Stroke of Insight (Blog)

[Lauxa]

My MIL sent me this video of a brain scientist's personal experience with a stroke that caused her left brain to shut down:

YouTube - How it feels to have a stroke

[Erin Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Erin Pavlina's blog:

Stroke of Insight

[danijelg]

I saw the video on TED yesterday and it brought tears to my eyes. My grandmother suffered from stroke last year and is still recovering so the story has touched me deeply.

The moment when she describes how she felt her soul is leaving her body, and she could do nothing more than say goodbye to her life, was breathtaking.

One more thing I found fascinating was the description of "getting back", after experiencing the expansion of her mind far across the limitations of her human body, due to the malfunction of her brain's left hemisphere. It's almost as if we were compressed, squeezed inside the gray matter of our brains, unaware of the potential of our "huge" minds.

[Erin Pavlina]

Yes she describes perfectly what I've always felt/known to be true. We are energy, squeezed into these bodies to have a physical human experience. But when we leave our bodies and expand again, we are infinite. It sounds to me like the left hemisphere of the brain is what anchors us to the physical.

[Mato Kinze]

Ok... first things first... WOW! What a phenomenal way to describe the essence of the duality we all have.

In certain Native Traditions, the Shaman is known as "The Wounded Healer" or "one who walks in two worlds." In my time of studying the Lakhota tradition, I've had this duality described to me by many different elders in many different ways, but none were presented in such a westernized manner.

To me, what Taylor described is the essence of this concept and she described it in a way that someone who was raised in a westernized culture could grasp with ease.

I also like the fact that she was so adamant that ANYONE has this ability if they just choose to use it.

Thanks for sharing that, Erin. Great find.

[Andrew Brunelle]

That was a very interesting presentation. It is amazing how a seemingly negative experience can turn into such a positive. I know from experience. I had brain cancer myself and it really allows you to see life in a different way than most people. Although I've never had a stroke, I am sure the feelings this woman were having ties into the whole energy philosophy branch and it was a joy to watch.

[Mato Kinze]

I just watched that video from the link in Erin's blog. Great description.

In the Path I follow, we call that duality the difference between the Mind and the Heart; wherein the "mind" is used to gather and catalog information and the "heart" is used to decipher it and tell us what it means.

[Blueskied]

I have problems understanding what she is suggesting in the last part of the video. That people should use their right brain more often/intensely?
Are we neglecting it? I guess there is a reason that our brains work like they do.

[Erin Pavlina]

I think she is suggesting that we don't need to have a stroke in our left brain in order to access our right brain's connection to the oneness energy. You can tap into it (maybe not as fully) anytime you want.

I have had the experience she is describing of feeling expansive and infinite. It used to scare me as a child. Recently I was holding the hands of a very highly aware person and we were attempting to communicate something to each other but instead I was instantly transported to that feeling of infiniteness, oneness, with him. It was intense. He was feeling it as well. We swam around in that feeling for like 15 minutes. I didn't want it to end. Coming back to the physical felt so confining.

Now when I'm astral I don't feel that expansiveness oneness. I still feel like me, just separate from my body.

[Rosie]

Erin, are you able to determine where you want to go when you're astral? Like for example, could you say to yourself: "I want to go to John's house" and actually end up there? Or is it more complicated than that?

(Sorry for going off topic)

[Blueskied]

I had a similar experience during the influence of a psychedelic substance (not recommended). Ego-loss, feeling the universal energy and stuff. Didn't feel pleasant, though. Maybe some people's information channels between the left/right brain are more permeable than others'. Or it's some kind of borderline schizophrenia.

[Erin Pavlina]

Rosie, I have limited success going where I want to go. Flying around the house is easy. I recall one time I tried to go to a friend's house but you get distracted and fly off towards other things. One time a strong astral wind came up and rolled me down a street totally out of control. I was frightened of this experience. It only happened once though. Most of the time I projected it was to go hunting with my astral sword. Long story... read through my astral encounters on the blog.

[Mato Kinze]

Originally Posted by Rosie

Erin, are you able to determine where you want to go when you're astral? Like for example, could you say to yourself: "I want to go to John's house" and actually end up there? Or is it more complicated than that?

(Sorry for going off topic)

I think it's still pretty topical given the broad nature of the message.

Erin and I have slightly different views on Astral Projection, and I don't mean any disrespect to her, so I'll say this as it occurs for me.

What I experience as what I assume most people call "Astral Projection", I call "Journeying". Maybe they're not the same thing, but I get the same result and know that my spirit leaves my body when I do this, so lacking any other connection, I'll continue to view Journeying as Astral Projection on steroids (in the company of and with the assistance of my Guides, Allies and Benefactor).

During a Journey, I can go anywhere and anywhen. I once visited my baby sister (well, she's still a baby to me - there's 13 years between her and I). The thing is, I was in Missouri, and she was in Baghdad (she's a lieutenent in the Army).

I have visited my father when he was 12 years old and was able - with the help of my Guides and Benefactor - to bring back a part of his soul he had lost at that time.

I have visited numerous members of my family during stressful times for them and have been able to send them - again with the aid of my Guides and Benefactor - love and comfort during these times.

I haven't tried to go someplace just to go someplace, there's always been a person attached to the Journey, but I suspect I could if I ever wanted or needed to.

[Erin Pavlina]

Yes I should amend what I said to include that I have been called to certain people (friends, relatives, strangers) but when I'm just out playing it's harder for me to direct my course.

[Mato Kinze]

Originally Posted by Erin Pavlina

Yes I should amend what I said to include that I have been called to certain people (friends, relatives, strangers) but when I'm just out playing it's harder for me to direct my course.

