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June 4, 2025
Jenny Moix, Samantha Baldaccini, Marta Isern
Out-of-body experiences (OBEs) can occur spontaneously, be self-induced, or triggered by methods such as sleep paralysis or lucid dreaming. A scoping review of 87 publications from 1987 to 2024 found that reactions to OBEs vary widely, with some people fearing recurrence and others welcoming them. OBEs are highly idiosyncratic and often feel intensely real. Explanatory hypotheses include psychological, physiological, and non-local consciousness perspectives. The phenomenon is complex and requires further study to normalize and expand the current conception of consciousness.
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January 1, 2025
Jeb Barton, Marjorie Woollacott
Drawing on teachings from enlightened masters, this essay presents eight insights about consciousness, awareness, and experience. It explains how these insights can help evaluate the usefulness of personal values and beliefs, which shape responses to life experiences. The essay emphasizes that cultivating and refining one's own awareness is crucial because the level of awareness governs the flow of creativity and experience into and out of one's life.
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June 1, 2026
Kamala Chandak
A personal narrative describes how Raja Yoga meditation, learned through an online course during COVID-19 lockdown, helped the author cope with pandemic-related distress. The account explores how spiritual knowledge, meditation, and selfless service (Sewa) together fostered self-awareness, mental clarity, and emotional resilience. A unique experience during a residential spiritual retreat is analyzed through both spiritual and neuro-psychological frameworks. The narrative suggests that meditation-based spiritual practices can enhance psychological well-being and inner transformation during global crises.
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January 1, 2026
Nachum Plonka, Scott Davies, Mike Atkinson et al.
During meditation workshops with 1000–2200 participants, a network of 40 random number generators placed in the room showed a significant correlation with hundreds of RNGs distributed globally, but only during specific healing meditations. The mean correlation was 0.27. This suggests that highly focused attention or elevated emotional states in a small, coherent group may have a measurable global impact. Additionally, combining local RNG data across healing meditations produced a curve resembling an evoked response in the brain, indicating that a coherently focused signal may evoke a response from the RNGs similar to neural evoked potentials.
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January 1, 2025
João Francisco Pollo Gaspary, Alfred Lee Edgar, Fernanda Peron Gaspary et al.
Ancestral healing rituals, long viewed as symbolic cultural practices, may function as structured behavioral interventions that trigger adaptive physiological responses. This study reinterprets these rituals through redox biology, systems physiology, and bioenergetic modulation. Using systematic reviews and heuristic triangulation, the authors developed the APEIC model (Adaptive Psychoneuroendocrineimmunometabolic Cascade), which explains how ritual practices—such as meditation, fasting, and celebration—rhythmically modulate proton gradients, redox balance, and metabolic flexibility, synchronizing psychoneuroendocrine, immune, and metabolic systems. Endogenous DMT is proposed as a potential biomarker of integrative coherence. The model offers a conceptual foundation for non-pharmacological health strategies rooted in ancestral behavioral intelligence.
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January 1, 2025
Anne Kennard, Jennifer Clinkenbeard, Erin Gillespie et al.
A year-long Contemplative Medicine Fellowship that integrates mindfulness, compassion training, and peer support was associated with reduced burnout and increased well-being and compassion among physicians. Emotional exhaustion dropped by 10.0 points and depersonalization by 3 points, while compassion increased by 0.4 points. Participants also reported high satisfaction and a greater sense of community. The findings suggest that contemplative training may help mitigate burnout and moral distress while fostering meaning and connection in clinical practice.
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January 1, 2025
D Del Rosario-Gilabert, I Vigué-Guix
A single-case study examined a channeler with 30 years of experience who claims to connect with non-corporeal intelligences. EEG results ruled out fraud and mental pathology as explanations for the experience, but the authors concluded that more information was needed to determine whether extrasensory perception was involved. The approach may help design future rigorous protocols for studying mediumship and channeling, potentially contributing to a better understanding of the brain during spiritual experiences.
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January 1, 2024
Carl Lorenz Gaston Cervantes
Paranormal phenomena in the Philippines, such as telepathy and prophecy, are common and may stem from Filipinos' deep cultural empathy and the transpersonal nature of their psyches. Folklore spirits with observable physical effects suggest a continuum between material and spiritual realms, implying the individual mind extends beyond the self to recognize sentient expressions in nature. This paper provides an overview of Philippine parapsychology and proposes a novel framework, the Sarili-Mundo model, for future research on paranormal phenomena across the diverse Philippine archipelago.
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January 1, 2024
Suchismita Ray, Jamil Bhanji, Nicole Kennelly et al.
An 8-week Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE) intervention improved emotional regulation difficulty and altered brain connectivity in women undergoing residential treatment for opioid use disorder. In a pilot sample of nine participants, emotional regulation difficulty significantly decreased after the intervention. Functional MRI during a 10-minute guided meditation showed increased connectivity between the left ventromedial prefrontal cortex and left amygdala, and between the left ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and left nucleus accumbens. A single 10-minute guided meditation session immediately improved positive mood, but did not significantly affect opioid craving. These preliminary findings suggest potential benefits of MORE for emotional regulation and brain function, warranting larger studies.
