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I am lucky enough to live in one of the most magical places on earth. The ancient hills of the Blue Ridge Mountains are home to the world famous Monroe Institute, Yogaville which hosts the only shrine in the world dedicated to all major religions, as well as The Department of Perceptual Studies at the University of Virginia, just to name a few. This specific department at UVA, affectionally nicknamed “DOPS,” is a scientific research group devoted to the rigorous evaluation of empirical evidence for extraordinary human experiences and capacities. I am also lucky enough to call Dr. Marieta Pehlivanova of DOPS a friend, and this episode is full of her professional and personal insight on the near-death experience. It isn’t often that you are able to capture this kind of perspective from someone on a topic like this. There has been a long-time division in our culture between the heart and the mind. Yet Marieta has studied numerous NDE cases at the most prestigious university in the state, and her prolific academic knowledge combined with her personal spiritual insight create a balance and unification of this rift that is nothing short of healing.
Marieta’s Bio & Links
Marieta Pehlivanova, Ph.D., is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences at the University of Virginia’s Division of Perceptual Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology with a focus in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research explores near-death experiences, children’s reports of past-life memories, after-death communications, and the personality and cognitive factors associated with psi beliefs and experiences. Before joining UVA, she worked as a biostatistician in health research. She has presented her work nationally on near-death experiences, survival research, and best practices for supporting people who report spiritually transformative experiences.
Natalie’s Links:
Tales from the Truth Seekers Podcast
available on Spotify, Apple, & Substack
Natalie’s Bio:
After walking through the world as somewhat of a cynic for many years, Natalie found herself deeply humbled by a quite sudden and profound state of “non-ego” in 2014. This 48-hour period initiated her into a life-long spiritual journey. While on this path, Natalie has discovered that unique, first-hand, spiritual experience can threaten rigid belief systems of religious, secular, and New Age people alike. Because of this, she is dedicated to empowering people to look withinfor the security they seek and to release complete dependency on blind belief or external systems to guide them. Over the past ten years Natalie has been certified in MindfulSchools, Reiki Level 2, and has graduated from the Spiritual Guidance Mentorship program at Atlantic University. Natalie is also an ordained Avalon Rose Priestess through the Avalon Rose Chapel in Glastonbury, England. Her current advocacy centers around creating educational content to help people extract harmful ideology from truly spiritual and compassionate practices.
In the muggle world, Natalie is an actress, singer, dancer, choreographer, director, and playwright. She holds a B.A. in musical theatre performance, an M.A. in theatre education, was a high school theatre director for seven years, and is passionate about the connection between spirituality, mental health, and the arts, and the powerful healing effects that they can have, especially for disadvantaged youth.