There are times we experience moments where our awareness expands—where time, space, and even our sense of individual self seem to disappear. This is the state that is sometimes referred to as transcendental consciousness: a state of pure awareness, free from thoughts, worries, or the usual sense of being the individual “you.”

As a teenager, I first experienced this with my introduction to meditation. Suddenly, I felt completely at peace. My thoughts stopped, and I felt connected to everything. There was no sense of time passing, no sense of “me” as separate from the world—just a deep, quiet awareness. It wasn’t scary or confusing; it felt natural, as if this state had always been there beneath the surface.

Many traditions, from Eastern mysticism to indigenous wisdom, describe similar states, using different language or terms for this deeper, more universal field of awareness. Neuroscientists continue to study such experiences, finding that certain brainwave patterns associated with deep meditation or trance states align with reports of transcendental consciousness.

There are many techniques, exercises, and traditional rituals to reach this state. We find in our practice of Ritual Postures experiences of deep awareness, timelessness, and profound embodied connection. The body itself becomes a tool for shifting awareness, allowing the mind to quiet and the deeper self to emerge, offering a structured yet natural way to access transcendental consciousness.

Perhaps the most valuable aspect of transcendental consciousness is how it shifts our perspective. Returning to ordinary life, the habitual worries and preoccupations seem a little less rigid, a little less absolute. The sense of separateness that defines daily experience begins to dissolve, replaced by an underlying awareness that we are, in some essential way, already whole.

In the end, transcendental consciousness isn’t just a mystical idea or requires a belief system—it’s an embodied experience that invites us to see life differently. It is built into our very nature, a doorway into an expanded way of being.