KAJAMA.COM NEWSLETTER

Why do some people who experience the worst that life has to offer respond not by breaking down but by shifting up, into a higher-functioning, awakened state? And perhaps more importantly, how can we emulate their transformations?

Over many years of observing and studying the phenomenon of life changing awakening through extreme suffering, psychologist Steve Taylor coined the term “transformation through turmoil (TTT).” He calls individuals whose struggles lead to a dramatic shift into a new, expansive identity “shifters” and in Extraordinary Awakenings: When Trauma Leads to Transformation (New World Library, September 7, 2021) he shares dozens of amazing stories of individuals who “woke up” to profound transformation following bereavement, deep depression, suicide attempts, addiction, military combat, imprisonment, or other intense encounters with mortality.  We hope you’ll enjoy this Q&A with Steve about the book.

Tell us about the title of your new book Extraordinary Awakenings and what inspired you to write it.

It’s a book about the amazing transformation that can occur in the midst of intense suffering and trauma — for example, soldiers on a battlefield, the inmates of prison camps who are on the verge of starvation, people who have been through periods of severe addiction, depression, bereavement, and so on. These are what I call ‘extraordinary awakenings.’ They are extraordinary in two ways: first, because they occur in such unexpected circumstances, and second, because they have such an amazing effect. People feel completely reborn, as if they are different people living in the same body. In my role as a psychologist, I’ve been researching cases of extraordinary awakenings for 15 years. I wanted to share some of the amazing cases I’ve collected, and also explore what we can learn from the cases and apply to our own paths of development.

The book examines a phenomenon you call “transformation through turmoil.” Please tell us more about that and how it compares to “post-traumatic growth.”

Transformation through turmoil is an extreme and dramatic kind of post-traumatic growth. It’s a more radical change, which often happens instantaneously, in a single moment of transformation. You could also describe it as a spiritual awakening. People shift into a much more intense and expansive awareness. They feel a sense of wellbeing, and a new sense of meaning and purpose. They feel intensely grateful for things they took for granted before. The world seems more real and beautiful. They feel more connected to other people, and to nature. It really is as if they’ve woken up, as if a veil has fallen away and they’re living in a much fuller and more intense way.

What are some examples of the types of turmoil the shifters you write about experienced before their awakenings?

There are six main types of turmoil I cover in the book: warfare, incarceration, bereavement, encounters with death, addiction and intense depression and stress. Incarceration was such a major area that I had to divide it into two chapters, the first looking at historical examples from soviet gulags and prisoners of war, and the second dealing with contemporary prisoners in the US and the UK. In the chapter on encounters with death, I looked at what I called ‘intense mortality encounters,’ when people are diagnosed with cancer, or have serious injuries, and also at near-death experiences, when people die for a short time before being resuscitated. I also found a connection between suicide and transformation. Sometimes people undergo extraordinary awakenings when they are seriously contemplating suicide, or after a suicide attempt.

What is the most common type of severe trauma that humans experience and why does it have so much spiritual potential?

Bereavement. All of us go through bereavement, and many people do go through transformation as a result. It is usually the more tragic and unexpected bereavements that are the most transformational. For example, I tell the story of a woman who had an extraordinary awakening after her husband died in a car crash, and another who had a similar experience after a close friend was murdered. When we go through bereavement, everything changes. It’s like an earthquake, disrupting our whole lives. Everything which seem secure and stable is thrown into disarray. And when the ground settles again, the world seems like a completely different place.

You say in the book that embracing challenges in our lives is a way that we can apply the principles of “transformation through turmoil” to our lives. How so?

The cases in my book show that challenges can help us to grow. They can even lead to spiritual awakening. So rather than avoiding challenges and crises, when they occur in our lives we should look at them as an opportunity for growth. We should trust in the massive reserves of resilience that are inside all of us, even though we’re not normally conscious of them. There is a positive side to all seemingly negative events in our lives. The important thing is to respond to them in the right way, in order to harness their transformational potential.

