Trance mediumship is one of the oldest forms of Spirit communication, often associated with seances and physical phenomena. Trance itself refers to an altered state of consciousness.

The medium enters a deep state, one where they need to open their spiritual “radio” to be able to join with Spirit both physically and spiritually. Like all forms of mediumship, many years of study and training are required to work in a trance state.

The mediums will need to prepare themselves entering a state similar to meditation. When in trance physical changes to the medium’s body take place, such as a slowing of the heart beat (though some people also experience a quickening of the heart beat); slow, deep breathing; altered brain patterns and lowering of body temperature.

During trance, the medium also experiences an altered awareness of sounds, touch, space and conscious thought. The medium will then allow their Spirit communicator (Spirit guide) to combine their energies with the medium's energies, which means the Spirit Guide merges with the medium's physical and subtle bodies, mind and spirit. This process can take several minutes. However, in Lidia’s case, the trance transition occurs very quickly, some times in a matter of moments.

In a real trance mediumship state, the essence of the spirit guide will be felt by those watching and listening. The spirit guide will be able to impart not only their thoughts but also a sense of their personality. Changes to the appearance of the trance medium may also occur. With Lidia her facial features are seen to change as the muscles in her face are altered by her ascended master.

It is also very common for changes to occur to the sound of the voice. These changes range from tone and depth, to dialect and accents, to mannerism and speech patterns. Lidia’s main trance ascended master is Dr. Egas Moniz. Dr. Moniz, like Lidia, also has a slight accent, but he speaks much slower than Lidia and his sentence structure and use of grammar is very different to her own.

There are also physical changes to Lidia's body as ascended master Dr. Egas Moniz, the father of psychosurgery, was 80 when he died and hunched over when he spoke. Dr. Moniz also gesticulates with his hands far more than Lidia would do. (Please note these changes are not to be confused with transfiguration, which is a form of physical mediumship and uses ectoplasm to create a mask).