CONSCIOUSNESS

5. Experiential Approaches 193
tual emergency’ is a little different: ‘We must question reality and think for ourselves; we must
examine our own beliefs - test reality in the workshop of our own lives. What is spiritual emergency?
In recent years there has been some discussion of Spiritual Emergency. Dr. Grof in his
books has developed the view that some forms of radical awareness, at times precipitating life
crises, are spiritual crises rather than pathologies. We must support such experiences rather
than pathologies. Actually, the concept of spiritual emergency has been around for thousands
of years in many, if not most cultures. Shamans, mystics, and spiritual explorers have regularly
experienced the same states of awareness as have modern “crazy folk”. Joseph Campbell
speaks of these sorts of radical awareness in his mythological work. Spiritual Emergency is an
alternative way of looking at certain states of what psychiatry terms as psychosis. This way of
looking at the experience offers positive and beneficial perspectives rather than stigmatization
and pathological categorization. Some of the same states experienced in extreme “psychosis”
are the same states sought after by spiritual seekers in other times and places. Other forms of
mental illness can also be seen positively. They offer an opportunity to challenge consensus
reality. Breakdown can represent opportunity for breakthrough. Ultimately each of us has
find her own way but we can support one another. There are many alternatives to psychiatry.’
(Manrodt 1999) These problems and distinguishing between which was which and how to
treat them have been around since Homo sapiens, arrived about 198,000 years. Most of that
time there wasn’t any formalized therapies, only what worked, usually shamanism. Shamanism
has successfully dealt with these distinctions for tens of thousands of years. Another look
at this indigenous therapy may answer ‘What is Consciousness?’ Enter Scientific Shamanism:
‘A simple definition of Scientific Shamanism then is, ‘The art of applying current scientific
methodologies to the proven ancient art of shamanism in order for it to be understood and applied
by a Western urban society. Also the art of interpreting Western cultural ‘stories’ in a new
way by taking into consideration our ancient shamanic heritage. The combination of science
and shamanism are thus rendered greater than the sum of the individual parts. ‘ (Scientific
Shamanism by Samuel Wisechild Breidenbach, prepress) P5
290 Sympathetic Nervous System Augmentations of Consciousness Using “Third-Eye”
Hypnosis Reginald Humphreys, Kathleen Eagan-Deprez
(American Society of Clinical Hypnosis, Dallas, TX)
The autonomic model of consciousness (Humphreys & Eagan, 2000; 2002) provides a
conceptual framework for understanding phenomena of health and illness according to levels
of activity within the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous
system (ANS). Sympathetic-dominant states of the ANS are understood as toxic, dysfunctional
states associated with illness, while parasympathetic-dominant states are associated
with comfort and healing. Parasympathetic-dominant states such as hypnosis and meditation
have historically been the altered states of consciousness of greatest interest, being associated
with personal growth, enhanced spirituality, and relief from symptoms and pathologies
resulting from sympathetic accumulations within the ANS. Verification of the central hypothesis
of parasympathetic healing has been accelerated through the use of frequency spectral
analysis of coherence in heart rate variability (HRV) as a psychophysiological marker for
parasympathetic dominance. This has led to a final conceptual pathway in which the strength
and effectiveness of any healing intervention within mind-body medicine may be gauged in
terms of its ability to foster the cardinal signs of heart optimization, cardio-respiratory phase
locking, and musical heart rate rhythmicity (HRR) (Humphreys & Eagan-Deprez, 2008).
Both sympathetic and parasympathetic fluctuations occur in the context of complete mindbody
circuits. Promoting activity within trophotropic, parasympathetic circuits has been the
main focus of clinical applications of the autonomic model so far, resulting in the availability
of numerous techniques within hypnosis and mind-body medicine for promoting parasympathetic
dominance. The potential of expanding existing technique to include strategies for
augmenting ergotrophic, sympathetic circuits has remained as an acknowledged, although
mostly undeveloped area of promising future clinical application. Contemporary advances
in the neuroanatomical study of brain structures participating in sympathetic nervous system
activity have provided new insights regarding the organization of sympathetic activity. Of pri-