Anita Moorjani’s NDE on Youtube

This week I was alerted to Lilou Mace’s 47 minute interview with Anita Moorjani on Youtube. If my memory serves me correctly, Anita’s case is referred to in an article written by Dr Larry Dossey and published in Explore journal:

(Dossey, L. (2011). Dying to Heal: A Neglected Aspect of NDEs. Explore, March / April, Vol., 7, No. 2, pp. 59-62.)

On February 2^nd 2006 Anita, who had been suffering with lymphoma cancer for four years, was admitted to Intensive Care in Hong Kong. She was critically ill due to a relapse of her lymphoma. She was not expected to survive and her family were told that she would be lucky to survive another 36 hours. In fact, during the interview, Anita stated that she was actually pronounced dead by the doctor. Not only did Anita regain consciousness but miraculously her lymphoma cancer disappeared too.

Anita has reported a very deep NDE which incorporates many of the components that make up the NDE. There are many interesting points made by Anita including how she didn’t realise that she was in a coma when she was admitted to the hospital because she was still very much aware and could see everything that was going on around her. Also, as is commonly reported, her perception of time was greatly altered and everything seemed to be happening at once. Therefore making sense of the experience and trying to relate it to linear time was quite difficult as is reported by many NDErs.

A prevalent part of her experience was the realisation that we are all interconnected and when she was not in her body she was able to connect with those around her, even the nurses whom she did not know.

What was interesting to me was the fact that she was very much aware of her brother being many miles away and not being present at her bedside. She did not want to die because she did not want him to arrive at the hospital only to see her dead body. The possibility that patient’s have control over the time of their death is one thing I write about in my forthcoming book. As a nurse I have witnessed so many patients die either when their family leave their bedside to have a break or after the arrival of a person or after a particular event such as a family wedding has passed. Anita’s testimony supports the possibility that we have more control over our deaths than we realise.

Maybe the most important message that Anita has to share is how it made her realise that (like many of us, myself included!) she had previously been living her life out of fear of the consequences of her actions. However, her NDE taught her to live her life out of love for herself.

 Anita’ Moorjani’s forthcoming book Dying to be Me is released at the beginning of March.

 Thank you Anita and Lilou for the interview. What a great message Anita has to share with the world. I encourage everyone to watch the interview and listen to and hear what she has to say.

 To watch the interview click the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjLouLHH-_I

In The News…

On Wednesday 1^st February The Guardian published an interesting article called the Top Five Regrets of The Dying.

Australian Palliative Care nurse Bronnie Ware recorded her observations of looking after patients who were in the last few weeks of their life and has written a book on the subject. She also has a blog called Inspiration and Chai:

http://www.inspirationandchai.com/Regrets-of-the-Dying.html

When I read the article I couldn’t help but agree with her observations and I too have mentioned some of these things in my forthcoming book.

Undertaking my research had a very profound effect on me and changed me in many ways. In fact because I learned so much from the patients I looked after I too completely re-evaluated my life. It’s almost as if I was faced with my own death through studying the deaths of my patients. It made me realise the importance of seizing the moment and living in the now! So it was no surprise when the number one on the list of regrets was:

I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

On reflecting on their lives many of the patients realised that they had never fulfilled their dreams. Health brings a freedom that few realise until they no longer have it.

Are you fulfilling your dreams?

For the full article click the link below:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2012/feb/01/top-five-regrets-of-the-dying?INTCMP=SRCH

 

Forthcoming Events

This year has got off to a busy start. I’ve been asked to do several lectures in the space of just two weeks!

On Thursday 2nd February I will be taking part in The Wellcome Trust exhibition in London called Leap of Faith where I will be doing a brief presentation of my NDE research and then participating in a panel discussion. The link to the event is below:

http://www.wellcomecollection.org/whats-on/events/leap-of-faith.aspx

I am also really excited about another talk I’ve been asked to do in April. I have been invited to be a key speaker at the BTC Institute Bioethics Forum in Madison, Wisconsin, USA on April 26th – 27th. The title of the forum is Final Passages: Research on Near-Death and the Experience of Dying.

