Episode 17: Guidance, hypnosis and Tibetan practice: Dr Michael Lifshitz on well-being
Episode 17 of M3CS’s Contemplative Science Podcast saw Dr Michael Lifshitz come on to the show to talk about hypnosis, tulpamancy and the overarching concept of guidance.
For the full podcast, check out the episode here.
In this episode, we cover...
Hypnosis, the power of suggestion, and its comparisons to meditation practice.
The social construct of the concept of wellness: what it means to be well!
Cognitive research on expert tulpamancers - to see what’s going on under the hood.
Dr Michael Lifshitz is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at McGill University and Jewish General Hospital, Montreal. Alumnus of McGill and Stanford University, he studies practices that aim to transform our subjective experience - including meditation, hypnosis, placebo, prayer and psychedelics.
Here are some of the key insights from the conversation...
The key focus of Michael’s research is the notion of guidance.
”I think this is part of what spiritual practice often is: learning to listen for some kind of mysterious guidance. And I think it's really hard to scientifically articulate what that might be. So that's why I've been interested in the particular practices that I think start to get us somewhat in that direction.”
Michael is fascinated with things that lead us to interactions with the non-physical.
“Prayer and psychedelics are really interesting because often what happens is that people feel like they're in touch with some kind of intelligence or trajectory of being, whether it's God or some kind of spirit. Or it can be like being in a forest and feeling like there's some kind of thing happening there that's larger than you.”
Follow your internal guide: see where life takes you!
”Sometimes you don't know where things are pulling you. And there's something interesting about letting yourself be led by forces that you yourself don't understand.”
The best place to find the work of Dr Michael Lifshitz is here.
See you next week!
