The video below explores the 7 States of Consciousness model developed by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi back in the 70s (although this isn’t mentioned).

I explored this in several articles early on, but it’s been a while. More recent readers may find the background useful. I have a few small quibbles with some of the video, but it’s a decent overview. 

After seeing many people make these shifts and studying it formally, I adopted the full Vasishtha model. This distinguishes states (dreaming, waking, etc.) from progressive stages (Cosmic Consciousness, Unity, etc.) and extends the 7 states model past Unity.

But this is the foundation, and it gives context to how our experience and sense of self develops.
Davidya