Steve Taylor, PhD, is the author of Extraordinary Awakenings and many other bestselling books. He’s senior lecturer in psychology at Leeds Beckett University and the chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society. Steve’s articles and essays have been published in over 100 academic journals, magazines, and newspapers and he blogs for Scientific American and Psychology Today. Visit him online at www.StevenMTaylor.com.

Adapted from the book from Extraordinary Awakenings: When Trauma Leads to Transformation. Copyright ©2021 by Steve Taylor. Printed with permission from New World Library.

I recently spent a couple of week's at a friend's country house, and the most amazing thing happened while I was there. She has a dog, Mandy, that she dearly loves. One day as we were working in the yard, we heard a loud yelp, and when we turned to look, we saw her dog flying through the air - it had been hit by a passing car! We ran to her side, as did her neighbor. (Her neighbor is an older gentleman with a very spiritual sort of air about him.) When we got to her dog, she appeared to be dead; she wasn't breathing or moving at all. The neighbor took charge and laid his hands over Mandy, and we knew he was praying or doing some spiritual healing or something. Then all of a sudden, the neighbor sort of jolted, and then Mandy snapped back to life! In an instant she began to breathe again, and then she got up and began to sort of slowly move around. Within a couple of minutes, she was acting like nothing had ever happened. It was just incredible! Do you think this man brought her back to life? If so, is it possible to do this with people? We were speechless, and I got the feeling that we weren't supposed to ask the neighbor what had happened - that we had witnessed some sort of miracle.

- Kelly

Dreamchaser:

When I read your question, my mind instantly went to the movie Michael, starring John Travolta as the Archangel Michael. In that film, Michael brought a dog that had been hit by a truck back to life.

I don't know why you felt you weren't supposed to ask this neighbor what had happened - I bet he would have gladly given you his viewpoint. You absolutely should have asked him! If you are ever in the presence of a miracle again, absolutely and positively ask what just happened.

That is why God/ Universe/ Spirit/ whatever name you prefer gave you a mouth and a way to communicate. You were just so in awe of this apparent miracle that you were caught up in reverence of the situation. Don't ever let that stop you from finding out what happened if there is some way you can.

I wasn't there, I didn't talk to the man, and I don't know what he felt or did. I imagine he did a form of energy healing like Reiki, though most likely, even he doesn't know exactly what he's doing or what to call it.

I also suspect the dog wasn't dead yet - she was just on her way. All of the loving energy from the people around her combined with the healing energy of this man is what brought the dog back.

Remember too that animals have a way of healing themselves from the most horrific accidents, for they don't have human logic and limiting beliefs to interfere with their bodies' natural healing abilities.

I often refer to the Christian Bible and Jesus Christ as an example of how I should try to walk through life. When you asked if humans can be brought back, my mind instantly flashed to the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life, and I thought Yes, of course people can be brought back from the dead!

Modern medicine is in many ways miraculous. I hear stories of doctors bringing people back every single day. Whether it's by using the old ways such as laying on of hands, or whether it's by using new ways that involve modern technology, we know it's possible to bring people back.

Please also remember that people will not come back to life if they aren't meant to come back. God will not allow the Universe to fill with Zombies like those in Night of the Living Dead. If it's our time, it's our time, period. Anything else would be completely unnatural and therefore not allowed.

Remember, the Universe operates under a whole bunch of natural laws. I personally don't believe that ANYONE has the ability to reanimate someone who isn't meant to be here.

If you want to learn how to heal, find a reputable Reiki teacher offering classes in your area. Reiki is what I use, and it's VERY effective. It's also easy to learn and to do. (You know that I like THAT aspect of it!)

I wish you lots of healing miracles.

*****

Astrea:

People and animals can be stunned by a blow or other trauma, and they may appear to be dead for a while only to later regain consciousness. Once they're really dead, however, they can't be brought back to life.

Your friend's neighbor was probably praying in his own way when Mandy woke up, and that's what caused him to jolt the way he did. Since her spirit never left her body, she's the same as she was before in terms of her personality.

