USING CONTEMPLATIVE PRACTICE AS A METHODOLOGY TO STUDY NON-ORDINARY STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Presenting Author: Kelsey Armeni Naropa University

This piece is part of a contemplative paper on the use of non-ordinary states of consciousness in professional and recreational settings. Research is ongoing and includes participation as a sitter at breath works, cannabis circles, and music festivals for people who are in non-ordinary states. Research also includes interviews of facilitators of breath works and psychedelic states. Contemplative methodologies of observation include personal practice and critical self reflection in relation to participant observation research. In this research contemplative practice has had an impact on the ability to fully understand the relationship between the sitter and participant. Being a sitter requires an openness and sensory awareness that can be cultivated through contemplative inquiry. The contemplative is a tool to negotiate the blurred lines where the outside and inside perspective need to meet in the study non-ordinary states of consciousness. This holistic methodology to non-ordinary states work cultivates a language and repertoire that has allowed me to gain access to information on cultural beliefs, stories, and experiential opportunities. Indigenous knowledge, physics, psychology, anthropology, and neurological effects of non-ordinary states are used to dialogue across world views and methodologies to propose a holistic future for consciousness studies.