Transformation Through Peak Experiences

In this episode, Dr. Sally and Dr. Jen take a look at peak experiences and how they influence our journey of transformation. 

Transcript

1:42  Jen says last week's episode was about developmental models, and this week its about “Peak Experiences” – those experiences in life that are intense - psychologically, spiritually, or physically, that come with a sense of transcendence, joy, or peace. They lead us to profound changes in our values, and how we make meaning. They connect us to something much bigger than ourselves, and are catalysts for major changes in our lives. Abraham Maslow's “Hierarchy of needs” describes how these peak experiences are unitative. Jen then takes listeners into an exercise to remember when they felt joy of the purest kind. Her own experiences transported her into another dimension, of Unity Consciousness, right where the boundaries between her and her world dissolved, very different from ordinary states of consciousness. She realized she was not separate from the world, or nature. That was a mystical peak experience, which she continues to integrate today. Integration is vital to benefit fully from peak experiences, which are life changing, sacred, meaningful and fulfilling. We feel totally alive, our perceptions are altered, our senses are heightened. But these experiences can also be overwhelming. And without the proper support, they can become very confusing and painful, especially if you add mental health issues on top of that. Then there's a real possibility of destabilization and disintegration. So it's important to have support - family, friends, professionals, companion animals, nature, trees. We need to normalize them as part of the transformative experience. 

8:18  Sally says experiencing altered states saved her life. There's a spectrum of well being - from deep funks and depressions, to oscillations between moods, to coming out of those, and stabilizing into high functioning. And then there are also states of ‘enlightenment’, which are permanent stages of ecstasy, that are not dependent on any external circumstances. These are a possibility for all, now, not just religious elites, and it changes everything. Kids can't imagine an orgasm because they've never experienced one. And it might not be ethical to tell them about such possibilities until they can conceive of it. So too these experiences were kept secret in sacred texts until practitioners were ready for them. We are now demystifying them and getting really practical. We now have MRIs that can show us exactly what is happening in the brain. Sally refers to Richard Davidson's books and videos. He had access to an MRI lab to study the brains of the Dalai Lama’s most attained Buddhist meditators, who were experiencing extraordinary states. We can stabilize high states into permanent structures of consciousness, so we are no longer victims of our own bad moods. Sally describes how in the 90’s, after her intense medical trauma, she went into a really bad depression, which medications could not help. Her psychiatrist suggested electroconvulsive shock therapy. Instead she chose to find other ways to recover, and found two psycho-technologies that changed everything for her – accessing her own creativity, and yoga. She slowly transformed from a deep funk (Doctors had suggested electrocuting her brain to reconfigure patterns); to oscillating between ecstasy and funk (which the doctors then incorrectly diagnosed as bipolar, but which were actually her first glimmers of ecstasy); to moving into higher functioning; and 30 years later, she’s mostly stable there, despite ongoing traumas and challenges. She has accomplished a measure of mastery of her own brain. Why would any one do this? It's because when you're in that higher state of fullness, you live optimally, and you can contribute to society. If you fill up your own well, you're no longer a victim of your circumstance. You're resilient, and in control of your response to life. Her book “Art-making with refugees and survivors : Creative and Transformative Responses to Trauma after Natural Disasters, War and other Crises” (available through Amazon and Jessica Kingsley Publishers) describes in depth how to move from trauma to optimal states through creativity. She quotes Thomas Hubl who says the top-down suppression of the body by the mind is itself a trauma defense mechanism, and not the right way to deal with trauma, because it creates more separation. But Art opens the heart. 

17:30 Jen says science is finally catching up to the wisdom of ancient traditions. Peak experiences can happen in a variety of ways. FMRI 's show that contemplative practices can evoke peak experiences but even singing creates a kind of increase in ecstasy. Spiritual practices, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences, ecstatic dance rituals, can evoke mystical experiences. In Christianity they talk of being touched by the holy spirit. Then there are plant medicines. They are potent gateways to peak experiences and altered state of consciousness. Consciousness expands when taking psilocybin mushrooms, LSD, or cannabis. Many people receive intense life-saving pain relief from cannabis. Psychoactive compounds can promote healing, pain relief and ultimately transformation. Psychedelic medicine can help people see through individualism, dissolve the ego. They help with spiritual and personal growth, expanding individual and collective consciousness, healing trauma, especially PTSD. And then there is nature's peak experiences. We get a sense of peace in nature, we reflect, get a sense of belonging, and real joy. Many athletes too, are very familiar with the feeling of achieving a personal best, overcoming a fear. Every time I get into a hot shower, I feel like I have a tiny mini peak experience. And also we have peak experiences when we're creating. Because when we're creating, we're tapping into “flow”, where we're transported out of ordinary reality, and into an altered state of consciousness. 

