may i remind everybody to respect each other, and if you don’t have anything positive to contribute then please refrain from posting.
This is an interesting thread 
Some things I don’t understand yet are; is shifting something like a trance like state? If so, how real does it feel? Is it real like real life or a lucid dream, or does it just seem like a daydream or a memory?
Well, the shifts I’ve experienced (mental shifts and dream shifts) are different from each other.
Dream shifts are when you turn into the animal side in a dream. It’s not very hard to imagine how thats like.
But m-shifts are cool. The way I usually think gets replaced by a another way, and I guess you could call it a trance like state. I think that exactly how it feels varies between people and theriotypes (animal/other sides).
When I shift I don’t think as much a human would. I can plan and remember, but I do it differently. Everything is seen from the perspective of a wolf, and instead of using sight primarily to understand the world, I care more about scents and sounds.
It can be very exhausting sometimes.
It sounds like a really fascinating state of mind to be in. Maybe I’ll give this a try 
Well, as long as you don’t force yourself. I don’t think that’s good. It should just come by it self.
Ooh, an interesting topic! Not being a wolf or bear-shifter myself, I’m sure I can’t be of too much hands-on experience, but I can, however, offer this.
It’s a link to a site that explains something they have dubbed somafera. The berserkers of the Vikings are counted as practicioners or somafera, which is basically a shifting sort of as described here already.
I figure maybe Lanina and Kenai (whoever else wants to read it) might find it useful or interesting. I ran into it a while ago, and this thread made me think of it
I hate my own post. 
This was interesting, even though I wouldn’t say that it’s exactly the same.
Time for some fun facts! 
The word “berserker” comes from
“ber”, bear, and “serk” which can mean shirt.
Some of them wore animal furs, and believed that they were animals.
The norse mythology speaks of changing “hamn”, into different animals, shape-shifting. Some put themselves into a trance-like state so that they could in animal forms get answers to important questions like if a battle would go well. They were mostly women.
Loke (a giant/god) transforms himself into a lot of animals in the myths: horse, salmon, falcon…
Not in the Norse myths. o_O The women changers are more common in Greek history/myths than the Norse ones, if present at all there. An example of women would be the Maenads, followers of Dionysus(or however you’re to spell his name) for instance.
Or at least, the ones that were sent along to fight in other countries. Why waste child-bearers?
Also, as the Somafera website states;
This is specifically for battle, but the whole changing thing is probably also a way to connect to Odin in particular. (His name as it was written back then could mean ‘stirrer of fury’, which rather fits with the whole ‘grrrr fight’ idea the berserker tends to call up).
Loki changing into animals was generally in the cause of one trickery or another…
Oh, I expressed myself in a confusing way.
The berserkers were mostly men, as the other warriors.
But there were a kind of seers and magicians called “völva” (I don’t know what they are called in english) who contacted animal sides in order to contact gods or predict things. There were völvas who didn’t contact animal sides too.
Sorry if I’m confusing you ^^;;
Well, considering berserkers were warriors, and the warriors were mostly men (if not all), that’d make sense. 
And oh, those things. I think they just say ‘volva’ without the double dots on them in English… Seeresses, prophetesses. (gods, to pluralise the words XD)
They practiced seidhr magic (shamanism) and galdhr magic (a chanting, incantational type of magic I believe), yeah 
Oh, and spindlecraft and runework, of course.
I think they also spoke with the disir and landwights, but my knowledge on them is somewhat limited, and I didn’t think it necessary to this topic, as I found berserkers far more like to shifters (in the physical sense) that is.
I thought it especially neat that they had managed to compose a list of ‘symptoms’ a lot (but not all) somaferans practiced/showed/uh… thinged (not native English ^_^;; ).
Edit: And was wondering if any of them were also common in physical shifters of one type or another present here.
Spirit Shift
Dream Shift
WOLF!!!
ConstantDreamer 
yawns and walks scilently in to the room kind of hiding away from the others 
im sleepy, not like i have been up all day sleepy, not tired, but i want to sleep 100% og the time… and i had recently a week off school, it was great, i slept alot ^^ like 75% of the day or something…
well, it could be coincidence, i dont want to discuss it, btw that is a bit off topic anyway…
raw beef is good ^^
If I find myself barking at people, or rolling on the grass under the sun, am I supposed to start getting worried? 
i dont think you should be worried Bruno
just enjoy being a bit different than others, even though i dont think it’s to serious
“a bit”? 
i was thinking the same 
yesterday i finaly got to use one and a half school class to walk in the forest, i realy felt awfully nice since the teachers were gone and i got to take time on my own with noone around, but i didnt feel totaly safe as i walked along the ski track, it felt like someone where near and i couldnt stop turning around, smell around me (even though i cant smell anything now my nose is, eh) noone did come and when i got back to school (about 2km away from there or something) i didnt remember anything at all… 
I’ve been reading this but I truly have to say I’m not sure I get this whole ‘shapeshifting’ thing. I mean are these transformations done during meditation, dreaming or waking life?
I watched a Disney movied called Brother Bear and if anyone has seen it, I believe, shapeshifting is done there too. Even if the movie is just a cartoon.
i don’t recall watching that movie
yes, but this is not shapeshifting as you say, shapeshifting is the shift of which therians are not shure is possible, but there are people claiming to be able to shapeshift and a group of them recently were found to be a fake (yahoo groups NAoW [i belive )
and as for Brother Bear, Kenai is shifted into a Bear by the great spirits which his brother is a member of and not by himself, and as for Sitka shifting into the eagle, thats because he is a spirit and not a organic lifeform 
(something may be a bit off in the above text, but you get my point, im shure)
and the shifting happens while Dreaming, Daydreaming Meditating (mabye, i don’t meditate ) just walking around, sitting at a random spot, sleeping (before dreaming starts [leads to sleepwalking (on all fours for me )]) you see, Shifts can be woken up by some totaly random reason.
The “shifts” we are talking about here, are not shapeshifting as we don’t actually change shape.
It’s more of a way of thinking and reacting.