Natalie Geld, Founder - WhyAreWeWhispering.com
"Keeping sexuality out of our awareness is like trying to keep ping-pong balls under water. Or trying not to move your bowels."
San Rafael, CA (PRWEB) October 28, 2010
Although sex is the primary phenomenal experience that drives evolution, sexuality is not sufficiently discussed in consciousness studies, according to Dr. Bernard Baars of The Neurosciences Institute. For the first time ever, in this year's Science and Nonduality Conference, Natalie Geld offered a groundbreaking panel discussion that explored the profound connections of sexuality, stress, consciousness and well being. Neuroscientist and author Dr. Peggy La Cerra, sexual pioneer Caroline Muir, co-author of Tantra: The Art of Conscious Loving now in its 20th anniversary printing, Dr. Shauna Shapiro, co-author of The Art & Science of Mindfulness, and Bruce Mangan of the Institute of Cognitive and Brain Studies, UC Berkeley discussed and debated sexual and emotional health in connection with spirituality for the first time. Researchers have confirmed that this dialogue is unprecedented and timely for human potential.
Even though sex seems to be everywhere in the media, much of the information throughout culture and history is antiquated, oppressive, superficial, sensationalized, or questionable in its accuracy. 40 million American adults have anxiety disorders, over 19 million people are treated for recurrent stress and depression annually, and scores of Americans that participated in a Kinsey Institute Sex Information Test failed. Prominent scientists, psychologists, physicists and educators rally to examine the causes. People are bombarded left and right with information and events that they take at face value and simply do not question, making their health and well being suffer.
Sex is a natural form of communication. People want to open up and talk about their sexuality, but it often feels complicated and stressful, so they avoid it. But as Mantak Chia says, "Keeping sexuality out of our awareness is like trying to keep ping-pong balls under water. Or trying not to move your bowels." Sexual impulse is often an overwhelming force. Ignorance, fear and emotional suppression – what psychologists call ‘shadows’ – fuel stress symptoms, and significantly affect perceptions, health, sexual response, and how people relate to one another.
Geld comments, "From our first flickering of consciousness we are taught what to think, not how to think. We're systematically disembodied and often carry shame, fear, guilt and resentment at a cellular level. Many people spend decades cultivating love by transcending self and the ego - they 'get it' intellectually but still don't 'feel' it." She has sparked a dialogue with dozens of scientists, therapists, educators, mystics and doctors about the interdependence of consciousness and health and the intelligence of our body. "We are not passengers in our lives; we are the authors of our experience."
“Sexuality for most of us, even people who are evolving spiritually, is a part that remains really separate; very un-integrated," adds Dr. Cassi Vieten, author and research scientist at IONS. "Aside from Tantric practices, it’s taboo even in the deepest spirituality. How can that be… that one piece of who we’re being is somehow not allowed into the conversation?" Dr. David Kipper, M.D., an eminent physician in Los Angeles for over 30 years, discusses why this is important. “Our sexual and emotional health is essential to our physical vitality, and our mental health and well being.”
Other topics explored included: Transcendence, Sexuality, and Mystical experiences: flesh, blood, matter, energy, and orgasm. Is sex a neutral force?
"Fear cannot exist where this is love," says Dr. Amit Goswami, Theoretical Quantum Physicist. The room was brimming. Audience participants said they needed more time to explore these important issues fundamental to love and being human - and that they were just getting warmed up. "As a species really – service, contribution and struggle are heralded and we have almost lost the value of joy and play – they’re not aspirational," says Dr. Shauna Shapiro.
About Natalie Geld
Natalie Geld is the Editorial Director, Author and Founder of Why Are We Whispering.com. This web magazine continues to explore topics such as how negating play and joy affect people. It investigates how cultivating greater joy, fun and playfulness in intimacy and in daily life influence human potential and happiness.
About the Science and Nonduality Conference
The Science & Nonduality Conference was held in San Rafael October 20-24. It was a unique opportunity to explore various approaches to the relationship between the self and the universal. International presenters offered four days of conferences, panels, networking opportunities and experiential workshops exploring various aspects of nonduality.
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