Other speakers at the event so far include Dr Raymond Moody, Dr Peter Fenwick, Professor Stanislav Grof, Professor Jeffrey Guss, Dr Marilyn Schlitz, Dr William Richards, Dr Pim Van Lommel and Dr Eric Weiss. The conference will be moderated by Steve Paulson of Public Radio International.

I’m really looking forward to participating in this conference and learning from all of the other papers that will be presented. I will post an update of the outcome of the conference.

The link to the conference is:

http://www.btci.org/bioethics/default.html

In The News… Teenager posts video on YouTube which describes his NDE three weeks before his death on Christmas Night

Yesterday The Mail Online reported the story of inspirational teenager Ben Breedlove’s death which happened a few days ago on Christmas night. 18 year old Ben had suffered with a life threatening heart condition for his whole life.

Ben posted a video describing his close brushes with death using flash cards. The video gives some insight into what it must be like to live with the constant threat of death.

A few weeks ago on December 6^th Ben suffered a cardiac arrest. On December 18^th Ben uploaded a video to youtube which described the NDE that he experienced while undergoing the cardiac arrest. Part of the NDE describes an encounter with his favourite rapper Kid Cudi. One of his last comments on the video was ‘I didn’t want to leave that place’.

What a truly inspirational young man. RIP.

To watch Ben’s video click the link below:

http://bcove.me/ygiiepao

 To read the full newspaper report click the link below:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2079098/Ben-Breedlove-Video-sick-teenager-life-1-week-died.html

 

 

In the News… Scientists at Cern Discover ‘The God Particle’

There was an interesting article in the news this week about research carried out at the The Cern physics research centre inSwitzerland. Awaited results of experiments undertaken in the Large Hadron Collider are expected to show that signals have been produced that provide the clearest evidence yet that the sub-atomic particle exists.

 For the full article reported in The Daily Telegraph click the link:

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/large-hadron-collider/8947263/Higgs-boson

 According to Sky News report:

‘If the Cern experiments confirm the Higgs boson exists it would fix the biggest hole in the Standard Model – and give credence to what has been a largely mathematical model of how the Universe works.

 But if they showed it does not exist it would shake the foundations of modern physics and force a massive rethink on the forces that glue the Universe together.’

 Again this appears to be more research to indicate that our current science is at the tipping point. We live in very interesting and exciting times.

Science at the Tipping Point?

In 2005, my conclusion following my five year prospective hospital research project into NDEs was that our current science simply cannot explain NDEs and requires expansion and updating because it is too limiting. The more prospective hospital research carried out into NDEs is also showing that NDEs can no longer be explained away, dismissed or ignored. Further information on my research has been published in my book The Near-Death Experiences of Hospitalized Intensive Care Patients: A Five Year Clinical Study which is available from most libraries.

I have worked as a nurse for 21 years and as an intensive care nurse for 17 of those years. I have nursed thousands of unconscious patients and was awarded a PhD for my prospective research. From my experience of working as a nurse and undertaking my doctoral research, although it conflicts with my scientific nurse training, I realise I have to remain open minded and conclude that we have no alternative but to look for other explanations of consciousness. To say consciousness is merely a by-product of our neurological processes is not supported by the research I undertook or my experience of dealing with unconscious patients.

I’ve recently noticed how apparent it is becoming that more people are agreeing that there is something about NDEs that simply cannot be explained by the current reductionist science.

I am getting many interesting comments from scientists trained in this reductionist science but who are now recognising that something is happening which is beyond the limitations of the current science.

This is very exciting to me because I believe it symbolises the beginning of a huge shift in the way we understand ourselves and consciousness.

