awareness Archives - Marjorie Woollacott

The Nature Of Consciousness: Resonance Between Ancient Philosophies And Current Science

August 17, 2016 by Marjorie Woollacott 5 Comments

*This article first appeared on The Huffington Post, Science Section, Used with Permission, 2016.

IMG_1487 lake como sun through clouds

What is consciousness? Is it an essentially human characteristic or a fundamental characteristic of the universe? Questions about consciousness have intrigued philosophers and scientists for thousands of years. Neuroscientists, like myself, are asking questions about the essential characteristics of consciousness, and the extent to which it is dependent on activity in the brain. In the laboratory, I have studied consciousness through my research on meditation, and more recently the phenomenon of near-death experiences.

Science and Meditation: Integrating a First-Person Experience into the Scientific Process

January 9, 2016 by Marjorie Woollacott 2 Comments

*This article first appeared on The Huffington Post, Science Section. Used with Permission, 2016

As a long time meditator and neuroscientist, my interest in the effect of meditation on brain function is both personal and professional. The benefits meditation has brought to my life mirror first-person accounts of other meditation practitioners–basically, a sense of greater peace and more joy.

In addition to being even-minded in the midst of life’s challenges, many meditators describe having experiences that might be called mystical–and not just in the state of meditation but also after their session of meditation has ended. Some individuals say that their awareness has been expanded beyond the stretch of their five senses; some say they experience the world to be luminous or to scintillate with light.

The Placebo Effect: Harnessing the Healing Power of the Mind

December 14, 2015 by Marjorie Woollacott 2 Comments

*This article first appeared on The Huffington Post, Health Living Section. Used with permission, 2015.

Having performed research for a number of years on the healing effects of both Western medicine and complementary therapies such as Tai Chi and meditation, I’m intrigued by the question of which factors actually contribute to improvements in health.

Do Western and complementary therapeutic modalities share any common healing factors? In our society we generally assume that Western therapies heal and complementary therapies, like meditation or acupuncture, do not. If some improvement comes after a complementary therapy, I’ve heard people say, “It’s just the placebo effect.” But what exactly is the placebo effect? And what is its relationship to all forms of healing, not only complementary therapies but Western medicine as well?

Art and Meditation: Can One Help You Access the Other?

September 19, 2015 by Marjorie Woollacott 4 Comments

Artistic inspiration is something that most scientists—at least most neuroscientists—refuse even to consider in the laboratory. How can you measure what’s truly inspired and what isn’t? There is, however, a subjective experience that comes with inspiration, and this I’d had tastes of myself before I ever studied neuroscience. Though I grew up as a musician and loved music, one of the reasons I chose science as a career was that I didn’t feel I could reliably access true inspiration as an oboist..

The Connection Between Art and Meditation

A Scientist Steps Beyond the Material World

September 13, 2015 by Marjorie Woollacott Leave a Comment

Is it possible that there is a scientific basis for the mystical experiences people, including myself, often have in meditation? This is one of the key questions I address in my forthcoming book, Infinite Awareness: The Awakening of a Scientific Mind. The answer that most scientists would give is a resounding no, but in my book I take the reader with me through my own exploration of science and meditation.

My Early Years

Questions on Mind, Meditation, and Awareness

September 1, 2015 by Marjorie Woollacott 12 Comments

Is human consciousness simply a product of brain activity?

Most neuroscientists say that you must have an active brain in order to have conscious experience, yet there is much research evidence that suggests otherwise. In the area of near-death experience (NDE) during cardiac arrest, I have seen compelling evidence to support the premise that human consciousness does not require a functioning brain. A sizable percentage of cardiac arrest patients report having these experiences even though their body—including, naturally, their brain—has been judged by medical professionals to be nonfunctioning, to be dead.