Don't touch.What the deanimated state is, what is allowed to stop in it, and how people come back out of it safely.

In rituals it happens that someone falls into a state in which the body can no longer move. For the person it can be the strongest moment of the evening. For the leader it's the test. You won't find this term explained anywhere else, so here it is.

By Andy DittrichAs of 17 September 20267 minutes

Definition

A deanimated state is a state in which your body seems switched off. You know you can't move anymore. Your awareness stays awake.

If you can relax into this state, it's a gift. If you fight it, you panic. Often the only difference is whether someone explained it to you beforehand.

What exactly it is.

We have to define something you won't find anywhere else. I call it the deanimated state. Your body falls into a particular state in which you know you can't move anymore. You're awake. You notice what's happening in the room. And you can't do anything.

It happens in deep rituals. In plant rituals, in strong breathwork, where it can be explained physically as tetany, and sometimes in deep dream journeys. And if you can relax into this state, it's a state in which something is allowed to stop. If you fight it, it's panic.

For the leader, this is the real test. What happens now decides the outcome. The most important rule: don't touch. People in this state get the fright of their life when they're suddenly touched. Bringing them back safely is a craft. And you don't learn a craft from books.

Don't touch.

The body stands still. Awareness doesn't.

This is the state most leaders have never seen and still set off. The body stops moving. The person hears everything. And the only rule that counts sits in the middle.

It starts quietly: hands, jaw, then the whole body
Awareness stays awake, the person hears everything
Don't touch
The return: the leader brings them back, calmly, without grabbing

How it runs.

The forms differ, the sequence is almost always the same. If you know what's coming, you can take care of what matters.

It starts quietly

The body gets heavy, the movements stop. From outside it looks as if someone has fallen asleep or drifted off.

The person is awake

They notice what's happening in the room. And they can't do anything. This is the moment that decides whether panic comes.

Relax or resist

Whoever knows what's happening can let themselves fall into it. Then it becomes one of the deepest moments a ritual has to offer. Whoever doesn't know fights their own body.

The leader is tested

Don't touch. Stay calm. Lead with the voice. Everything else is craft that has to sit right at this point.

The return

It happens by itself, and it can be accompanied. First the eyes, then the chest, then the laughter. After that the person needs time, warmth, and someone who interprets nothing.

Safely in. And safely back out.

What you need to be clear about.

Don't touch. That's the most important rule.

People in this state are barely in their body. Whoever simply touches them to help gives them the fright of their life. Well meant is the opposite of well done here.

Whoever panics can't think anymore.

That goes for the person on the floor and just as much for the one leading the room. That's why my requirement for everyone who leads rituals is: be calm. Or be trained so well that you stay calm. That's hugely important, and it's the real qualification.

Bringing people back is craft, not knowledge.

It took me years to learn it. I could explain it to you in half an hour. You wouldn't be able to do it. You don't learn a craft from a book, you have to have lived it, ideally next to someone who can do it.

A lucky break isn't a method.

The first time people fell into this state with me, a shamanic teacher was there. That was luck. Whoever leads a ritual and hopes someone who can handle it happens to be around hasn't prepared.

For you as a participant this means: ask beforehand.

You don't need to master the craft. You only need to know whether the person in whose room you lie down masters it. One question is enough. You'll hear the answer in the tone.

Questions before your first deep ritual.

Three for the person leading, one for you. A sentence is an answer, ten minutes aren't.

AskBefore your first deep ritual

"What do you do when someone can't move anymore?"
"Who is there when something unexpected happens?"
"How do you bring us back?"

And one for youHow do I want to feel when I come out?

A sentence is an answer. Ten minutes aren't.

"What do you do when someone can't move anymore?"

The best answer starts with: don't touch. Whoever says "that doesn't happen with us" hasn't worked deep yet.

"Who is there when something unexpected happens?"

A name is an answer. "Me" is one too, if what that person then does comes after it.

"How do you bring us back?"

First the eyes, then the chest, then the laughter. Whoever can say something like that in their own words has done it.

"How do I want to feel when I come out?"

The one for you. One word, five seconds, finger on the spot. That's the thread that stays when the body stands still.

The five questions that apply to any leader have their own page: Look closely. Ask.

When it's no longer a ritual question

Being unable to move can also have medical causes. With unconsciousness, irregular breathing, a seizure, blue lips, or if someone doesn't respond, no ritual knowledge applies anymore, only the emergency number (144 in Switzerland). A deanimated state is something else: the person is awake, responsive, breathing calmly, they just can't move. If you're not sure which of the two it is, treat it as an emergency.

And afterwards?

After a state like this, a person needs warmth, quiet, time. And above all nobody explaining what it was supposed to mean. Ask whether someone wants something to drink. Stay close without talking.

Whatever needs saying, the person says it themselves when they're ready. Sometimes they say nothing for days. That's fine too.

Safely in. And safely back out.

Common questions.

What is a deanimated state?

A state in deep rituals in which your body seems switched off: you know you can't move, and you're awake while it happens. If you can relax into it, it's a gift. If you fight it, you panic.

Is the deanimated state dangerous?

The state itself isn't. What's dangerous is what the leader does with it: touching, getting hectic, pulling people up. And it's dangerous to confuse it with a medical emergency. Whoever is unconscious, unresponsive or breathing irregularly: call the emergency number (144 in Switzerland).

Why must you not touch someone in this state?

Because the person is barely in their body and a sudden touch gives them the fright of their life. Well meant is the opposite of well done here. Brought back too early isn't rescued. It's interrupted.

In which rituals does this happen?

In plant rituals, in strong breathwork, where it can be explained physically as tetany, and sometimes in deep dream journeys.

How do you bring someone back safely?

Don't touch. Stay calm. Lead with the voice. The return comes by itself: first the eyes, then the chest, then the laughter. That's craft, and you learn it next to someone who can do it, not from a book.

What do I ask a leader beforehand?

What do you do when someone can't move anymore? Who is there when something unexpected happens? How do you bring us back? You'll hear the answers in the tone.

Where does the term come from?

From me. I called it that because there was no word for it and I had to explain it in workshops. In the canon it's called deanimation, out of the body. The state is old. Only the word is new.

Who writes this.

Andy Dittrich

Around a hundred workshops with different teachers, two breathwork trainings, many years as a student of indigenous shamans in North America and Mongolia and of a teacher in the Moroccan desert. He has guided around two thousand people through rituals, safely in and safely back out.

Only what he knows from the inside is written here.

My intention with these pages: I share my knowledge so you can find the difference yourself. Between shamanic bullshit and something truly special.

Before you go

Safely in.And safely back out.

That's the whole job of someone who leads a ritual. Everything else, the drum, the herbs, the words, is decoration. If you can ask only one question before you lie down somewhere, ask this one: how do you bring people back safely?

See the mentoring

Goes with it.

BreathworkTwo trainings. Today I breathe gently. Sweat lodgeNot an outdoor sauna. What really happens inside. Holding space doesn't existYou can only hold what stands still. Plant ritualsYou get a theme served to you. What you clarify beforehand.