Tart Chapter 6

I never realized that an altered state of consciousness was so difficult to reach. We talked about it in class, but I never knew it was so complicated and difficult to obtain. If a person is tired or takes drugs they cannot instantly venture into an altered state of consciousness. Also, it is difficult to maintain a normal state of consciousness when a person is tired. An individual must focus or reload their mind, in order to resist falling asleep. I thought all of the different types of loading stabilizations were interesting. I never realized how vital my body and internalized body image was in the stabilization of a normal state of consciousness. Feeling ones arms and legs is a simple task that I always overlooked. I suppose awareness and knowing ones own body is a crucial process in stabilization. The normal thinking process that is continually going on in my head is a natural function that I never linked to a normal state of consciousness. There are a lot of little processes that occur and seem insignificant, but are part of a large interconnected system, that allow a person to know that they are in a normal state of consciousness.