This might be a tough question, but is there anything out there (in the scientific literature or any theories from the PUA community) on the actual physiological changes that occur in the brain when we experience what we call "state".

Anyone who's experienced "state" knows that it's a seemingly altered perception of reality where you are completely outside your own head, that clearly must be a result of some (temporary) underlying chemical or neurological alteration in the brain; while I'm not expecting that anybody knows the answer to this question I'm throwing it out here none the less as I think having some kind of idea about what causes this may offer an opportunity to make it easier to channel all that woo.

Do you mean sexual state? Then that's just a matter of arousal. Regardless of what you mean, who cares? Unless you plan on sticking a needle in your brain full of "in state" proxies, it is far better to learn how to get into a flow and rhythm when you're out talking to a girl than studying what's going on in your brain when you do well.

That's not what I'm talking about.
Clearly I care if I bothered to ask the question.
Obviously learning about why/how "state" occurs is likely going to make very little difference to your game, if you don't care then whatever, personally I'm interested as it strikes me as an unusual phenomonon that I don't think alot of people outside the PUA community are really aware of. It's just struck me that one equivalent might be when, as anyone who plays sports will know, you get "in the zone" during a game, I'd guess that the psychology of that has been studied so maybe I'll find my answers there.

I don't know what the scientific, chemical explanations are although it'll probably have to do with endorphins and such.
However, I can tell you what psychological and emotional matters influence our state (and why for some of us it is so hard to maintain it).
You see when we are going through this world, we have a bunch of thoughts running through our heads. Most of them are totally unconscious! So, if you don't know why you can;t keep your state, even though you are trying to go out of your way to enhance it, it's because you are not aware of what actually goes on in your mind. It can come from deep inner conflicts coming from past conditioning and so on. It might come from traumas from our childhood. It can get very complicated. But the thing is that every time we are faced with situations that unconsciously remind us of our "wounds" our state lowers. Meaning that our negative thoughts (most of which are highly unconscious) influence our brain chemistry.
Before I discovered this fact, I was desperately running around trying to pump my state and then feeling guilty that I couldn't do it for long enough. Well, I know better now .

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I think this post somewhat true. If you read "The Power of Now" by Eckhart Tolle, it teaches you what state is and how to turn it on, in different words, obviously.

He claims (and I have found it to be true in my own practice) that the next stage of humanity, that leads to pure connections with everything and everyone around you, comes from consciousness. This means being completely in the present moment and also being completely aware of the feelings and energy inside yourself. It means stopping mind activity, including fantasies about the future or reliving memories of the past (he describes how to do this in the book. You'll find its harder than it seems).

In my experience, when I feel most in the now, I connect to people on the most genuine level. When I combine feeling in the now with excitement and adrenaline, I'm "in state" and can be a social beast. It's very helpful to understand the principles of the book and be able to meditate and place yourself into the now, state follows easily.

IvanDyn is correct in saying that much of our mental activity comes from unconscious factors. It is also important to note that IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THESE FACTORS ARE. At all. Focus your attention completely on the now.

I know exactly what you mean, and in all these years i can not replicate the so call state, specially when you are having some success with women let say at a club, your behavior and momentum changes towards other women which makes you more confident and successful, same with business, specially sales, is weird, I would love to know the answer..

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In psychology 'state' is called 'flow'

Here's the wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flow_%28psychology%29


have fun.

somewhat!!?? It's in fact very ture. I've been investing my whole life in the past year to investigate these issues and have worked on myself and with many clients successfully, using this theory as a model. So, yes it's true .
Actually, if you want to get rid of your unconscious chatter, it matters very much so! I understand what you mean and I have read Tolle's book. And yes, it all seems well in theory. But let me ask you: how many times have you been able to really be in the now? Only a few people in this world can do this. So, the most effective way is to actually be aware of what caused these thoughts and to release the negative emotions around them (for example using EFT/tapping).
But yes, you're right in the sense that you shouldn't focus on these causes, unless you are using a method of erase them. All the other times it's more productive to train yourself how to actually be present, be in your body as opposed to in your head and so on.

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By getting into "state", do you mean getting your mind into that feeling where you are able to make approaches without any anxiety whatsoever?

no! and please your signature is ignorant and ridiculous...

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That's why people who rap say "I'm about to flow."

Your post was somewhat true for me, probably completely true for you, I was agreeing with you much more than I was disagreeing.

I have been able to be in the now. I work on it a lot, and it took about 2.5 months before I feel like I did it satisfactorily. I now experience some complete presence every day, though the duration can be drastically varied. It got a lot easier once I found it the first time. Tolle says you can always go deeper into the present moment, so there's a lot more work to be done, but I have been able to shut off my mind to create really successful situations in my life.

I personally have never been able to erase negative emotion. I used to relive unhappy moments in my life, and be frustrated with myself over awkwardness that I caused in the past. Even since realizing this problem and working to correct it, thinking about these situations in any sense has been unproductive.

We all find our own way though, and it seems like ours are pretty closely linked.[/quote]

[/quote]

Well, good for you! Indeed there are various ways to get there. and yes, I found that in some cases correct reframing and practicins becomig present by for example meditation can do wonders. Yet, what I also found is that sometimes it's impossible to be completely present unless you actually find out what's stopping you. In my case I had to dig VERY deep into the past, to issues related to the divorce of my parents, my immigration and so on. And yes, focusing on it doesn't help. That's why traditional psychoanalytical methods are not vey effective. However, have you ever tried EFT (emotional freedom technique)? Using EFT you CAN actually erase those past limiting patterns (if you know how to do it, or take some sessions with a coach or practitioner).

Having said that, every one has different lives and issues and some will use on method more effectively than others.

Great discussion btw!

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I haven't. I'll look into it, thanks for the suggestion!

Ah yes this is basically what I was looking for, cheers dude!