Dr. Wahbeh is a naturopathic physician and clinician researcher. She is passionate about revealing the true nature of reality and human potential through research and direct experience. Dr. Wahbeh is currently the Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. She also holds adjunct faculty positions at the Oregon Health & Science University, National University of Natural Medicine, and the California Institute of Integral Studies. At IONS, her primary research interest is in channeling, which is the phenomenon of accessing information and energy from beyond our traditional five senses. Building on IONS previous efforts in this area, she developed the IONS Channeling Research Program.
She is also the principal investigator of the IONS Discovery Lab (IDL). IDL is a comprehensive measurement core that scientifically evaluates experiential practices. IDL’s strategic objectives are to: 1) Collect and analyze relevant pre-and post-measures on a vast range of experiential learning practices; 2) Develop science-informed IONS noetic training programs based on analysis of IDL data; and 3) Allow IDL to serve as a measurement core for workshop leaders, organizations, and businesses to evaluate their offerings. Dr. Wahbeh also guides the IONS science team in supporting IONS mission and vision.
FWM: What are noetic sciences?
On his way back to Earth after his pioneering moonwalk, Apollo 14 astronaut and IONS founder Dr. Edgar Mitchell had the profound experience of feeling interconnected to everything he was observing from the window of his space capsule: the stars, the moon, our blue planet, and the vastness of the cosmos. He realized quickly that in order to explain such an extraordinary experience (and others like it), there would need to be a rapprochement between the scientific and spiritual interpretations of reality.
As a scientist and visionary, Dr. Mitchell saw a need to reconcile his training as an engineer and astrophysicist with the wisdom of the ages to transcend the limitations of what he saw as an outdated materialist worldview. A new framework would be needed: One that could help explain the unexplainable and spark transformation.
He called this framework noetic sciences.
no•et•ic: From the Greek noēsis/ noētikos, meaning inner wisdom, direct knowing, intuition, or implicit understanding.
The way we understand ourselves and our world is always evolving. From instinct to intuition to intellect, part of being human is using multiple ways to gather and utilize information. Noetic sciences are one of many frameworks we can use to engage with our daily reality.
[Noetic refers to] states of insight into depths of truth unplumbed by the discursive intellect. They are illuminations, revelations, full of significance and importance, all inarticulate though they remain; and as a rule they carry with them a curious sense of authority…- William James, philosopher
FWM: You are the Director of Research at the Institute of Noetic Sciences. Share your important research you have found.
There are some key findings that I think are incredibly important to highlight in terms of the research that I’ve conducted over the last couple of decades and more recently at The Institute of Noetic Sciences.
The first is that our intention matters.
The nutshell is that our intention or consciousness is non-local, meaning that it is not limited by our conventional notions of time and space, and it can influence the world around us. We have seen evidence of this repeatedly and in multiple different research protocols like remote staring, distant mental intention of living systems (DMILS), and random number generator studies done in the lab and in the field. The implications of this are incredible: Our mind and our mental state not only influence our bodies (as we know through mind-body medicine and psychoneuroimmunology) but that it also influences the world around us. How different would our world be if we took ownership of our intention and mental state to consciously improve ourselves, our families, and our communities?
The other very important finding is that most people have some capacity for intuition and being able to access information and energy not limited by time and space. What does this mean on a day-to-day basis? Well, think of the last time you needed to make an important decision. You weighed the pros and cons of each option and perhaps even became stressed because you weren’t sure what to choose. Then imagine yourself sitting quietly and “tuning in,” if you will, to information that might be beyond the knowledge of your conscious mind. Perhaps you experience a contraction in your body when you think of one choice and an expansion when you think of the other choice.
You can use these intuitive feelings in combination with what you gather intellectually to make an optimal decision. I’ve seen it over and over again in my friends, family, and clients: When people tap into their noetic wisdom regarding choices in their daily lives, they lead more fulfilled and purposeful lives — and, interestingly, good things come to them more easily.
The third thing I’d like to highlight relates to energy medicine and healing. IONS has done great work on this over the last five decades, from promotion of meditation in
West; to our spontaneous remission bibliography collating cases of cancer cures; to our most recent work on energy medicine with pain and Reiki for multiple health conditions. What we see is that healing can happen in remarkable ways that are not being fully researched. There is so much that we don’t know and yet there seems to be great benefit. We would gain so much from putting more resources into this type of research.