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January 1, 2023
Marjorie Woollacott, Anne Shumway-Cook, Natasha Tassell-Matamua
Worldviews shape how people relate to the environment, including their sense of environmental responsibility. This paper contrasts the materialist worldview, described as dominant in Western society, with a post-materialist worldview, arguing that shifting worldviews is key to changing environmental ethics. The authors propose that recent neuroscience indicates brain filters and networks hide an expanded nonlocal awareness, fostering self-referential thinking and a limited conceptual framework typical of materialism. They discuss the concepts of both worldviews and their environmental impact, examine neural filters and processing networks that sustain materialism, and explore methods to modify these filters and transform worldviews.
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January 1, 2023
J C Thambyrajah, H W Dilanthi, S M Handunnetti et al.
Long-term Vipassana meditators had significantly higher serum melatonin and serotonin levels than matched non-meditating controls. Median melatonin was 18.3 pg/ml in meditators versus 15.6 pg/ml in controls (p = 0.006); median serotonin was 149.0 ng/ml versus 118.1 ng/ml (p < 0.001). Levels did not correlate with demographic factors but positively correlated with meditation factors among those who had meditated for 10 years or less. The findings suggest elevated melatonin and serotonin in long-term meditators may contribute to reduced stress and improved relaxation.
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January 1, 2023
Marjorie Woollacott, Anne Shumway-Cook, John Renesch
The mind can access information beyond the five senses, including events in the future seconds or days ahead. The Default Mode Network (DMN) acts as a major brain filter limiting this expanded awareness. When DMN activity is reduced—through meditation, neuromodulatory drugs, or near-death experiences—filtering decreases, new neural connectivity develops, and these changes correlate with access to expanded awareness.
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January 1, 2023
Marie-Julia Guittier, Helané Wahbeh, Magali Eykerman et al.
A triple-blind, mixed-methods study tested whether mediums could communicate with a hypothetical prenatal consciousness during pregnancy. Eleven pregnant women participated, with three to eight mediums per woman generating over 1,500 statements. Spontaneously reported information showed 69.40% agreement with parental reports, versus 17.63% for structured questions. Agreement did not vary by number of mediums. Qualitative analysis indicated that some sessions produced verifiable communication, while others did not. The results are preliminary and suggest the possibility of interacting with prenatal consciousness, opening avenues for research into altered states.
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January 1, 2022
José I Latorre, María Y Vellisca
People who report memories of alien abduction experience emotional reactions similar to those of genuinely traumatic events, though the memories may stem from dissociation rather than psychosis. In a comparison of 19 individuals claiming abduction memories and 32 controls, the abductee group scored higher on measures of post-traumatic stress disorder and dissociation but lower on suggestibility. Only the difference in suggestibility was statistically significant. The findings suggest that dissociation, not severe mental illness, may explain some cases, and that the emotional impact of implausible memories can mirror that of real trauma.
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January 1, 2022
Elizabeth Schmitt Freire, Alexandre Caroli Rocha, Victor Scio Tasca et al.
In a controlled experiment, eight mediums each produced a written letter (psychographic) for a specific deceased person, using a blind proxy sitter who was not the recipient. Later, ninety-four sitters blindly rated the accuracy of the target letter and five control letters matched by gender and age. No difference was found between the global or specific accuracy scores of target and control letters. The mediums did not demonstrate the ability to provide anomalous information about deceased people under these strict conditions. The authors call for a balance between ecological validity and experimental control in future research.
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January 1, 2021
Jeff Levin
This article introduces a framework for understanding Western esoteric healing. It first provides background on Western esotericism and its healing traditions. The concept of therapeutic knowledge, drawn from philosophy of medicine and medical anthropology, is then explained and applied to esoteric healing. A taxonomy is proposed that categorizes sources of therapeutic knowledge in esoteric healing systems into channeling, initiation, and empirical observation or validation. The second part of the series will offer examples for each category and suggest directions for further research.
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January 1, 2020
Gioacchino Pagliaro, Renato Pelati, Domenico Signorini et al.
A Tibetan Meditation practice, done daily for 3 months by 12 of 229 employees at an Italian surface coating company, was associated with improvements in company performance and modest improvements in well-being among the 217 non-meditating coworkers. Quality of production rose 6.6%, nonconformity due to human mistakes fell 42.6%, and quarterly productivity increased 10.5%. Non-meditators showed significant improvements in social activities and emotional role limitations, and modest decreases in depression and hostility. The authors argue these results suggest meditation may beneficially influence the local environment, warranting further investigation.
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January 1, 2018
Fatemeh Torkamani, Alireza Aghayousefi, Ahmad Alipour et al.
