What is a non-ordinary state of consciousness (or expanded consciousness)?

A non-ordinary state of consciousness can be defined as any time our brain is operating outside of its normal range, which could include dreaming, meditation, or during illness. Non-ordinary states of consciousness (NOSC) can also be brought about intentionally through meditation retreats, vision quests, psychedelic and shamanic journeys, breathwork, and more. These states can bring about deep healing, provide significant insight, and help us connect to our inner wisdom and purpose.

Integration of experiences in non-ordinary states of consciousness

Even though these experiences are profound in their own right, how do we allow them to contribute to our daily life? How do we allow them to deeply change us, awaken us, to be more connected to ourselves and life? How do we honor the profundity of the experience and the gifts we were given?

The insights, feelings, and lessons learned during these experiences need to be translated into grounded actions within our daily life if they are to have a long-term impact.

When experiences don’t feel healing, meaningful, or leave you imbalanced

Sometimes experiences in non-ordinary states can be overwhelming, confusing, or even feel re-traumatizing. Maybe you felt good for the first days after the experience, but now find yourself feeling ungrounded, anxious, or having strong emotions you weren’t expecting. Perhaps your experience wasn’t in the safe container you needed, or you didn’t feel supported enough, or your group didn’t offer much (or any) follow-up support. Perhaps your experience was BIG and there’s just a lot to unravel. This happens, but you can still get the support you need now.

Receiving bodily support to regulate your nervous system, and then carefully processing parts of the experience in a safely held environment, can help to ground the experience and allow you to move forward.

Support for integrating experiences in non-ordinary states

We’ll start our integration session by helping the experience further settle within your body, and from there explore ways to weave your extraordinary experience into your daily life. Sessions will be a mix of bodywork, guided somatic exercises, mindful verbal processing, and potentially artwork.

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I have a lifetime of personal experience with meditation retreats, spiritual practice intensives, religious ritual, psychedelic experiences in both shamanic and western therapeutic settings, and Grof/Holotropic breathwork. Not all of my experiences have fallen easily into the “healing” category and I’ve needed a great deal of support along the way.

My understanding of how to integrate these experiences into our everyday lives continues to grow as I live my own experience, study the wisdom of spiritual guides of all types, learn from therapeutic guides and plant medicine facilitators, and connect with the earth.