David's guest this month is Dr. Laleh Quinn, who has been a research faculty member in the Cognitive Science department at the University of California San Diego for 25 years specializing in Behavioural Neuroscience. She obtained her Ph.D. in Philosophy of Mind, Cognitive Science, and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Arizona where her emphasis was on discovering whether there is a scientific explanation for consciousness. Her neuroscience research has ranged from neurophysiological recordings of brain activity in awake behaving animals to understanding the roots of empathy and compassion.

After learning to meditate through being prescribed Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction by her doctor, in addition to becoming much less stressed, she began to become more spiritually awakened. This led her to begin teaching mindfulness and meditation to students and faculty at UCSD in hopes of helping with the extreme stress found in academia. Her spiritual awakening also led her to understand that there is much more to this world than what her materialist academic colleagues were dictating. In 2019 her close friend of 20 years and fellow neuroscientist died and she began experiencing signs and synchronicities and messages indicating that he still existed and was communicating with her. Thus began a dedicated and impassioned quest to discover whether consciousness can survive death and whether after-death communication is real. Through rigorous researching, through personal experimentation, and through a close personal relationship with a professional evidential medium, she found answers and she is currently devoting much of her time to writing and speaking about her experiences of an expanded reality beyond the confines of materialism.

Imaginal Inspirations is hosted by David Lorimer, Programme Director of the Scientific and Medical Network and Chair of the Galileo Commission, an academic movement dedicated to expanding the evidence base of a science of consciousness. Imaginal cells are responsible for the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly, which is the Greek symbol for the soul. These cells are dormant in the caterpillar but at a critical point of development they create the new form and structure which becomes the butterfly.

scientificandmedical.net

galileocommission.org

beyondthebrain.org

Works and links mentioned:

https://profiles.ucsd.edu/laleh.quinn

https://www.essentiafoundation.org/how-a-neuroscientist-came-to-embrace-the-reality-of-acausal-synchronicities/reading/

https://www.feedyourhead.blog/p/the-peace-of-no-time-69f

https://independent.academia.edu/LalehQuinn

https://suzannegiesemann.com/

Production: Martin Redfern

Artwork: Amber Haas

Music: Life is a River, by Magnus Moone