Remembering What We Are: Near-Death Experiences and the Nature of Consciousness

I’m Home: Awakening Beyond Material Reality

What happens when the reality you were taught to believe in suddenly no longer feels large enough to contain what you’ve experienced? In this deeply contemplative conversation, neuroscientist and consciousness researcher Marjorie Woollacott reflects on the awakening experience that transformed the course of her life — a moment that dissolved the boundaries of her purely materialist worldview and opened her into an overwhelming sense of love, interconnectedness, and living presence that never left her. Together we explore meditation, consciousness, awe, near-death experiences, telepathy, nature, stillness, and the possibility that beneath the noise of ordinary perception there exists a deeper field of connection quietly linking all life. Marjorie shares why the quieting of the mind changes the way we experience reality, how the feeling of separation may shape so much of human suffering, and why moments of stillness, reverence, and awe can sometimes feel less like escaping the world and more like finally returning to it. This is not a conversation about adopting beliefs or arriving at certainty. It is an invitation into direct experience. Into presence. Into the subtle recognition that beneath the constant striving and fragmentation of modern life, there may already exist a deeper belonging waiting patiently underneath it all. So wherever you are listening from, I invite you to slow down with this one. Let the spaces breathe. Let the silence speak too. Because sometimes the deepest transformations do not begin when we force ourselves to become something new, but in the quiet moments where the illusion of separateness softens just enough for us to remember that beneath all the identities, noise, and striving, we have always belonged to something infinitely larger than ourselves.

Remembering What We Are: Near-Death Experiences and the Nature of Consciousness

In this episode, Dr. Natasha Tassell-Matamua shares a near-death experience that opened into a deeper understanding of consciousness, connection, and what continues beyond the physical body. But this is more than a conversation. It is an invitation into direct experience. Together, we move beneath the surface of thought and into a quieter space of knowing — where the boundaries between self and world begin to soften. Through her work, and through Indigenous perspectives on interconnectedness, Natasha gently points toward a deeper layer of reality that is always here, but often unnoticed. Along the way, she offers simple, grounded ways of reconnecting — including a practice of relating to a single living plant — not as an idea, but as a felt experience of connection. This episode is not about understanding something new. It is about remembering what has always been here. If you allow it, this conversation may take you somewhere deeper — into a space where separation begins to dissolve, and something quietly familiar begins to return. This episode touches on near-death experiences with care. It is not an invitation to move toward death, but a reflection on what these moments can reveal about being fully alive, connected, and present here.

A Message from God

In this episode of Interbeing — Held in Belonging, we enter a story that unfolds at the threshold between worlds, where love reveals itself as something that does not end, but transforms. Peyton shares an experience that arrived in a moment of deep stillness, one that carried a quiet clarity whose meaning only deepened in the months that followed after the passing of someone central to his life. What was once an experience became a living thread, an invitation to reconsider how love moves, how it remains, and how it continues to guide. Rather than offering conclusions, this conversation opens a space for reflection. What if love is not bound by time or form? What if those who have shaped us are not gone, but present in ways the mind cannot fully grasp? And what becomes possible when we allow that love to bring us more fully into presence, into relationship, and into the way we meet others? Across many wisdom traditions, love is not something we generate, but something we participate in, a living field that connects, guides, and holds. This episode gently explores that possibility, not as a belief to adopt, but as a way of listening more deeply to the fabric of our own lives. For listeners who are navigating grief, loss, or questions about what lies beyond the visible, this conversation may feel tender. You are encouraged to move at your own pace and to seek support where needed. Interbeing — Held in Belonging seeks to hold stories like this with care, honoring both the mystery of what we cannot explain and the grounded truth that love does not disappear. It changes form, and in doing so, continues to draw us into a deeper awareness of our shared belonging.

When My Guardian Angel Intervened

In this episode of Interbeing — Held in Belonging, we enter a story that unfolds at the edge of control. What happens when striving falls away and acceptance becomes the only ground beneath us? Jarod Serna shares a lived experience from a moment of physical danger that became, unexpectedly, a moment of surrender. Rather than offering conclusions, this conversation invites reflection on what presence makes possible when resistance softens and humility opens the heart. Across many spiritual traditions, surrender is not collapse but alignment. It is a release into trust that allows guidance, protection, and unseen companionship to draw near. This episode explores the relational dimension of that trust. What does it mean to live as though we are accompanied? How might openness, prayerful attention, and love deepen our awareness of what walks beside us? This episode is not intended to romanticize risk or diminish the seriousness of physical danger. Life is precious and calls for care, responsibility, and discernment. For listeners who may be navigating fear, anxiety, or spiritual uncertainty, this material may feel sensitive. Support from trusted mentors, mental health professionals, or spiritual guides is encouraged. Interbeing — Held in Belonging seeks to hold stories like this with reverence, honoring both mystery and grounded wisdom, and affirming that surrender rooted in love deepens our participation in life rather than escaping it.

Terminal Lucidity: Moments of Clarity at the End of Life

In this episode of Interbeing — Held in Belonging, we explore moments of unexpected clarity that sometimes arise near the end of life, often described as terminal lucidity. Through lived experience and careful reflection, the episode invites listeners to consider what these moments might reveal about consciousness, relationship, and the human journey, without offering conclusions or explanations. This conversation features Karalee Kothe, a PhD student researching terminal lucidity and a student member of the Academy for the Advancement of Post-Materialist Sciences. Her work approaches these phenomena with scientific rigor, humility, and deep respect for the complexity of end-of-life experience. This episode is not intended to romanticize death or diminish the value of life. Life is precious, and human experience unfolds within relationships, responsibilities, and care for one another. For listeners who may be experiencing depression, distress, or thoughts of self-harm, this material may feel sensitive. Support from mental health professionals, trusted people, or local resources is strongly encouraged. Interbeing — Held in Belonging aims to hold stories like this with care, honoring both mystery and responsibility, and affirming that these moments are part of a larger human journey that is meant to be lived, not escaped.