Last week I was contacted by Dr Howard Berman. I have already posted his comments but I wanted to ensure that these very important comments were seen by as many people as possible:

Penny, I am a PhD neuropharmacologist with emphasis in Functional Brain Imaging trained at Cornell in the reductionist processes that a scientist usually is. I point to the work of Sir John Eccles, Noble Laureate, who described the correlation between mental processes and neural activity. In other words, when you do anything or think anything or move your arm for instance, what happens in the brain prior to that? Yes, there is activity in the premotor cortex and motor cortex which initiates the movement. But what happens prior to that; Electrical activity cannot be spontaneous; the question is what gives rise to this in the first place. John Eccles described mental phenomenon preceding electrical activity in the brain; he became a dualist at the end and realized that activity in the brain arising out of nothing was not possible; the tenets of cause and effect require a genesis of activity and that likely serves as the bridge between our free will and action. He further described elements which today are mentioned in the literature as quantum mechanics that serve to link this non tangible and tangible aspects of neural activity. I personally believe that mental phenomenon cannot be specifically centered in the constraints of time/space in the physical brain and there is something else which links this together. This corresponds with memory as well. Consider the cloud computing phenomenon where you can store large amounts of data remote from your computer and have it recalled by your computer. This is likely very similar to some form of field where by memory is stored and can be recalled in the brain. Regardless, this is a fascinating area and has led me to not believe in a purely reductionist hypothesis. Something is going on and for skeptics to outright deny is wrong.

In a second comment Dr Berman wrote:

Penny, how can something arise out of nothing? Meaning how can an electrical signal in the brain arise from nothing? If someone touches your hand, the ensuing electrical activity that orginate from the nocicepters in your skin travel up dorsal column medial lemniscus to subthalamic regions to your cortical regions and your brain processes these signals in the form of electrical activity. Thus, there is cause and effect for these neural signals. However, lets discuss signals originating in the brain through thought or intention; such as something as simple as reaching my hand out to touch someone or as complex as playing a violin. The intent to do it in the first place; where did that come from and how could the brain originate this intent given that electrical activity would have had to be spontaneously produced which gave rise to your intention. Not to be philosophical, but there must be something that bridges the intent with the functional activity in the brain. This is the hard question. This is probably what underlies free will and the non material and non tangible essence of intent. Could this be the ‘soul’ mediating activity in the brain through complex quantum processes? The brain is critical to our functioning in this world; however, I believe it is not the only mechanism. Remember one other thing; how is it possible that people who are clinically dead and yet return are able to experience vivid near death experiences with sight, sound, and emotion? How is this possible and more importantly how can these patients return and recall the memory of that event? The brain was purportedly in crisis or shut down and had little or no blood flow; how could memory of such an event survive? The ONLY way possible is for this external field to somehow ‘hold’ the memory in packets of information, much like a cellular signal that could be reprocessed from cell tower to cell tower and converted into understandable language on your phone. Something external is occurring from the brain which allows an intermediation of non physical process and physical process and packets of information or memory or the essence of whom we are or our free will with intention are able to somehow jump from this external field to the functional aspects of the brain.

Again another Doctor trained in the reductionist science who has now also questioned what he was taught is Dr Eben Alexander.  On November 22 ^nd Skeptiko’s Alex Tsakiris broadcast an interview with Dr Eden Alexander the neurosurgeon who had a NDE (I have written a previous post on this very interesting case and this highlights a second interview that was broadcast).

The interview is fascinating and what is particularly striking is how, as a result of experiencing a NDE, Dr Alexander has totally changed his view and acknowledges that there is so much more about consciousness that what he was taught in his scientific medical training. If you haven’t already heard the interview it is well worth listening to.

The Skeptiko interview with Dr Alexander is available on the following link – it’s also transcribed

 
http://www.skeptiko.com/154-neurosurgeon-dr-eben-alexander-near-death-experience/

Dr Eben Alexander III, A Neuroscientist / Neurosurgeon, Describes his own NDE

I have just listened to a very important interview online with neurosurgeon Dr Eben Alexander III. It is so refreshing for someone of Dr Alexander’s experience, qualifications and credentials to speak publicly about his ver own transcendent NDE.