“One day Alice came to a fork in the road and saw a Cheshire cat in a tree. Which road do I take? she asked. Where do you want to go? was his response. I don't know, Alice answered. Then, said the cat, it doesn't matter.”

[Rosie]

I found the article really fascinating. It's amazing that something so physical, like a stroke, could cause something so spiritual. I'm still not quite sure if I believe her spiritual experience to be entirely genuine. I mean, maybe that feeling of vastness and oneness was just an illusion, a symptom of her stroke. Regardless, it was definitely an amazing experience, that allowed her view the world in a new, and potentially more accurate perspective. I hope that more people are able to experience that feeling of oneness.

[Lauxa]

I showed this to a friend and he pointed out that it sounds like she was tripping. Which was actually my first thought, but then I was accepting her hypothesis that the "altered state" was her right brain functioning and maybe somehow psychotropic drugs inhibit the left brain. However, the brain releases the chemical 5-MeO-DMT in case of massive trauma which in and of itself can send you to a magical land... no left hemisphere damage necessary. Maybe the drugs make you feel connected and expanded so that transition is easier?

Anyways, I'm not sure how this affects her hypothesis, except that if what she experienced was a drug trip then it does not follow that this experience is necessarily available to people without drugs. Also the theory about the two hemispheres having different personalities could easily be incorrect. Finally, I was wondering if her final conclusion was correct, that people would act more compassionately if experienced this expansion of consciousness.

[Erin Pavlina]

I think people would act more compassionately towards each other if they felt we were all connected like fingers on a hand or cells in a body. Regardless of the source of those feelings, once you experience oneness with your fellow man, it's hard to want to hurt him physicall, emotionally, mentally, etc.

I don't know what she really experienced or what chemicals caused what, but she was obviously very affected by her experience and is able to recall those feelings even with her left hemi back online.

If her experience causes her to be kinder to her fellow man then I say more power to her.

[dream23]

that was amazing, the first time i've heard both sides of the brain explained like that. I have had a speech dysfluency since i was 2 and was told that my right hemisphere is overactive, i have great difficulty with left hemisphere functioning (maths for example!). After feeling disadvantaged for so long, maybe the tables will turn when it's cool to be more right brained

[ArwenTaylor]

This was a great video. I got a sense that we are straddling two worlds. The physical and the ethereal (for want of a better word). The left brain is what allows us to interact with this world and the right is what allows us to interact with the ether.

I think she is suggesting that we need to make an effort to quiet our left brains and exist in our right brains only for a little while. Not sure how one goes about doing that or if drugs are required.

[Bene]

Originally Posted by ArwenTaylor

I think she is suggesting that we need to make an effort to quiet our left brains and exist in our right brains only for a little while. Not sure how one goes about doing that or if drugs are required.

Being in the now? She says "the right hemisphere is all about right here, right now" in the second part of the video in the second link.

[ArwenTaylor]

Originally Posted by Bene

Being in the now? She says "the right hemisphere is all about right here, right now" in the second part of the video in the second link.

Good answer and maybe doing some meditation to prevent the left brain from pulling you out of the Now.

[IntuitionWritten]

This is my first post on the forums.. so "hello" to everyone. I will go to the Introductions forums next.

This is video reminded me so much of the book A Thousand Names for Joy by Byron Katie and of Katie's work. I don't think it is impossible to live in the right hemisphere of your brain, and is definitely possible to do without drugs! I don't know of the "how" for everyone else, I am just aware of my journey and where it has taken me. I definitely have not transcended my Ego (the left side) for good. Like Erin, though, I have had many experiences since childhood where I had a loss of self and just felt extreme expansion and the energy vibration of the whole. I don't think that this feeling is an illusion, I believe that our earthly lives are the illusions.

This video relates to Steve's post on the War on the Ego. I don't see a war and I am not sure if Steve is declaring it. Mostly his post made sense, but I disagree with some of the semantics. Watching this video I saw a woman who had an amazing experience that she lived to tell. I could sense her experience in a personal way. Maybe she had been predominantly defined by her left side (Ego) for most of her life. I am not sure. I felt she was saying that her left side did have value and was important she was not interested in ridding herself of it, but that she did have a liking for the expansiveness and peace that is the whole or right side.

Just as our fingers are each important in their own right, their unity as a hand is what creates the ultimate efficiency for the body. They are each vital and important for the greater good. Your hands wouldn't function as peacefully and without thought if you only had one finger.

I think it is important to live without boundaries of "me" and "I" as much as possible for the greater good of the world. However, the understanding that you cannot rid yourself of identification with the material world and "I" is paramount to functioning as part of the greater whole. If one of my fingers decided it had enough with always working for the hands and just quit - the hands would not function as well. The fingers cannot become the hand, either. The finger knows it is important as a "finger" that betters the "hand" and it's functioning. Just as we do not think often of our individual fingers and their preferences, we can also choose to not let our individual stories be more important than the collective functioning. If my fingers had stories, they might be upset that the left ring finger always get's the fancy bling. My right hand fingers might feel overworked and underpaid - upset with the left for getting time off (right-handedness). The left would complain that the right had more responsibilities and more fun.

If we just are and let others just be - we work for the collective. We still are individuals. Our life purpose is working for the collective using our strengths and talents (fingers have been toes - but never a nose!)

Thanks for letting me ramble on my first post.

[Lallymac]

Infinitewritten, I agree with what you're saying.
When I first began exploring my spirituality further in the 80's there was a flood of books around that spoke about the denial of ego as if our egos threatened our spirituality. Over time, working with spirit and living a full physical life, I came to realise that ego is what anchors us in the physical. It's our survival mechanism that keeps us feed and sheltered. I have a healthy respect for that part of me. Ego is not the obstacle in our spiritual journey. It's the inability to fully percieve ourselves beyond the physical.
Lallymac