Episode Transcript
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Tatiana (00:00):
Before we dive into
today's episode, I wanted to
(00:02):
share something special withyou.
If you've been listening to ourconversations about integrating
screw trial into therapy, youmight be wondering where to
start with your own clients.
To help you with that, I'vecreated a free guide called 20
Client Conversation Starters, XExploring Spirituality
(00:24):
Ethically.
Now, these aren't just anyrandom questions.
They're carefully craftedprompts designed to open up
meaningful dialogue whilerespecting ethical boundaries
and diverse beliefs.
With each question, you will begiven a context for when and how
to raise it with a client toprovide you with that extra
(00:47):
guidance.
You can download this guideright now by heading to the link
in the show notes.
Let me know how you go withusing this conversation.
Starters, I'd love to hear fromyou.
Now, today's episode.
Welcome to the Integrated WisdomPodcast.
I'm your host, Tatiana DaSilva.
(01:09):
Join me as we discuss what itmeans to live an integrated life
and explore ways for you tocreate a life filled with
greater meaning, peace andconnection by integrating the
wisdom of spirituality,psychology.
Neuroscience, epigenetics andenergy psychology.
(01:31):
I hope to empower you to createdeeper and more loving
connections with yourself andothers, whilst also paving the
way for humanity at large to bereimagined and inspired to
become the very best version ofit.
(01:52):
Hello and welcome to theIntegrated Wisdom Podcast.
Today we're going to haveepisode two of our special
series, Beyond the Veil (02:00):
the
Science or Spiritual Perception.
I'm so excited that you'll bejoining me again today, and if
you joined us last time, youknow that we explored the idea
that spiritual perception mightbe in our DNA.
With some groundbreakingresearch that's come out of
Brazil suggesting genetic linksto mediumistic abilities.
(02:22):
But if you haven't listened tothat episode yet, I highly
recommend going back and,listening through that first to
give a context to today'sdiscussion.
But today we're going a littlebit deeper.
What if your brain isn'tcreating consciousness but
rather filtering it?
(02:43):
Now this idea that the brainmight be more of a reducing
valve than a generator hasactually been proposed by some
of the most brilliant minds inpsychology and philosophy,
including psychologist WilliamJames and philosopher Aldous
Huxley, and now modernneuroscience is beginning to
(03:04):
catch up and give some credenceto some of these thoughts that
started originating back in the1800's.
So in this episode, we're goingto explore the origins of the
Reducing Valve Hypothesis, howneuroplasticity and altered
states of consciousnesschallenge our traditional models
(03:24):
of the brain.
And finally, how recent researchis using repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation or RTMS.
It has been showing thatinhibiting certain brain regions
may actually enhance psychic orPSI abilities.
(03:45):
So let's take a step throughthat veil again and look at the
brain, not just as a machine,but as a possible gateway to
expanded consciousness, startingwith reduced valve hypothesis.
So back in the late 1800's,American psychologist William
James, who is widely consideredthe father of modern American
(04:07):
psychology, proposed that thebrain may restrict the full
range of consciousness actingkind of like a filter.
And then later in 1954, writerand philosopher Aldous Huxley
took this idea even further inhis book, the Doors of
Perception, he suggested thatthe brain functions.
(04:28):
Much like a reducing valve,narrowing the vast potential of
consciousness to what's neededfor survival on a daily basis.
In fact, Huxley wrote to makebiological survival possible,
the mind at large or higherconsciousness has to be funneled
through the reducing valve ofthe brain and nervous system.
(04:51):
In other words, our everydayperception might represent only
a sliver of what realityactually is.
And when we think about the factthat there are human beings out
there having these PSIexperiences or spiritual
experiences that.
Most of us don't, don't have, itstarts to raise those question
(05:15):
marks, doesn't it?
Like, why is it that some peoplecan, can sense spirit or hear,
um, these sorts of experiencesor, you know, view things that
are happening kilometers,hundreds of kilometers away,
through remote viewingabilities.
It suggests that there is somuch more to consciousness than
(05:36):
what we know.
Hypnosis research has also beenspeaking about this, you know,
the way that through suggestion,our mind can guide our body to
respond in ways that contradictwhat we know about the way the
brain controls our body in thesignals that it receives from
our body.
(05:56):
So it's exciting to see thatthere's this idea that starts
to.
