Dreams are a universal human experience that can be described as a state of consciousness characterized by sensory, cognitive and emotional occurrences during sleep. Dreams are the stories and images that our minds create while we sleep. They can be entertaining, romantic, disturbing, frightening, and sometimes bizarre. Why and how we dream remains something of a mystery. There is no cognitive...
This dissertation studies the relationship between Sufism, the mystical branch of Islam, and political activism in Morocco. Its goal is to see if the Sufi saint, in his relation with the sultan, is apolitical, acquiescent, rebellious, or expert in retracing the boundaries of political dissent. This dissertation compared two Sufi Islamic movements in Morocco: Al Adl Wal Ihsane (AWI) known for...
Shared-death-experiences (SDEs) and after-death-communication-experiences (ADCEs) are non-ordinary mental experiences related to the death of a known or unknown person. These experiences were investigated by surveying four samples with different cultural backgrounds: Italian, Mexican, Brazilian and Taiwanese people. One-hundred-twenty-one participants reported 146 experiences of this type....
Abstract The flow experience, first studied by Mihaly (Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, Harper Perennial, 1991), represents a glimpse into peak experiences, and suggests an expanded state of consciousness often accompanied by superior creativity and accomplishment. The experience of transcendence through Transcendental Meditation® (TM®), brought to the world by...
AMA Schimmelpfennig J, Jankowiak-Siuda K. Unique biological and physiological properties of endogenous N, N-dimethyltryptamine from the perspective of functioning of the nervous system. Neuropsychiatria i Neuropsychologia/Neuropsychiatry and Neuropsychology. 2023;18(1):1-10. doi:10.5114/nan.2023.129068. APA Schimmelpfennig, J., & Jankowiak-Siuda, K. (2023). Unique biological and physiological...
Absence of consciousness can occur due to a concussion, anesthetization, intoxication, epileptic seizure, or other fainting/syncope episode caused by lack of blood flow to the brain. However, some meditation practitioners also report that it is possible to undergo a total absence of consciousness during meditation, lasting up to 7 days, and that these "cessations" can be consistently induced....
The present study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the emotional quality of dreams, the incorporation of pandemic-related themes, and the occurrence of lucid dreaming. Dream reports and lucidity ratings of psychiatric outpatients (n = 30) and healthy controls (n = 81) during two lockdowns in Germany were compared to those of healthy controls (n = 33) before the pandemic. Results...
COVID-19 pandemic waves have strongly influenced individuals' behaviors and mental health. Here, we analyzed longitudinal data collected in the Spring 2020 and 2021 from a large Italian sample with the aim of assessing changes in dream features between the first and third wave. Specifically, we evaluated the modifications of pandemic dream activity as a function of the general distress...
It is hypothesized that being mindfully aware is a spontaneous state of being. It is imbued with joy, peace and happiness. Such a state is periodically revealed during restful attentiveness or presence. It is also associated with spontaneous brain alpha activity of 8-13 Hz. In deep nonrapid eye movement sleep, there is synchronous delta activity at a coherent frequency of 0.1 Hz. Both of these...
Much research has focused on the modeling of the near-death experience (NDE) by classical and atypical psychedelics; however, to date, no study has reported on the relationship between the NDE and the experience induced by the highly potent, endogenous psychedelic drug 5-Methoxy-DMT (5MeO-DMT). This article presents a case study of an individual who is popularly documented to have had a...