Natalia Th

Experience Description

I was in first grade and having lunch with my class in the cafeteria. Suddenly, I start to choke on my food and could not get any air. I got a little panicked. A teacher laid me over her lap and repeatedly hit my back, trying to dislodge the food. I don't know how long this took but it felt like ages. I could not breathe and felt my heartrate get slower. My eyes closed and I was surrounded by dark nothingness. I wasn't particularly stressed; rather, I was quite calm and at peace. I don't remember clearly if I saw anything, but there might have been a type of purple energy standing across from me in the void. I remember thinking to myself, 'What about my mom?' I was feeling like I can't just die on her. Then I felt a realization like 'I am going to die but it's not time yet because of my mother.' I don't know how long I spent floating in the peaceful darkness.

I came back to my senses just as I coughed and started breathing again. I was really confused and felt as if I had just woken up from a sleep. I was happy about being able to breathe again. For some reason, I explained that I had been choking. I remember wondering about the blissful void and also wondered why I was so calm while almost dying.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date NDE Occurred: 2010

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Accidental choking. I was choking on my food at school, a teacher tried to help me by hitting my back

How do you consider the content of your experience? Both pleasant AND distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? No I lost awareness of my body

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? Normal consciousness and alertness. During this event, I was very panicked. But when I entered the dark void, I was suddenly calm and knew exactly what I had to do and why. I didn't get any extra alertness or consciousness; it was more like I calmed down and thought rationally as well as understanding why I needed to keep living.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? While floating in the void

Were your thoughts speeded up? No

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning. When I came to the void it felt as though time slowed down, or as if time did not really exist.

Were your senses More vivid than usual? No

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Immediately prior to entering the void I couldn't keep my eyes open. In the void, it was like I could see clearly although everything was black and lacked light. Yet, I knew where I was.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Immediately prior to entering the void, I heard the usual noises of kids at the cafeteria, and my teacher hitting my back trying to help me. In the void, I didn't hear anything. It was just silent.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere, as if by ESP? No

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? No

Did you see any beings in your experience? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? A light clearly of mystical or other-worldly origin

Did you see an unearthly light? Uncertain. I faintly remember seeing a colored light or purple energy that was floating in front of me. It was alive but did not have the form of any living creature.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm. I was in a dark void. There were no light or objects but I could clearly see the dark. I was floating. There may have been a purple energy in front of me, though I could not talk or in any way interact with it. There were feelings of peace and familiarity.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Right before the void, I was panicked. During the experience, my emotions had calmed down and I was at peace. I could think rationally. I felt a sense of being safe, but knew I should not stay there.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Relief or calmness

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? No

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back to you? No

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? I came to a definite conscious decision to return to life I had a realization that 'I cannot die, because of my mother'. It wasn't really a decision that I was free to make it was more as if someone told me that. I just knew that's how it is.

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Christian- Other Christian Eastern orthodox christian

What is your religion now? Christian- Other Christian Still Eastern orthodox Christian

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was both consistent and not consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience. At the time, I didn't know about 'energies' or such. I also did not know about the afterlife. As a kid, I was a little scared of it and I didn't know whether everything would be just darkness or if you came to an actual place.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? No

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin. I saw the unidentifiable entity of light/energy. It was alive but at the same time I couldn't interact with it.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? No

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)? No

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? No

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? No

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes I knew where I was but I couldn't name it, I knew that I had to return and keep living because of someone else, as if something will dramatically change if I didn't.

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? An afterlife probably exists. When I was floating in the void. I didn't wonder about a lot of things. It was just like I knew what it was and that it was linked to physically dying. Thus, why I felt I should not be there.

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? No

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? No changes in my life

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes It was the type of experience you have to feel for yourself. I'm not 100% sure about all the details.

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I remember the experience more accurately than other life events that occurred around the time of the experience. This is an event I've been thinking a lot about since it happened, probably more than any other event at this time.

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? The knowledge that I could not die yet

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes It took a couple years before I told friends etc about it, one other person said to have had a similar event happen to them in a near death experience (the void).

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was probably real. I was confused by it, was I dreaming? did I die? I was pretty sure it was some sort of NDE though.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was probably. real I still think it's probably real, the same as the previous answer.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? Yes