Did you know that every single night, for a brief moment right before you fall asleep, you enter into an altered state of consciousness?
This state is often referred to as the “trance state”. When you’re falling asleep, it happens quickly – so quickly in fact, that most people have no idea that anything strange has happened at all.
But once you become familiar with it and you learn to experience it deliberately, the trance state is a fascinating and deeply therapeutic state of consciousness that has powerful benefits for tinnitus patients.
Every muscle in your body becomes completely relaxed as your body falls asleep, yet your mind remains awake and fully conscious.
It’s an extraordinary thing to experience. I often describe it as the deepest possible state of relaxation a person can achieve naturally. Stress and anxieties quickly melt away. Often, the sound of my tinnitus starts to feel more distant, as if I’ve somehow moved away from its source.
The trance state can dramatically enhance relaxation during meditation. And it’s deeply restorative too. When you “wake up”, you come out of it feeling calm and refreshed as if you’ve taken a wonderful nap.
But here’s the best part – you can learn to quickly get into this altered state of consciousness as often as you’d like with a simple technique.
It’s a powerful tool to have at your disposal, especially if you have struggled to achieve any kind of meaningful relaxation when you meditate.
My personal experience with trance:
In my book, Rewiring Tinnitus: How I Finally Found Relief from the Ringing in My Ears, I wrote extensively about how I was able to habituate to my loud and extremely bothersome tinnitus by focusing on the sound itself during meditation (rather than practicing mindfulness, or focusing on the breath, or a mantra).
But I left something out of the story.
In the book, I mention how I had been meditating for years prior to the Meniere’s disease diagnosis that forever changed the volume and intensity of my tinnitus, and I describe how the sound of my tinnitus made it impossible to relax during meditation.
What I didn’t mention, however, is that I also had been practicing getting into trance states during meditation for a very long time as well. I practiced so much that every time I would meditate, I would enter into a trance state within minutes. When I would meditate, I wasn’t just calm. I was achieving incredibly deep states of relaxation every single time.
But when Meniere’s disease entered my life, I could no longer relax at all during meditation. I would lay down and try to ignore my tinnitus, and I would fail miserably. I lost my most precious coping strategy when I needed it most, and I almost gave up on it entirely.
Trance accelerated my habituation:
After many failed attempts to meditate, I eventually had the insight to focus on my tinnitus instead of the breath, and as I describe in my book, it changed everything.
I went on to habituate fully over the next few months, and these techniques became a big part of the habituation strategy I teach here at Rewiring Tinnitus.
But I didn’t mention that once I started focusing on my tinnitus during meditation, I wasn’t just able to relax again, I was able to get back into the trance state. And this was occurring as I practiced tinnitus focused meditation each day.
Because meditation is a relaxing mental exercise, and because you can focus on whatever you want to focus on when you meditate, by choosing to focus on the sound of your tinnitus, but still achieving the meditative state as a result of doing so, you are giving your brain and nervous system an emotionally positive experience to associate with the sound of your tinnitus.
I now like to think of it as a form of relaxation enhanced exposure therapy.
But when I would practice tinnitus focused meditation, I wasn’t just feeling “safe” or “calm”, I was achieving the deepest possible state of relaxation, every single day.
Looking back, I now believe that this was a big factor in how I was able to habituate so quickly.
Why all tinnitus patients can benefit from trance:
When you live with tinnitus, stress and anxiety can take over your life completely. The sound of bothersome tinnitus will trigger a fight or flight response that never fully ends, because the sound doesn’t stop. Patients can quickly find themselves trapped in a vicious cycle of suffering, feeling powerless to break free.
But the trance state offers a path to experience complete relaxation of the mind and body. It does not make tinnitus go away, but it offers a powerful way to calm the nervous system back down.
When combined with tinnitus focused meditation, it can accelerate your results.
In my 1-on-1 coaching practice, I teach trance induction techniques to anyone who is struggling to achieve relaxation during meditation, and it often transforms their practice.
I truly believe that every tinnitus suffer can benefit from experiencing such profoundly deep states of relaxation.
