Am I Dreaming? The New Science of Consciousness and How Altered States Reboot the Brain

By James Kingsland

An essential guide for anyone wanting to explore altered states of consciousness, not as an escape from reality but as a way to wake up to it. 

Picture yourself flying high over a beautiful landscape, as free as a bird. Imagine visiting other planes of existence, conversing with alien beings and communing with the spirits of plants and animals. Imagine if all you had to do to feel perfect bliss, happiness and contentment was to close your eyes….

In Am I Dreaming? James Kingsland provides a scientific travel guide to altered states of consciousness. A growing body of research, in fields ranging from neuroscience and clinical psychology to molecular biology and statistics, shows that the extraordinary realms of experience that can be reached through lucid dreaming, virtual reality, hypnotic trance, meditation, psychedelic drugs and even video games can heighten and refine our capacity for clear-sighted awareness.

Drawing on interviews and conversations with many of the most influential and colourful characters studying altered states, he explains how by fostering lucidity and a greater sense of meaning and purpose, regular journeys into alternative realms of consciousness can bolster our mental and spiritual wellbeing – and how research into these adventures of the mind is exposing the unsettling truth about how the brain creates ordinary conscious awareness.