A single 20-minute session of group mantra-meditation increased salivary immunoglobulin A (s-IgA) and improved positive affect in healthy women. In a controlled pretest-posttest study, 30 women (mean age 44 ± 3 years) from yoga clubs in Shiraz were randomly assigned to meditate or attend a lecture only. Saliva samples and affective state questionnaires were collected at baseline, post-meditation, and one hour later. The meditation group showed significantly higher s-IgA levels and greater positive affect changes than controls. The findings suggest that even brief group mantra-meditation may positively influence immune components and emotional states, offering a low-cost mental-health intervention for settings like nursing homes.
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January 1, 2017
Enrico Facco, Daniela Lucangeli, Patrizio Tressoldi
The concept of consciousness and the mind-brain relationship, known as the 'hard problem,' remain unresolved, involving both science and philosophy with deep epistemological implications. The debate on the foundations of consciousness science contains philosophical biases related to the adopted paradigm and axioms, and the logical contradiction between monism and dualism. These biases originated largely from Descartes' thinking and the birth of modern sciences as a compromise with the Inquisition, persisting through the Enlightenment and Positivism. A proper investigation of consciousness and subjectivity requires reflection on the paradigm of scientific medicine to identify flaws and overcome the limits of the mechanistic-reductionist approach.
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January 1, 2017
Emmylou Rahtz, Sian Bonnell, Sarah Goldingay et al.
Healing moments—sudden or gradual experiences of transformational change—are widely recognized by alternative medicine practitioners but remain underexplored in mainstream health research. In a qualitative study, 69 practitioners who watched a video discussion of healing moments then wrote short stories about their own experiences. Thematic analysis revealed an overarching theme of transformational change, ranging from quasimiraculous shifts to modest improvements in wellbeing. Three subordinate themes emerged: connectivity (intense bonds through touch, empathy, and love, benefiting both healer and client), quiescence (a quiet, calm atmosphere during healing), and control (healers relinquishing control to channel healing, clients seizing control to become empowered). The findings indicate that healing moments are a common, distinct concept among alternative medicine practitioners.
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January 1, 2016
Olivier Brabant
Mainstream models of consciousness cannot explain the full range of human experience. This article argues for a paradigm shift by presenting three phenomena that contradict a materialistic view of consciousness. It proposes an alternative framework of reality and mind-matter interaction that accommodates these phenomena, integrating ideas from psychology and quantum mechanics. Combining this framework with Frederic W. H. Myers' psychological concepts yields a more comprehensive model of consciousness, offering new perspectives on altered states, genius, and mental health.
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January 1, 2016
Teresa Maria Dos Santos, Elisa Harumi Kozasa, Isabel Sampaio Carmagnani et al.
A six-week stress reduction program incorporating mindfulness and loving kindness meditation reduced perceived stress, burnout, depression, and trait anxiety among 13 Brazilian nursing professionals, with gains maintained at follow-up. Quality of life improved in physical and psychological domains. Qualitative reports described greater present-moment awareness, less reactivity to inner experiences, and positive effects on nursing activities.
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January 1, 2016
Roxane Raffin Chan, Rebecca H Lehto
People with COPD often have high anxiety that worsens shortness of breath and leads to avoidance of activities, increasing illness and death. Meditation and mind/body practices can reduce anxiety in general populations, but results for COPD have been mixed. This mixed-method study of a community-based meditation and mind/body intervention for COPD included eight weekly one-hour classes teaching concentration, insight meditation, and exercises to increase body and emotional awareness. Of 41 participants, 32 provided detailed accounts of learning and practicing these skills, yielding four themes: barriers to practice, learning style, emotional processing, and benefits. Among those 32, 21 reported improved physical or emotional symptoms, and 13 described adapting meditation into daily life to improve emotional function and lessen breathlessness. Anxiety sensitivity to social situations was linked to lack of participation.
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January 1, 2015
Kathi J Kemper, Daniel Powell, Christine Carlisle Helms et al.
Loving-kindness meditation is associated with stress reduction in inexperienced meditators. Experienced meditators had higher nitrate levels, trended toward having higher nitrite levels, and had significantly lower stress levels than inexperienced meditators. In a study of 12 healthy meditators (7 inexperienced, 5 experienced), stress fell significantly with meditation in the inexperienced group (from 52 to 11 on a 100-point scale), while relaxation increased (from 55 to 89). Experienced meditators had more than twice the plasma nitrate levels and lower baseline stress (15 vs. 49) and heart rate compared to inexperienced meditators. Nitric oxide metabolism may be involved in the cardiovascular effects of persistent meditation practice.
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January 1, 2015
Vernon M Neppe, Edward R Close
Events described as 'non-local' need additional qualifiers to specify their degree of non-locality, the observer's framework, and the observer's position relative to the event. The concept of 'relative non-locality' is introduced, distinguishing non-locality from the framework of the infinite or a mystic experiencer from non-locality relative to ordinary three-dimensional spatial reality in the present moment (3S-1t). The immediacy principle proposes that events happening instantaneously, without requiring light speed, are fundamental properties of non-local time involving more dimensions than 3S-1t.