He describes in detail the events leading up to his NDE and his memory of when he regained consciousness after a week in a coma. He recalled a very elaborate NDE, after he contracted a rare strain of meningitis. What is fascinating is how he tried to make sense of this heightened state of consciousness when it should not have been possible with such a physiologically impaired brain. Thus he had no option other than to reconsider his prior views on consciousness.

As a result the NDE has completely changed his view on consciousness and he states how he has learned experientially more than he had ever learned about consciousness prior to his NDE despite being a neuroscientist. It is interesting how he now recognises his experience as real and as a result it has changed the way in which he interacts with his patients.

 Check out his website at  www.LifeBeyonddeath.net, he can also be followed on Twitter.

 He is currently writing a book about his experience and I look forward to reading it.

The interview is lengthy (approx an hour) but I would urge those interested in consciousness and NDEs to listen to it all as he makes some excellent points. Thanks to Tim for alerting me to this.

I’d be interested to hear what people think of this interview.

To listen to this interview click onto the link below then scroll down to the >encore< …..

  
 http://para-x-radio.com/shows.php?id=60&PHPSESSID=8580e3c878c60491c4b3990cc5168ab4

Empathic or Shared Death Experiences: How Do We Explain Them?

The phenomenon of the shared death experience is becoming increasingly reported. There are many cases described by various authors in the early NDE literature such as Dr Pam Kircher, Dr Yvonne Kason. Recently Dr Raymond Moody published Glimpses of Eternity which is about shared death experiences.

These experiences are reported by people who also share some aspects of the NDE as their loved one is dying or coincides with the time of death of a loved one. I have documented cases where people who were present at the bedside of their dying loved one suddenly found themselves participating in a transcendent experience of a partial journey into death. I have also documented cases where miles away from their dying loved one people have suddenly and inexplicably been overwhelmed with intense emotion – this coincided with the death of a loved one. One of these cases was described to me by a GP who was visiting a dying patient. Despite her 18 years experience of working as a doctor she could not explain what she experienced that day as her patient died. These experiences have a lasting impact on the person and remains so vivid that it actually diminishes the sadness felt at the loss of their loved one. Some of these fascinating cases are in my forthcoming book.

Earlier this year I was contacted by Annie Cap who herself had a shared death experience. It had so deeply affected her that it had set her on her own journey to understand what she had experienced. The result culminated in writing a book about her experience called ‘Beyond Goodbye: An extraordinary true story of a shared death experience’. I won’t say too much about the book as I don’t want to spoil it for readers. I was fascinated by what she experienced and I think her book will help a lot of people who have also experienced something similar.

So how can we explain these? The people at the bedside or those who are miles away from their loved ones in some way ‘connect’ with the dying person but are not themselves close to death or unconscious. How can people whose brains are not compromised physiologically experience such overwhelming transcendent experiences that are so powerful that it diminishes their grief?

 

Are All OBEs Accurate? Some Findings From My Hospital NDE Research

In response to comments on the blog I thought I’d write a brief post about some of the OBEs I came across in my research.

Although there is much documented research into OBEs from the 1960’s onwards it’s only in the past 25 years that research has been undertaken in hospitals. In theUS Dr Janice Holden undertook some veridicality OBE research in the 1980’s in hospital settings which was later followed by Dr Madelaine Lawrence.

In one of the rooms in one of the hospitals of Dr Pim Van Lommel’s study he placed an image that could only be seen from an out-of-body perspective. Targets were also used in Dr Parnia’s study, Dr Bruce Greyson’s study and my own.

In all there were 8 OBEs reported in my study. One of them was clearly a mind model constructed from residual sight, hearing and tactile stimulation as the lady was recovering from anaesthetic. The lady recalled seeing her face with a red tube in her mouth. She did have a tube in her mouth but the tube was blue not red. However, she was also having a blood transfusion at the time and the giving set was in her line of vision and obviously red in colour. So it seems that she could feel the tube in her mouth and see the blood transfusion as she was recovering from anaesthetic.