25:01  Sally says Jen is a Psychonaut – someone who dives deep into different states and explores them courageously, reaping the benefits of brain plasticity. The brain can be rewired constantly, until we die, through repetition. Peak experience often come unannounced, like an act of grace. But then we are left wanting to repeat that. If you do repeat the ‘state’ often enough, it eventually becomes a ‘stage’. Rewiring doesn't happen overnight. Sometimes it can take years. So here are the four things about the brain that can be mastered, in order to attain a ‘stage’ rather than an accidental ‘state’. 1) We have a binary nervous system - fight and flight, or rest and digest. Flow states only happen in rest and digest. So you've got to be able to observe yourself  and get out of ‘sympathetic’ into ‘parasympathetic’. 2) Flow states happen when we are manufacturing our own pharmaceuticals that are optimal. The four neurotransmitters that will make us happy are: a) dopamine (self care, goal completion); b) endorphins (exercise, music, and laughter); c) serotonin (meditation, sunlight and nature); and d) oxytocin (socializing, touching, and pets). Do those activities, and you begin to master the neurotransmitters that are happy chemicals. 3)  Brainwaves. There are five different brain waves: gamma, beta, alpha, theta, and delta. Sally describes how the slower oscillations of alpha and theta are so beneficial. 4) Managing your left and right brain activity, through different tasks. The left brain is generally for analysis/convergent thinking, where there is only one answer. It's often stressful, you're probably in beta, and you're probably in fight and flight. Right brain activities, like imagining/painting/cooking/big picture thinking/meditation, you're probably in the relaxed nervous system, and in alpha or theta. And you're doing what we call divergent thinking. Sally then takes listeners into an imaginary experience of skiing - surrendering into flow known as the ‘zone’, and suddenly, you're in ecstasy. All four brain aspects are probably converging optimally in that moment - a state of flow, you're in parasympathetic, in alpha or theta, and doing a wide, big picture soft focus from the right brain. This state can arrive suddenly, or you can start practicing it, daily, rewiring the brain over and over, until you live in a state of flow. Sally describes the state of Flow, when the body is in complete sync with its environment. 

34:16  Jen says we need to provide ourselves the proper supports, so that any harm doesn't outweigh the good. Maslow theorized that everybody has peak experiences, but that those he called ‘self actualized’ are more prone to them. But we can experience profound moments that are fulfilling, transformative and meaningful wherever we are in the developmental model. If we're growing consciously, we become more prone to these kinds of experiences, and become more skillful at navigating them. And we're also starting to support others who are navigating their own peak experiences. We foster healing communities, to survive and thrive in these post normal transformative times. She herself was thrust into transformation through the doorway of desperation, but there are peak experiences that happen consciously, like meditation, making art, or using plant medicines. That is powerful work. And our goal is to navigate these states efficiently, effectively, generatively. So it's important that we reflect on the insights that they bring us, that we identify the patterns, and themes, that are arising through these peak experiences, that we set goals that are aligned with the insights that arise, that we are integrating these experiences. And yet the most precious gift that we can give each other is our own time and attention. 

39:24  Sally agrees that proper integration is critical, specifically with psychedelics. She describes the various substances that can reformulate old brain patterns, and disrupt those ossified structures of consciousness that no longer serve us. There are pro’s and con’s and each person should research the effects carefully and how each experience of ingestion  is “held” and “integrated”. Science shows how the right substance, taken under the right circumstances, with the right dosage, with the right people helping with integration afterwards, can be helpful. But if you're still relying on an external substance that you ingest, you're not yet liberated from your external circumstances. You can also stimulate your own pharmacology, through meditation - the one psycho-technology that helps you become independent of external substances. She cites Gopi Krishna, who experienced a sudden transformation that he took years to integrate. Psychedelics can give us transient, temporary states. But meditation gives us permanent stages. Sally cites a study that was done on some Buddhist meditators that revealed 11 different parts of the brain that are activated through meditation, and she cites the metrix and characteristics of long term practitioners. These states amount to real freedom, and liberation. Mastery is possible. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3659471/