TRANCE

 

The traditional view, especially amongst academics, is that someone is only in Trance when they have received a formal Induction that includes the word 'Hypnosis'.

 

The modern view, favoured by many practitioners, is that Trance is a naturally-occuring state. We all go in and out of different types of trance many times each day. Perhaps you have had the experience of driving somewhere, and being unable to recall the journey once you arrived. You were in your 'driving trance', with one part of your mind driving you safely to your destination, whilst another part was busy with interesting thoughts about other places, other times; memories of the past, plans for the future.

 

Although there is still no agreed scientific definition of Hypnosis, most experts accept that it involves some kind of Dissociation. One part of your mind is here and now, another part is 'somewhere else'.You might be day-dreaming about another place, remembering another time, imagining an alternative reality, hearing music in your mind, mentally rehearsing the movements for a sports technique, summoning up the inner strength needed for a competition, anticipating a successful outcome. 

 

In Altered States of Consciousness, you dissociate some Control and/or some Awareness. Perhaps your Unconscious mind takes Control, so that your Actions seem to happen 'by themselves'. Perhaps your Conscious mind dissociates from its normal awareness, so that you find yourself responding correctly, even before you become consciously aware of the situation.

 

The Flow Pairs I have identified represent various ways in which the mind dissociates certain functions, e.g. simultaneously Concentrating and Relaxing. Normally, Concentration might be associated with a certain tension. Contrariwise, Relaxation might normally be associated with being un-focussed.

 

The ASC of Flow allows you to 'have your cake and eat it'. You can have simultaneously high levels of Control & Unselfconsciousness, Concentration & Relaxation, Delayed Gratification & Time Distortion.

 

All of this works just fine for those of us interested in the  phenomena of Flow (What happens?) and in the subjective experience (What does it feel like?). But we should have some sympathy for academic researchers. If we are all drifting in and out of various States of Consciousness all the time, how can a researcher know which ASC his subject is in, right now? And what is the 'normal' state, to which any Altered State should be compared?

 

Formal studies of Hypnosis compare a group of hypnotised subjects to another group who are supposedly not hypnotised. But all those studies break down completely, as soon as you realise that you cannot be sure that the non-hypnotised group are not in trance. "Remember, you are dreaming!"

 

Luckily, in our practical exploration of Flow, we do not need to worry about such theoretical difficulties. We can examine what happens, and how it feels, and from there we can construct a variety of approaches to the question that really matters: How to get into Flow?