Right,

exactly.

We have to start from the beginning.

We can start from the field.

There is a field A field is something that is non-local.

So when you say electromagnetic field, it's something that is not just contained in a box.

It's something that is everywhere.

So in that field of

I'd really love to hear your take on all of this.

When you're a professor in a university, you'd like to get what we call tenured.

And tenured, it means that you are secure for the rest of your life, no matter what.

And you'll be, you know, keeping your position and all that.

Also, it's given for those who have truly succeeded and have proven their mind and decision making and all of that and have published, etc., And it used to be said in the past, you know, maybe 40 years ago or so, that everybody's interested in consciousness, but you shouldn't talk about consciousness.

If you talk about consciousness, you will not be able to be tenured because you are talking about something that is not, you know, mainstream or esoteric or spiritual or philosophic.

And recently, you know, one of the top scientists in a conference, that's why I remember this is very interesting.

with the peace initiative?

How am I going to sit here for 20 minutes? But what's actually happening in the body when you transcend, or even if you don't re- make it to the point of transcendence in your meditation? Because when you say remove stress, people are like, "Well, what is it, a blanket on my body [laughs] that you can just take away?" What's actually occurring?

Um, the body has the natural tendency to get rid of what we call foreign aspects, foreign material.

You know, if you, you get your finger pricked with some, uh, thorn or something, and the thorn is there, the body will kind of come and remove that.

If there is a virus, if there is a bacteria that come, the body has the immune system that removes it.

If we are tired during the day, we have been running, we are fatigued, it's not by pulling the fatigue out of your body or removing the blanket or something that the fatigue is going to go.

It will go when you rest.

So we know that rest, for example, good night's sleep, give us the ability to recuperate, to get back to, uh, an healthier, stronger ability to think, and that is part of the natural tendency of the body to correct itself.

What happens or what do you do if you notice that you've actually lost the ability to care for certain things? Should you just allow it because, hey, here's spaciousness that you didn't know you needed? [laughs] Or is that something to be thought of, too, and where it's like, wait, why do I care so deeply about all these things that just happen to be what my whole side cares about, but I've completely turned off empathy and compassion for these other things that might, I don't know, might not be serving me? Because what are you holding in your body? Judgment, hatred, divisiveness?

Is-- I- I'm sure this is like trying to pick a favorite child, but is there a piece, um, of research that you have done that you felt was especially important for humanity to know?

Yeah.

It's something, uh, unusual, I would say, but for me it was amazing.

Um, and that is what we can call the group effect, uh, the group consciousness effect.

Um, when you transcend through transcendental meditation, there are many research studies, and I participated in some, that show that the body gets more balanced, health is better, physiology is stronger, behavior improves, intelligent decision-making improves, reflexes are improved.

So all the good things happen to the indu- individual physiology through this simple mental technique.

Very easy, very natural, very simple.

So will transcendental, uh, meditation help with that?

Maybe you could speak for just a few minutes about, about consciousness and that bliss and how it impacts the people around us.

Yes.

It's, uh, it's beautiful how you describe the mirror neurons not being only a reception of pain and empathy and all that, and not extreme, but also of interaction, and that is...

That has a component on the surface level, but there is a component which is profound, which I describe in the first book, Consciousness Is All There Is, which is a platform of understanding mind-body relation, uh, that feeling of inner being, inner consciousness, which is very subjective, versus the material physical aspect of life.

And, um, you know, and, and this, uh, there is a f- big philosophical question and a endless kind of discussions scientifically and philosophically about the nature of life, whether everything starts from something physical and material or it starts some- something more spiritual, which we call consciousness, the conscious aspect.

Now, consciousness is something also we need to define.

What is consciousness? Consciousness is to be conscious, how we are conscious.

I would love to know how trusting life helps us also not feel that heartbreak.

And immediately I felt very interested in what techniques those are, because I think that's, as a couples therapist, that's some of the things that come into my office so often is, well, okay, Kayla, I need to self-regulate, but like, what do you mean by that? And what's the best way to do that? And so I wonder if we could talk more about some of those techniques that you recommend.

For one thing, even simple sitting down, sitting in a chair, the same chair every day without the phone, without anything, letting your shoulders fall down, close the eyes or look at the distance at something without trying to regulate anything, without trying to find calm or to find silence or to find anything.

Just being in that state for even minutes, five minutes, maybe twice a day, can already reset a little bit the system.

