The Blackout That Shifted Consciousness in Spain and Portugal

May 23rd, 2025

By Paul A. Philips

Contributing Writer for Wake Up World

You may well be aware of the recent catastrophic power outages causing the blackout in Spain and Portugal. It was said to be one of the biggest blackouts in Europe’s history. Accident or not, there are a number of theories and technology-based explanations as to what happened. Was it a psyop? Will it happen again?

However, this article is not about those accounts or explanations already put forward. Instead, it focuses on something different: Something very strange happened during the Spain and Portugal blackout, with millions affected, but nobody’s talking about it. Something shifted, and this may be more significant than realized.

During the Spain and Portugal blackout, something happened, but it was not seen on camera or documented in official accounts. What happened was internal. It was felt during the quietude. Aware or not, this short-lived blackout-based internal experience caused mass behavioral changes.

Before explaining those behavioral changes, what caused them and their significance, consider this:

We live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with high-sensory input. This perceptual high-sensory input, compressed into our 3-D, 5-sense experiences, is shaped and molded through overstimulation, constant reaction, and unrelenting distraction. Consider, for example, using gardening as a welcoming retreat.

The American Psychological Society tells us that “In terms of pure data consumption, it is thought that we’re now exposed to as much data in a single day than someone in the 15th century would be in their entire lifetime.” 

Let that sink in! 

This modern-day, somewhat shallow existence doesn’t allow for depth—no time for introspection.

For instance, it’s not conducive for expressing oneself as coming from the heart.

Further, much of this high-sensory input is emotive, fast-paced, and rooted in survival. It’s generally okay in small doses, as we’re able to adapt, but for many, when excessive, it leads to chronic stress.

This high-sensory input causes the “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system to be constantly switched on, which, in turn, hinders the “resting and digesting” parasympathetic nervous system’s ability to return the body to baseline relaxation. The vagus nerve plays a major part in baseline regulation/relaxation.

For example, consider the research done on Facebook. It shows how social media leads to difficulties in stress recovery. Exposure to long-term frequent digital media sensory input may lead to physical and cognitive fatigue.

Living in the fast-lane modern-day world has made many people feel like something is not right.

Then, the lights went out…

Then, all of a sudden, not just literally, the metaphorical lights also went out during the Spain and Portugal blackout. I’ll explain.

No internet, no TV, no smartphone, no noises, no high-speed demands… i.e., no longer experiencing the constant bombardment of high-sensory overstimulation, reaction and unrelenting distraction, as there was a power outage, a radical behavioural shift happened. Those affected experienced a different frequency.

In the quietude, this frequency causes people to introspect and shift their focus of attention towards internal states. Neuroscience dubbed the resulting sense of presence and self-awareness interoception.

What’s even more interesting is that it goes further. More and more people are now becoming aware of the dissonance, breakdowns caused by high-sensory overstimulation and mental/physical burnout.

They’re realizing that the solutions lie in reducing stimulation, reaction, and distraction by shifting towards internal states, thus allowing the parasympathetic nervous system to return the body to baseline relaxation without hindrance.

More and more people are choosing a lifestyle that allows mental and physical recalibration, achieving balance, coherence, and clarity. This results in a shift in consciousness.

This collective shift was unheard of 10 years ago. The upshot is that people and society are changing their behaviors regarding how they see sensory input. Many are spending less time online, and more people are appreciating the benefits of spending time alone.

Then, there’s an increased awareness or sensitivity to external stimuli. Noise, light, and speed perceptions are elevated. Things that many had not been aware of before are getting noticed because the overstimulation, reaction, and unrelenting distraction are no longer masking their perceptions of these things.

The Spain and Portugal blackout, with its quietude and stillness absent of the usual external rhythms, may well have contributed to this.

Supporting research

The above solutions are supported by related research, which is becoming increasingly valid.

For example, taking quietude, isolation and very low-sensory input to another level, more people report increased wellness through going to darkness retreats. Based on monastic disciplines, these darkness retreats have received much attention from neuroscience research, clinicians and high-performance studies.

It works like this: Typically, participants/clients may experience living in a totally dark environment for several to ten-plus days. Their cooped-up existence is distraction-free; there are no light signals and no input from outside.

Evaluations have been conducted, such as those from the International Conference of Mindfulness. The studies’ results on participants who had experienced and completed darkroom retreat programs were positive.

Having completed the darkroom retreat sensory-deprivation programs, participants showed substantial enhancements in mindfulness and self-awareness, both immediately after the experience and one month later as a follow-up re-evaluation. Also, there were reports of better sleep quality and lowered anxiety.

As with other studies on darkroom retreat sensory-deprivation programs, this study scientifically reaffirms therapeutic benefits.

On similar lines, other studies on sensory deprivation have used different environmental setups to the above. Again, the results were positive for monitored and controlled sensory deprivation tanks.

After the sensory-deprivation tank experience, participants were found to have less stress, confirmed by lowered blood plasma cortisol, better heart rate variability and enhanced attention.

These improvements through sensory-deprived experiences are not about technique; quite simply, they’re down to limiting input. The body’s responses are not extreme but baseline recalibrations.

Another way to reduce the stimulation, reaction and distraction is to live a life based on minimalism.

In conclusion

Did the Spain and Portugal blackout serve as a catalyst, acting as a wake-up call?

During the blackout, as with other sensory limited situations, the stark contrast of existence compared to the hectic world we have come to know brought increasing realisations that maybe the new paradigm experience we’ve been waiting for is based on the frequency of living in an internal, introspective world?

Something that has always been there for us to realize beneath the overlays. Something that begins not through ideology, but from direct experience. When experienced, when realized, there’s no going back. You cannot unsee it.

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About the Author:

My blogs, along with the related alternative news website iNewParadigm.com, are about my belief that we can create a world that makes a difference for everyone.

I had graduated in biomedical sciences and worked for a number of years in healthcare. I am now a retiree. My website is slanted on health matters.

However, over the years, I have come to the firm conclusion that practically every subject under the sun needs redefining using more truthful, honest, and integral approaches in theory and practice, hence the website’s name ‘New Paradigm’

From these new approaches, from the ‘imagination of ourselves,’ from our visions… a ‘new era’ in humanity can result!