There are two states of human consciousness: active - wakefulness and a state of rest - sleep. In psychology, there is a term "altered state of consciousness", and every person is in it at least once a day. This is a dream.
Wakefulness is a state of consciousness characterized by a high level of brain activity. A person's perception of everything that happens in the external world directly depends on the state of his consciousness.
Sleep as a state of consciousness
Sleep is a natural process during which the level of brain activity is minimal. For a long time it was believed that sleep is a complete rest of the body, which allows it to restore its strength after a period of wakefulness. Scientists have found that the lack of sleep has a bad effect on the general state of the body: a person who has spent several days without sleep can start to delirium, literally fall asleep on the go, see hallucinations and even lose the ability to normally perceive what is happening around him.
It has now been proven that sleep is not an easy recovery process for the body; this state is very important for maintaining the normal state of human consciousness. During sleep, the brain continues its active activity.
Sleep is a complex mental process that includes the stages of slow and paradoxical sleep. During slow wave sleep, breathing and heart rate slow down, the muscles of the whole body relax, and the body recovers its strength. Slow sleep accounts for almost 80% of total sleep time. During paradoxical sleep, rapid eye movement occurs, muscle tone decreases, and brain activity, on the contrary, increases. All dreams appear precisely during paradoxical sleep.
It may seem that sleep and wakefulness are opposite states of consciousness of a person, but this is not so, they have much in common, for example, during sleep, a person thinks, sees dreams, which he can remember and retell in the process of wakefulness. Also, in a dream, a person moves, so the state of sleep is not absolute rest. When a person sleeps, he is not completely disconnected from the outside world and is able to respond to external signals. A person's level of activity depends on the alternation of sleep and wakefulness.
How to change states of consciousness?
It is possible to change the state of consciousness with the help of meditation. It allows you to achieve the desired state of consciousness, thanks to a special technique. The purpose of meditation is to narrow the field of consciousness in order to cut it off from the outside world. The technique of meditation is to focus on thoughts and physical sensations.
Some people, while meditating, can slow down their heart rate and reduce their oxygen consumption at will.