How to get into a trance state:
Inducing a trance state requires two key steps.
First, you need to consciously relax all the muscles in your body. As I mentioned before, when you enter into the trance state, your body falls asleep, and your muscles completely relax on their own. But if your muscles are relaxed to begin with, you can get into the trance state much more quickly.
The next step involves tricking your brain into thinking you’re falling asleep. Remember, you normally pass through the trance state as you fall asleep each night. The goal here is to induce trance without drifting off.
You don’t need to be lying down for this to work. Just get completely comfortable in a chair, on the couch, or lying in bed.
If you find that you keep falling asleep, try this in a chair with your head balanced upright. This way if you start to fall asleep, your head will drop, and it will keep you awake.
In the trance state, you are walking a tightrope between waking consciousness and sleep, and it can have a very dream-like quality to it. You may experience hypnogogic imagery or even feel like you are going in and out of a dream.
But with practice, it will become easier to remain fully conscious during the trance state.
The easiest way to experience the trance state:
For the best possible results, I highly recommend using the brainwave entrainment audio found on the Rewiring Tinnitus Relief Project, where I just added 4 brand new Guided Trance Induction Meditation Tracks.
Brainwave entrainment is a highly mind-altering audio technology that can quickly induce altered states of consciousness with nothing but sound. These new tracks are very sedating and feature a guided audio version of the trance induction technique described below.
The new Guided Trance Meditation tracks will make it much easier for you to experience the trance state!
If you have already purchased the Tinnitus Relief Project, the tracks are available now!
You can also practice with a free Guided Trance Induction Meditation on YouTube (located at the top of this post)!
The Trance Induction Technique Step 1 – Body Relaxation:
I recommend trying this with low level ambient background noise, like white noise or soothing nature sounds
Close your eyes and take five deep breaths into your diaphragm (lower abdomen). Feel your stomach expand as you inhale, and with each exhale, feel your entire body becoming more and more relaxed. Let all your muscles go completely limp.
Now focus on individual muscle groups, one at a time, gently tensing and then relaxing each muscle group as much as possible before moving on to the next. Let all the tension dissolve as you work your way through your body.
Start with your feet and your toes. Let all of the muscles go completely limp. Now focus on your legs, and your glutes and hips. Release all the tension.
Continue on to your stomach and your lower back, then your chest and upper back, your shoulders and your arms, your hands and your fingers, your neck and your throat, and finally, your head and your face.
Take a deep breath. As you exhale, feel your muscles become even more relaxed, all throughout your body.
Trance Induction Technique Step 2 – Imaginative Visualization:
Now imagine that you’re inside of an elevator that’s descending deep underground with the doors still open. Imagine that the elevator shaft is made of dirt and rocks, instead of concrete, and as you descend, watch the walls as they appear to be moving up, as you sink deeper and deeper down the elevator shaft.
Try to really feel this sense of sinking, of downward movement, with your entire body. You may be surprised to find that it actually feels like you’re descending. Hold this in your imagination for as long as you can.
Feel yourself sinking, down and down and down. Deeper and deeper down. (Mentally repeat, “Down and down and down. Deeper and deeper and deeper down.” for as long as you are able.)
Eventually, you will feel a heavy warmth wash over you as you enter into the trance state.
You can remain here for as long as you’d like, and if you’re practicing tinnitus-focused meditation, this is the perfect time to do so.
When you’re ready to “wake up,” simply open your eyes and get up slowly.
If you have a hard time coming out of it, simply reverse the exercise and imagine the elevator shaft is ascending back up. This will bring you to a more wakeful state.
Note: When first attempting these techniques, it can take time to achieve the trance state. Do not get discouraged if you are not successful immediately. With practice, it will become easier and easier to achieve deeper levels of relaxation.
Final thoughts
The trance state is a powerful tool for tinnitus sufferers. It offers a way to experience profound relaxation and regain control over the stress and anxiety that tinnitus can create.
With practice, you can learn to access this state at will, transforming your meditation practice and supporting your habituation journey.
The trance state can help you find relief, one deep breath at a time.