Once our spirits separate from our bodies (and not by conscious choice, as in meditation or astral travel) we usually stay that way, at least until we get a new body in a new incarnation.

For a long time in the Voodoo tradition, it was thought that Zombies were the spirits of the dead back in their own bodies, but here is what really happens:

A Voodoo priest delivers some paralyzing agent to his victim through food, drink or smoke. (These victims are people the priest believes have wronged him in some major way.)

The victim appears to be dead in that there is no discernible breath, heartbeat or other vital signs. The victim is then buried but not embalmed, and then hours or days later, that person awakens buried alive because they were never really dead to begin with.

The Voodoo priest digs the victim up, and the effects of the trauma and the drugs have done just enough brain damage to render him pretty helpless but still able to follow instructions. As the drug damages the part of the brain that discerns right from wrong, the victim is more willing to do whatever evil deed the Voodoo priest wants done.

In Japan, many people who eat the fugu fish die every year, but most who experience ill effects are stuck in a catatonic state for days or even months and then emerge well again. Not so for the Zombie - the brain and other vital organs are so badly damaged by the drugs that Zombies rarely live for more than five years after their death.

Often oxygen deprivation gets them before they're dug up and they die in the coffin anyway. Most Zombies are used as house servants and cooks, not as murderers - at least, that's what I've HEARD.

I cruised the Caribbean as a dancer on a cruise ship for a while. We docked in Haiti exactly ONCE in 1980, and then found somewhere else to go! Haiti was so wild then that just being there for one day was enough to scare me into not wanting to go back. (This was more due to political instability than Voodoo.)

Of course, I was so fascinated with Voodoo that I jumped at the first invitation experience something. I was shown a Zombie, and he was pretty scary. I don't know whether he died or not, but SOMETHING unlucky had happened to that man!

Going down to the river with hundreds of people all dressed in white was really something. There was only one Zombie in the group, and he kept everyone's glass full. I was careful not to eat or drink anything at that party!

Astrea:

Many times in life we hear, "You will always have what you NEED, but not necessarily what you WANT." Your spirit must have needed to experience the feeling of leaving your human body, and the suggestion in the next chapter of Sylvia Brown's book was all it took to get you there.

Even though you hadn't read it yet, your SOUL recognized the title of that chapter as something it had been seeking, and your soul, knowing that you had that reference to read after your experience, got with it and out you went!

While I don't usually recommend her books, Sylvia Brown has a wide reaching and powerful effect on lots of people. A Gemini like you would be able to relate easily to her writing and put it to good use. Synchronicity - you gotta love it!

I like your description of "getting caught." That's exactly what it feels like, isn't it? One minute you're free and hovering above the room, and the next minute, ZAP! back down into your corporeal form you go!

As a little kid, I loved that "feeling of return." With practice, most of the time we can control that event, but sometimes, when our physical ears hear a distracting noise or something else occurs to knock us back into reality, back we go. With practice you will be able to control your return better.

I find it interesting that you were visiting your mother-in-law and not someone in your own genetic family. Evidently, you and your husband got married for reasons that are even deeper than love. His family's interest in "psychic stuff" will nurture your children in such matters and help them to grow into their own abilities.

You'll never have to be concerned that when your daughter visits them, she'll be discouraged from exploring her own psychic life and power. My parents encouraged me to develop my psychic senses in a time when it wasn't nice to even discuss such things in public. Heck, it's STILL not considered a great topic at the dinner table in some families!

Your kids will get to talk about it ALL and ask questions and read and study. This is going to give them such an edge in life! Talk with your husband about how you want to present this to your kiddos, so that you are united in your approach and ready to tell them their experiences are all natural and okay.

A word or two of warning: Geminis often have difficulty staying grounded in REAL LIFE. Don't get so strung out on your ASTRAL life that you neglect what you're doing here on Earth.

You are at the beginning of a long journey to learn where your power really lies. Try to be patient with this process and take your time.