I understand consciousness as containing a lot of "optimizing for"s, lenses that we keep track of our lives through. Daily life is restrictive, and "optimizing

I understand consciousness as containing a lot of "optimizing for"s, lenses that we keep track of our lives through. Daily life is restrictive, and "optimizing for" not making a scene, not being wrong, or just conserving energy naturally leads to a defensive posture. Trance states are a way of bridging the gap between that local optima (which is largely about saying no to internal impulses), and more open emotional expression.