Consciousness

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Levels and States of Consciousness

Consciousness is the subject of much research and controversy among philosophers, psychologists, neurologists, physicists and practical explorers like myself. I have written and published two books dedicated to this subject but I will attempt to simplify and summarize what is most relevant to Core Interactions Theory in this article.

First, let’s see how encyclopedia Britannica defines consciousness. “Consciousness is the quality or state of being aware. As applied to the lower animals, consciousness refers to the capacity for sensation and, usually, simple volition. In higher animals, this capacity may also include thinking and emotion. In human beings, consciousness is understood to include “meta-awareness,” an awareness that one is aware. The term also refers broadly to the upper level of mental life of which the person is aware, as contrasted with unconscious processes.”

Through observation it is very safe to say that we have an individual consciousness, or Essence, that is aware of itself and of its environment, that is intelligent and has free will. In the Conscious Path framework we describe consciousness as an organized structure of energy-information that interacts, permeates and manifests locally and non-locally with the environment, body, personality, beliefs and energy states.

Being conscious is to be able to perceive the interactions and manifestations of our Essence. In other words, being conscious is to be able to establish a communication between our Essence, environment, body, personality, beliefs and energy states. This communication provides us with the ability to choose, to change, to create intention, behavior and ultimately experience our perceived reality.

Since our Essence is energy-information, it follows one of the most fundamental principles in quantum physics, the wave-particle duality. As energy, our Essence manifests through energy states vibrating in several levels. For example, the structure that we create to keep ourselves alive and well, such as shelter, food, earning a living through a job or business and taking care of our bodies, creates a level of consciousness. There are other levels that we will soon explore.

States of consciousness refer to how we experience life in these different levels. For example, we may be asleep or fully alert, pessimist or optimist, empowered or powerless, fragmented or integrated while doing something at work, at home, studying, spending money, in a relationship, having sex, etc.

Let me use an example to illustrate levels and states of consciousness. One of my passions in life is autoracing, where I’ve been involved as a fan, as an executive and as a race car driver. Over the years I could witness the development and birth of world class champions and observed seven major traits that they all shared in common. Let’s take a look at them.

First, they have a clear purpose for what they want to achieve in their lives. They become extremely focused on this purpose, and avoiding getting side-tracked. They are very creative in their approach to pursue it and to overcome challenges. They build synergy in their relationships. They are highly committed to go through the daily grind to achieve their goals. They manage their emotions. And they build solid structures to support their efforts, such as having the best equipment, resources and team.

I call these traits levels of consciousness. When these levels are fully aligned with each other, the individual’s identity is well defined in present time, allowing its Essence to express itself in a way that it is most appropriate for the individual, bringing joy to one’s life. This joy is a state of consciousness, it reflects how one is experiencing life at any given moment. While driving a race car, a driver may also experience what many have called being in the Zone, which is a state of consciousness where time stands still and where one experiences flow, a state that brings peak performance.

This state is also experienced by many athletes in all kinds of sports, and also by people doing mundane activities such as cooking, cleaning the house, giving/receiving a massage, playing music or working on a spreadsheet. It can also be achieved in the workplace despite being a hectic environment. When one is in this state, one can increase productivity, performance and well-being. This state is achieved simply by sustaining presence. Easily said but not easily achieved. It requires proper attitude, clear intention and focus.

It is way more common to experience life from a fragmented state. For example, most people usually don’t keep focused on the important stuff at work all the time. We may get distracted or interrupted by others, or we can have a discussion with a co-worker that upsets us for a while. And if we are experiencing problems at home, they can also affect our motivation and commitment in the workplace. And how many of us struggle to keep focused on the important stuff when running a small business?

Most of us accept a fragmented state as normal, as something that we all go through. And it is true, we all go through this merry-go-round, although the ups and downs vary quite a bit from person to person according to how one perceive them. But we can also transform fragmentation into integration through awareness, intention and action.

So, our states of consciousness influence our levels of consciousness, and vice-versa.

When the fragmentation increases or lingers on for long periods of time, stress levels can become unhealthy. When stress kicks in, the communication with our Essence drastically decreases and we become more reactive to situations. Then, we experience life mostly through our personality, getting into an automatic pilot style. The body releases hormones and neurotransmitters to match our responses and we become used to them. This creates a vicious cycle, a pattern that becomes increasingly difficult to shift.

As fragmentation progresses, we may experience a path to depression and life becomes unattractive, confusing and dangerous. What then happens to our motivation, self-esteem, self-confidence and performance?

