialing of newly trained psychedelic therapists. Further research is required to draw more definitive conclusions on whether psychedelics users and Zen practitioners are having the same sorts of experiences, and this thesis identifies some of the theoretical challenges that can be expected with such research, particularly with regards to the reliability of qualitative data collection methods. To address these challenges, a novel theoretical approach to the study of comparative mysticism involving psychedelic and non-psychedelic altered states of consciousness has been developed.

This practice-as-research project (a) invents, examines and self-reflects upon two techniques - 'Whirling in Pain' and 'Neurobreathing' - that the author has developed for dealing with pain in performance, (b) creates a framework for the qualitative analysis of pain retraining techniques by conducting an interdisciplinary study of the parameters that describe Somatic Practices and the psychology of Altered States of Consciousness, (c) establishes a taxonomy and classifications for describing and assessing techniques of pain management in the performing arts, (d) qualitatively assesses the training techniques of three practitioners —Antonin Artaud, Jerzy Grotowski and Marina Abramović—who have used Somatic Practices and Altered States of Consciousness in their techniques, and draws out patterns and themes in their practice, (e) distils generic principles of practice that are essential for training pain perception and could be used by other practitioners for developing their own techniques, or to better embody the techniques that the author has developed. These transferable principles are: reinforcement, exhaustion of pain-processing resources, inquisitive modes towards otherness, embodied knowledge, surrendering, Sisyphean reiteration, and music’s capacity for fascination. This dissertation considers the issue of dealing with pain in performance beyond the limited area of theatre pedagogy, suggesting an interdisciplinary approach and expanding its scope into the wider realms of theoretical discourse around culture and pain. This dissertation argues that since pain is not only a biochemical process but one that is culturally constructed, it is therefore possible to retrain or un-train the perception of pain through the facility of Somatic Practices that induce Altered States of Consciousness. Such retraining of pain perception has wider socio-political ramifications that challenge the pervading modern and neoliberal culture around pain, which understands it only through a reductively biological model and relies heavily on the use of exogenous analgesics to alleviate pain. Finally, this dissertation proposes that dealing with pain is possible not only by transcending and moving attentional focus away from pain, but also by entering a plane of immanence, achieved through working synergistically with pain in order to find the coping mechanisms and hidden reserves that lie dormant within the individual. The practical element of this submission consists of: (a) a Manual for Practitioners that describes the techniques step-by-step, and explains the principles behind them, and, (b) two performance videos that exhibit how the author has used the two techniques to create and manage pain within performances.

”A finger pointing at the moon is not the moon...” -Buddhist Quote ”...but it can point you in the right direction.” -Charles Tart, American psychologist In this Master’s Thesis I will be presenting the idea of an Inner Gaze as an inherent witnessing system used in artistic practice. I will be mirroring my own practice as a Musician/Artist/Sound-Designer in the teachings of Hypnosis and The Science of Consciousness. Further I will share and analyze the collected data gathered from interviews with artists from different artistic fields, in order to gain a better understanding of how they experience their creative and performing minds. Is there any coherence in how we experience creativity? How common are the sensations of altered states of consciousness among artists? Can other artists relate to the idea of an inner gaze? Is this something we long to further explore and develop and would such a concept be beneficial for the artist and its works?

Background: Psychonautics is a scientific method used to describe intoxication and effects of psychoactive substances and a form of recognition used by some in order to achieve self- experience and transcendence. Hallucinogenic and psychedelic substances most commonly used for this purpose can possess therapeutical, but also destructive potential, how many researches on the psychedelic therapy topic have shown. During auto-experiments, these substances are being used in nonclinical environment and often without professional or other control, which can lead to many risks, but also benefits. Aim: The goal is to understand the way of psychonautics self-defining through statements and actions of psychonauts. The main goal is to describe a pattern of drug use, subjective consequences and meaning of psychoactive substances use in the lives of the psychonauts from their point of view. Sample: Research set consisted of 5 respondents chosen based on two methods - the snowball method and intended selection. Methods: The used method of data collection was a semistructured interview, in which the collected data was analysed by the clustering method and pattern recording method and an online questionnaire that has been evaluated based on descriptive analysis principles by an answer sheet. Results:...