The number of things one can pay attention to simultaneously (or hold in their conscious mind) is inversly proportional to the degree of trance.
For example, a person in a deep trance will not pay much conscious attention to anything in particular, besides, maybe, the voice of the hypnotist, or his/her own internal images (sounds, feelings, etc.). In the "wide awake" state, on the other hand, one can pay attention to several things at a time (alegedly 7 +/- 2, but I will argue that it widely varies in different people).
Thus, trance can be defined as a state with reduced number of items in our conscious awareness at any given moment in time. In particular, when this number reaches zero, we become totally unconscious, or fall asleep.
In my daily observations, many people cannot pay attention to more than 2-3 things at a time. No wonder so many people spend all their life in trance, as NLPers noticed long time ago.
Time to Wake Up
If the above observation holds up in reality, then this model gives a practical way to "wake up" from the perpetual trance. Practice to pay attention to more than one thing at a time. For example, listen to a conversation on a radio, draw a picture, and check how your left foot feels in your shoe, all at the same time. Can you make sense of what is spoken on the radio without stopping to draw? Can you keep listening without forgetting about your left foot?
When you are talking to a person, can you keep up with the content of the conversation and at the same time pick out which predicates (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) the person is using most often? Can you keep track of the overall structure of the conversation, while pondering the detail of the moment?
When in a crowded supermarket, can you see the people around you with your periferal vision, walking and moving all at the same time, as if you are in a middle of a giant anthill? Can you tell a man from a woman way to your right while looking straight at the shelf and reading the price tags? Can you tell the colors of their dress? Can you tell what they are wearing?
Make up such exercises on the go wherever it is safe to do so, practice daily, and check to see how much more you start noticing around you...
Is this really what widely awake means, or have I been in trance all my life?