There are many patterns that lead to fragmentation but most of them start with a state of confusion. If we are not clear about what matters most to us in any aspect of life, confusion is created and spread to many levels if we don’t work on it. Confusion leads to isolation, or a feeling of being stuck. If we get stuck on something, we may also experience overwhelm. This happens because we become reactive to our environment and circumstances. It seems that everything works against us and stuff just builds up. We may find ways for quick releases, but stuff comes back if we don’t work on completions.

In this phase, we may fabricate interpretations of why things are happening to us, usually placing the responsibility of our feelings on others. Because of these overwhelming feelings, we can get paralyzed just with the thought of the work we have to do in order to create a change! And even if we get out of this state by taking action, we may experience frustration because everything seems such a struggle. Well, it takes time to shift patterns and the associated biochemistry.

This whole cycle happens because we filter reality through a state of fear, from an ego perspective, highly driven by the unhealthy states of our personality and the biochemistry it creates. When our levels of consciousness are fragmented, uncertainty is the predominant state of consciousness. There are many ways to break this pattern, but first we need to change our attitude in order to open up to the new. Then we have to look at our values, our guidelines in life, and see if we are honoring them through our behaviors.

Perhaps we may need to reevaluate that which we think matters most to us. Then we have to take charge and focus on the solutions, not on the problems.

We may need external help to do that because if we are fragmented we are not able to see our blind spots and the way out of them. If we are too attached to our current identity it is difficult to find neutrality in order to create change, or something new.

One way to take charge of the process of change is to increase our ability to focus. By developing mental focus we can better manage our thoughts and the energy that they use, shifting their states. Remember being in the Zone? Well, we can practice being in the Zone even if our lives are falling apart, in chaos. If we can sustain this state for longer periods of time, and by that I mean twenty minutes a day, the relaxing effects can linger for many hours, giving us an opportunity to do what we have to do in order to change. Focusing can bring neutrality because it creates a space of observation, so we can make separations and completions.

So, through focusing we can take charge of our energy states by becoming an observer of them. As an observer, we can collapse the wave function of a thought, memory, neurotransmitters, personality trait or beliefs that are fragmenting us. We can look with more neutrality at each level of consciousness and see what we need to work on, and then take action to bring the levels in alignment with our Essence. By observing where we are and where we want to be, we can then create plans to get there. And we can get there by working the plan.

This process starts when we open up to new information, to new ways of being, to new experiences, to new possibilities, to the unknown. As we do it, we allow a new flow of energy to take place, which can bring excitement instead of fear. And in order to experience excitement we need to boost the energy of desire.

As we give ourselves permission to experience desire, we bring freedom into our consciousness, allowing the levels to regroup in a state of synergy. By creating experiences through desire we can perceive reality with greater certainty because we are consciously working on having our needs met. And for that to happen, we have to exercise neutrality.

This is a process that requires action and letting go of fear. It doesn’t happen just with positive thinking, visualizations and affirmations. They help, but we have to bring congruency to our intentions and take action. Intentionality is deeply connected with our identity, and in order to create changes we have to identify ourselves with a new self. But how many of us really know who our old self is in order to create a new one? And how many are willing to let go of the old one in the first place?

In today’s marketplace, companies are constantly re-inventing themselves in order to remain competitive. But to re-invent themselves they have to change, to renew. I believe that any organization can improve this process by assisting its human capital to renew as well. Everything starts with the individual redefining his/her own identity in order to create a new self, a new consciousness that is better aligned with the company’s identity.

When uncertainty floats among the workforce, especially when mergers are taking place, self-leadership programs can be extremely helpful. They can improve morale while fostering team spirit, which in turn will make the change management process faster and smoother. They can decrease stress levels while keeping productivity up. This type of support becomes strategic for talent retention while being an opportunity to convey new management values to the workforce. It is a win-win situation.

By reconnecting with our Essence we can create and sustain an empowered state of consciousness from which we can perceive and create our realities. The quality of our lives can drastically increase as a result because all of our levels of consciousness become aligned. So, being conscious is also being able to learn to work with energy-information through our intuition in order to capture the non-linear, multidimensional aspect of our Essence. And to take action on the information.

When we are in clear communication with our Essence we can better manage our environments, personality, biochemistry and beliefs to achieve our desired results. We feel energized and we experience life from a state of joy and wholeness. We become champions of our own game. And our relationships, both personally and professionally, will benefit as well, because we will be fully present for others.

Get to know your Essence. Become fully present and conscious in all levels.