Provide some kind of explanationfor why that is so, in other
words, there the reality is veryvast, very complex, but it's all
kind of funneled through ourbrain so that we only ever
(06:19):
access a fraction of what'sactually really out there And
advances in neuroscience andparticularly the discovery of
neuroplasticity that brains'remarkable ability to rewire
itself in response to experiencehave been showing this to be the
case as well.
Practices like meditation,psychedelic journeys and even
(06:43):
some intense emotional,spiritual experiences have been
shown to literally change howthe brain operates.
And as I said, with hypnosisresearch, and this has been
fascinating.
When I was, when I was trainedas a clinical hypnotherapist, I
was blown away by some of thestudies that had been conducted
that showed the way thathypnotic suggestion interfered
(07:06):
with the brain's ability toreceive or rather interpret
signals that were coming inthrough the senses.
One study that that really stoodout to me.
And blew my mind was a studythat was done out in
Scandinavia.
I can't remember if it wasFinland or Sweden.
(07:28):
Um, but I remember that thestudy looked at the, it had
participants going into afunctional MRI and they mapped
out where in the brain.
lit up to, in response to imagesthat were coming in from a, a
colored photo compared to ablack and white photo.
(07:51):
And when they then put theparticipants under hypnosis and
gave them the, the suggestionthat they were going to be shown
a black and white photo, eventhough they were actually shown
of colored photo, their brainresponded as though it was
seeing a.
Black and white photo.
(08:12):
So in other words, the signalsthat were coming in through the
optic nerves, through thevisual, um, cortex were being
confounded by the suggestion.
Um, that contradicted what wasactually being fed into the
brain.
And so, you know, these, thesesorts of studies or experiences
(08:33):
kind of show us that there issomething else going on, right?
Like that.
It's not as simple as our sensesand our brain and the material
experience we have in thisworld, that there are other
forces at play here thatinteract and influence what we
perceive and experience at anygiven moment.
(08:53):
So, for example, with advancedmeditators, they show altered
activities in brain regions thatare linked to self-awareness,
time perception, and evensensory integration.
Some psychedelic studies usingfunctional MRI machines have
found that under substances likepsilocybin or DMT, for example,
(09:15):
the brain connectivity actuallyincreases, which suggests a
loosening of this filter and atemporary expansion of that
valve.
You know?
But we don't have to takesubstances to have experiences
like this or even be avidmeditators whenever we.
Engage and become immersed inactivities that we really,
(09:36):
really love.
Whether it's reading, whetherit's dancing, listening to
music, painting, you know,whatever it is that allows you
to become completely absorbed.
We can lose sense of time, can'twe?
Like all of these structuresthat give order to our life can
kind of melt away and blend intoeach other.
(09:59):
So these are the sorts ofexperiences that we're talking
about here.
But perhaps what's most inintriguing is a new line of
research involving a techniquecalled repetitive transcranial
magnetic stimulation or RTMS.
In a 2024 study that waspublished in Cortex, researchers
(10:22):
used RTMS to inhibit activity ina part of the brain called the
left media middle front.
Got Gyrus.
It's a mouthful.
A region that's associated withexecutive functioning and
cognitive control, and theresults were astounding.
What participants showed was asignificant increase in
(10:44):
performance on tasks that weredesigned to measure PSI
phenomena.
So in other words, non-ordinaryinformation perceptions.
And Yes, you heard that right?
Inhibiting parts of the frontallobe seems to enhance people's
ability to access informationthat shouldn't have been
available through normal means.
(11:06):
And again, the implications hereare very intriguing, right?
Because I know from experiencethat maybe you've experienced
this yourself, that when I'mreally worried or when I'm
trying to problem solvesomething, I'm really fixated
on, you know, things that are,are going on in my life or.
Things that I'm trying tojuggle.
So a lot of that frontal.
(11:26):
Lobe activation, right?
Or when we're trying to plan andorganize and problem solve, it
can be so much harder for me toconnect with myself with,
connect with my guides, and soyou can see how that
interference, right?
Like whenever we, we actuallyhave a really.
Active frontal lobe, itdiminishes our ability to
(11:48):
connect with these extra sensoryperceptions.
And the opposite is true.
So when we, when that part isinhibited, when we're relaxed,
when we're kind of like justgoing with the flow and
surrendering a little bit more,right?
