There are many other ways to achieve that trance state. My favorite is running because it gets me in shape as well as having me attain that trance state. I just focus on my breathing, it is a meditation/self hypnosis thing after which I feel no guilt.

I find if I do something that takes high levels of concentration I trance out as well. I get sucked into this one thing and all else fades away. Counted cross stitch is excellent for this. Also when I work on the numbers for my book ordering at work or when I check in orders at work.

Menial tasks are good too. Dusting in particular. I can slip into trance as I ritually remove all the objects from a shelf, dust, then put them all back, lining them up just so. People at work don't understand why I love to dust so much. I have to wait until there are other workers in the store with me because having to break in and out of the altered state is hard on the system. If I have a co-worker there I can zone out for an hour at a time.

Try to find activities that you can fall into. Sometimes the smallest thing you do can be used in this manner like brushing your hair or making the bed. I guess it is like meditation, the more you practice the easier it is to access it. I have been learning how to use my particular mental foibles to my advantage rather then banishing them. Cutting helped me to learn to connect to that trance state. I decided since the trance is what I wanted I would find other ways to attain it. As I get better at it the less I cut and the more I get done because the things I do to attain the state are productive.
Carrie<font color=blue>

To whom do I owe the biggest apology? No one's been crueler then I've been to me.
I am sorry to myself, my apologies begin here before everybody else.
I am sorry to myself, for treating me worse then I would anybody else. --Alanis Moresette