Now, there are more advanced techniques, of course.

This is very simple.

You know, take a deep breath, let it out.

I'm sure you're very familiar, which you are, of course, with all of these techniques.

reality as consciousness and and maybe even just defining like where is that line between spirituality because I can imagine some listeners being like oh well that's like not my spiritual framework you know and and so like where does some of the science come into that

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

So we are interested to jump right into this conversation and hear some of what you have to share, a different perspective, like we mentioned, from what we're usually talking about on this podcast, as far as how our relationships are impacted by pressure and, you know, feeling emotionally depleted, and the things that impact our consciousness and, and that kind of conversation.

So Dr. Nader, we are excited to hear from you and something new for our listeners today.

Maybe something new would be to say that, um, caring, love, relationship is most successful when it comes from an inner ground that is settled.

Maybe this is not new for you, but it is a very important aspect.

Uh, whether new or old, uh, it is something that is fundamental to start with.

Hmm

How did you first encounter Transcendental Meditation, and what was your first experience with it like?

I was looking for something to develop the full potential.

I knew that we have more in us than... what is usually understood or accepted.

You know, I looked into different belief systems.

I grew up in an environment where there are many, many sects and beliefs and ways of life, you know, from all levels and all religions.

And they all praise human being as being something grand and great, you know, in every religion.

You look at the Bible, it says humans are made in the image of God.

How do you see that Transcendental Meditation specifically factors into someone's capacity to care? and this idea of conscious caring.

So what does neuroscience teach us about the relationship between stress, resilience, and of course, human connection?

I would say for this, the short answer is that stress, resilience, and connection are not three separate systems.

That simplifies it maybe a little bit, but that's the accurate thing.

They are the same system viewed from different angles.

Here is what we know about it in a sense.

Under chronic stress, The amygdala, a part of the sympathetic, the part of the limbic system in the brain, the amygdala, which is the brain's threat detection center, it detects stress and detects threat being under pressure, under stress or fear.

It becomes hyperactive and it actually physically enlarges.

When you talk about maybe a skill set that will help people to pop out of that so that they realize, oh, if I go hug my wife or I go talk to my child or my friend, it can take us out of that and kind of rebalance us.

What do we stand to gain? What, what do I get as an individual if I can maximize my physical vehicle and give myself everything that I need to be performing at a high level, and then I can look outward? Why would I do that?

Well, ultimately it's because it's, you know, the nature of life is to grow and to expand.

That's why we all want to have friends, we all want to have community, we want love, we want connectedness, and our generation today is facing a problem of solitude and loneliness and all of that.

And so these, these are very important aspects because of overwhelm, because of, you know, the outrage about what's happening in the world and situations in society and all of that.

And so we ask ourself, "What do I have to care? What do I care about? Should I care? And if I care, do I get overwhelmed and burn out? Or should I not care and go into kind of avoidance?" Give us broad comprehension, then we are able to be more ourself.

People think they want more, they, to have more is the most important thing.

Actually, what human beings want is to be more.

Do you think that the universe cares about me? Should I worry about that?

What was that like?

Uh, it's really, um, an adventure, a journey that grew gradually.

Uh, I come from a family of doctors, and it's a vocation for helping others.

But I was always asking myself the bigger questions about purpose, about meaning, about suffering, about, you know, uh, civil war, which I have had to go through even as a doctor, uh, where I've saw...

I've seen, um, amazing things in, in a negative way but also amazing survival, amazing, uh, perseverance.

And there is this dual aspect of our human nature, uh, why we do what we do, why we persevere, why we try to be resilient, and why we suffer, why we make our decisions, and how we can overcome that.

So, uh, my search was for the bigger answers, and I thought that human mind, human physiology can give us these answers.

I wonder what your thoughts are on that and what made you want to go down that path.

Hmm.

We have to start from the beginning.

We can start from the field.

There is a field.

A field is something that is non-local.

So when you say electromagnetic field, it's something that is not just contained in a box.

It's something that is everywhere.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

We have to start from the beginning.

We can start from the field.

There is a field.

A field is something that is non-local.

So when you say electromagnetic field, it's something that is not just contained in a box.

It's something that is everywhere.

Mm-hmm

Mm.

We have to start from the beginning.

We can start from the field.

There is a field.

A field is something that is non-local.

So when you say electromagnetic field, it's something that is not just contained in a box.

It's something that is everywhere.

Mm-hmm.