Relinquishing control of thingsa little bit more, these
experiences or that informationis so much more accessible to
(12:09):
us.
And now we're starting to seescience demonstrate that in more
tangible ways and demonstratingwhat's actually going on in the
brain that explains theseexperiences.
And I guess this adds furtherweight, right to the idea that
our brain might be actuallylimiting rather than enabling
our full conscious potential.
(12:30):
Imagine what we would be able toperceive and experience if that
wasn't happening.
In some cases it might be toomuch, but we can talk about that
in a different, in a differentepisode.
So what does this all mean forhow we understand human
consciousness?
Now, if that brain is really afilter, then altered states
(12:54):
spiritual practices and evencertain neurological conditions
might help us tune into aspectsof reality that are always there
just outside our normalbandwidth.
And some of you may have comeacross this incredible podcast
that's really, um, it's kind ofeverywhere at the moment, the
(13:16):
telepathy tapes and a lot of thethings that they're talking
about there in terms oftelepathic abilities of
nonverbal autistics, and evennow.
There the study to expand theirdiscussion, to include
individuals that areexperiencing dementia or
Alzheimer's and that are alsodemonstrating these, these
(13:38):
telepathic abilities anddifferent ways where their
consciousness is operating.
It's, it's all kind of pointingto the same thing, right?
That there is something elsegoing on outside our normal
conscious awareness and so manyanswers can be found.
Outside, you know what, whatwe're normally experiencing,
(14:04):
right?
This is what that podcast hashad many of us asking ourselves,
and these studies are startingto get us to ask ourselves, you
know, what are we actuallymissing?
What else are we missing?
What else is out there?
You know, all of these studiesare just scratching the surface
still.
There's so much more for us touncover and to understand.
(14:26):
We still don't have the fullpicture.
You know what might actually liebeyond this veil of awareness on
a day-to-day basis, I.
I would love to hear yourthoughts on what I've been
talking about in today'sepisode, or even in episode one.
I would love to hear maybe someof your own experiences, that
(14:48):
may be intriguing or, a littlebit out of the norm.
You know, have you experiencedmoments of sudden clarity or
deep intuition, or a knowingthat's.
Seems to come from beyond yourrational mind.
Do you meditate or engage in anypractices that might help you
(15:10):
tap into different levels ofconsciousness?
Have you had some of theseexperiences that we're talking
about?
Like, I would love to hear fromyou.
Drop me a dm, send me a messageor an email.
Let me know and if you're opento it, I'd love to feature some
of your experiences in ourfuture Q and A episode, send me
some questions as well.
(15:31):
You can DM me, you can email meat hello@integratedwisdom.com
au.
That'shello@integratedwisdom.com au.
Or you can also find me onInstagram and send me a DM
there.
My handle is at Integratedunderscore Wisdom, If today's
discussion or these topics arestarting to spark some curiosity
(15:55):
in you, please subscribe.
Share it with a friend that youthink will be interested in
these discussions as well, andplease leave a review.
The more interaction we get withthis podcast, the more the
algorithm knows to push it outthere and show it to other
people who might benefit fromthese discussions.
I'll be so grateful if we canexpand this, knowledge, and
(16:18):
start transforming people'sunderstanding of what it means
to be human.
In our next episode, we're goingto explore how epigenetics and
environmental influences mightshape our ability to access
spiritual states.
And the question we're going totry to answer is consciousness
something that we inherit orit's something that we
(16:38):
cultivate?
So I hope you'll join me then.
Until then, stay curious, stayopen, and we'll see you next
time.
Thank you.
Thank you for tuning into thisepisode of Integrated Wisdom.
It's my sincere wish thattoday's episode may have
intrigued and inspired you toreclaim your power and step into
(17:00):
becoming more fully integratedspiritual beings.
New episodes are published everysecond Wednesday, and I hope
you'll continue to join us as wedive deeper into what it means
to live an integrated life.
So if it feels aligned to you, Iinvite you to hit subscribe.
Share it with others who youfeel may benefit too.
(17:22):
Meals will find me on Instagramat integrated underscore wisdom.
Remember, each moment is anopportunity to embrace your
divine potential and create aworld that is more frequently
inspired.
So for now, stay connected, stayinspired, and keep shining your
light into the world.