There was a very interesting case which was accurate but also had one aspect that was that was totally inaccurate. The lady reported events which had happened but she also reported viewing a piece of jewellery on her body which was definitely not there. The OBE occurred during surgery and strict checks are carried out prior to entry into the operating theatre – this certifies that no jewellery was present. However, this lady also reported hallucinations which she later rationalised as hallucinations. She was sedated for a few days after the event so this may in some way have interfered with recall of her experience. In fact, my research found that rather than the drugs creating these types of experience they had an inhibitory effect or turned them into confusional experiences. We need more anomalous cases like this to explore all possible explanations.

With the case of Patient 10 who reported a very accurate OBE that occurred while I was looking after him I’ve tried to explore this from all aspects. It is written up in full in the 16 page article published in the Winter edition of the Journal of Near Death Studies in 2006. I explored the possibility that he could have heard what was going on. He reported seeing the consultant shine a torch in his eyes and Patient 10 reported that consultant had said ‘There’s life in the eye’. The consultant didn’t actually use those words but they were a good description of what he meant. If hearing played such a big part then I would have expected him to accurately repeat the words of the consultant.

With regards to the hallucinations when I investigated what the patients reported it became apparent that they could hear the background noise and staff conversation and this was contributing to their hallucinations as their sedation was wearing off.

For example, one lady was convinced she was on theSwansea to Cork ferry. She could feel the boat swaying. All ITU patients are nursed on pressure relieving mattresses and if you lie on a bed it actually does feel as though you are on a boat, also as her sedation was wearing off she was being looked after by an Irish nurse with a very strong Irish accent.

I think this research is in it’s infancy and a lot more is needed to draw any firm conclusions. Other cases are needed to compare and get a bigger picture of what may be occurring.

The full details of what was reported in my study can be found in my book The Near-Death Experiences of Hospitalized Intensive Care Patients: A Five Year Clinical Study.

 

 

New Near-Death Experience Research Reported in Today’s Daily Mail

There is an interesting article in today’s Daily Mail.

The article describes how researchers from the universities of Edinburgh and Cambridge reviewed studies into changes in the brain which are associated with near-death experiences. Researcher Dr Caroline Watt reported:

‘If you put on a virtual reality headset showing an image of  yourself three feet in front, you  can trick your brain into thinking that is you over there, and get  the sense you are outside your body,’

Yes, this is possible but it is not the same experience as a veridical out of body perception that has been reported by patients who have been deeply unconscious and later reported accurate events that occurred while they were unconscious and when their brains were not functioning optimally. See Dr Pim Van Lommel et al’s report in The Lancet 2001 and the case of Patient 10 in my prospective research.

Dr Watt also suggests the involvement of the hormone noradrenaline which is released in the body at times of stress. Many patients in my prospective study had the drug noradrenaline administered but they did not report a NDE or OBE.

The conclusion of Dr Caroline Watt is that “The scientific evidence suggests that all aspects of near-death experiences have a biological basis”.

Undoubtedly, biological processes occur during NDEs but this does not explain all aspects of the NDE which is a highly complex phenomenon. Many NDErs are profoundly transformed, may gain information while unconscious in ways other than through the senses (see Patient 11 in my prospective study), may experience a huge ‘psychological boost’ which motivates them to push their physical body to extremes (see my forthcoming book for a great example of this) and in some cases there are inexplicable healings of physical ailments (see the case of Patient 10 in my prospective research) – none of which are adequately explained by mere physiological responses as the brain is shutting down.

As more interesting research is being published on the subject of the powerful influence the mind has over the body, scientists are realising that human experience consists of both the physical body and the non-physical mind. It is unfortunate that the predominant mode of thought only considers physical aspects when to be human we can’t deny that we must also have a mind as well as a body. To have a greater understanding of what it is to be human then we must embrace both the body and the mind. At this moment in time there are no known physiological processes that explain how consciousness or the mind arises from the brain.

 To read more online click the link below:

 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2055499/An-body-experience-brain-playing-tricks-you.html