As with all our work, our intention is to play a role in shifting the scientific paradigm. We are living in an age still dominated by the materialist paradigm, which tells us the physical world is all there is and consciousness is the result of biological processes in the brain. Not only does the materialist worldview fail to explain a number of the loose ends in quantum physics but it perpetuates the notion of separateness. Many people know from direct experience that this simply isn’t true.
Now we’re teetering on the edge of a new paradigm; a post-materialist or idealist paradigm that tells us consciousness is nonlocal and fundamental. It accounts for a number of quantum mysteries and all psi phenomena.
It is the work of IONS, and all involved in the field of psi, to help our world arrive at the secret our ancestors knew so well: All of life is interconnected.
FWM: You have done extensive research in healing stress and trauma, and examining mechanisms of mind-body medicine. What has surprised you the most?
I think what has surprised me the most about the work is the amazing capacity for resilience of the human spirit. Once we take ownership of our thoughts and emotions and become fully present to what is happening in our body, our symptoms and suffering seem to become less important. For example, it doesn’t necessarily change the symptoms that we’re having, or our life situation that we’re struggling with, but it allows us to become more accepting of our circumstances and find peace in the present moment. This has shown itself to me in so many different areas so it’s not dependent on a specific illness that someone has or a specific struggle that they’re going through. This common element of becoming fully present and owning what we’re experiencing in each moment (mentally, emotionally, physically) empowers us to be able to cope.
FWM: How are you helping people today?
I’m helping people today by teaching them the truth about mind-body medicine, channeling, and the power of consciousness — while backing it all up with science. The realization that consciousness and intention goes far beyond our bodies supports people in profound ways. I also think it is very practical because when we realize that we have the capacity to access much greater wisdom than what we might know from just our education or mind, it opens up a whole new resource.. I think this is empowering not only on an individual level but also on a global level. There are so many problems our world is dealing with that appear to have no solutions. What if we could tap into this greater wisdom and discover creative ways to solve these problems.
FWM: Tell us about your new book, The Science of Channeling: Why You Should Trust Your Intuition and Embrace the Force That Connects Us All coming out in Sept.
The Science of Channeling offers the cutting-edge science behind channeling as well as powerful tools to help you hone your own abilities.
Many people have events in their life that can’t be explained. Perhaps it presented itself as a feeling of intuition, an image, a sense of knowing, or even a full-blown premonition. They often feel judged when they tell someone about it, or even wonder, “did that really happen, or did I just imagine it?” This book acts as a primer on the scientific research behind these phenomena like mind-to-mind communication, your intention affecting matter, and sensing the future. as well as a guidebook for those who are trying to make sense of—or expand—their channeling abilities.
FWM: Share a few key elements of the book.
Whenever I give presentations or talks about channeling, I always have people coming up to me or emailing me about their own personal experiences that they haven’t been able to share with others. My greatest hope for this book is that it gives people the context ,the scientific evidence, and the support they need to feel more comfortable sharing about their experiences with others. Channeling experiences are incredibly common and most likely the person you’re speaking with has had at least one experience in their own life. So using accessible language, I go through the evidence for various channeling experiences including how common they are, how they’re most likely not a sign of mental illness, their characteristics, and how to potentially use them to support our lives. The greatest outcome of this book would be for people to feel safe to come out of the channeling closet.
FWM: What is next for you?
The Science of Channeling was the first step in broadening people’s awareness of their intuitive capacities and how it can help them in their daily lives. In it, I introduce the concept of the Noetic SignatureTM. Basically, we propose that everyone has the capacity to access information and energy from beyond time and space, but that the way we do that is unique. That is, we have an individual signature for how we receive and express that non-local information and energy. We’ve developed a questionnaire, what you might call the noetic Myers-Briggs personality test, to help people discover what their Noetic Signature is and how to nurture and develop it for use in their daily lives. The next step for me is to write a book that goes into the Noetic Signature in more detail than The Science of Channeling book does since it only has a chapter on it. I will also support this work through continued research efforts on the Noetic Signature and supporting our education team to develop curriculum teaching people about their own Noetic Signature. Make sure to stay connected to IONS to learn more about our upcoming programs.
Please share your social media handles/video
Facebook http://facebook.com/DrWahbeh
Linked In http://linkedin.com/in/drwahbeh/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/drwahbeh/
Twitter https://twitter.com/DrWahbeh
ResearchGate https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Helane-Wahbeh
