Gayle B NDE

Experience Description

I was with a group of teenage friends, and we were smoking pot. We had just started smoking; I was not "stoned" yet. A friend said I could get "higher" if her large boyfriend squeezed me while I was standing up, and I had just inhaled the smoke and was holding my breath.

He squeezed my upper body, then released me. I had no pain, but I fainted and fell. Perhaps it was not a near-death experience, but it was certainly a non-ordinary experience. It is still so amazing to me that 18 years of my life passed before my eyes in the seconds it took me to fall to the floor.

As I wrote above, this experience piqued my interest in life outside time, creativity, imagination, spiritual experiences, and the purpose of life. I came to believe in reincarnation, soul purpose, and the eternal now.

Background Information:

Gender: Female

Date of NDE: 09/15/1969

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? No

How do you consider the content of your experience? Neither pleasant NOR distressing

Did you feel separated from your body? 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? I don't remember a time before this when I felt I was observing my life without being in it. I did feel like a very conscious, alert observer.
This experience felt like a direct revelation. It was very clear and real. It was like a movie reel of my life that seemed to be moving at normal speed; however, 18 years passed in a few seconds.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness? More consciousness and alertness than normal

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
I was observing my life from the beginning to the present "ending" moment. I felt I was in a timeless moment, watching my life spool by.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience In contrast to my daily life, this felt like an experience "out of time."

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience I felt like I saw my whole life, but I don't remember any exceptional sounds. It was just my moment-to-moment life and my entire life that passed before me. I watched my life without being in it. I do not remember a specific feeling or emotion.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? 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 beings? No

Did you see or feel surrounded by a brilliant light? No

Did you see an unearthly light? No

Did you seem to enter another world? A clearly mystical or unearthly realm
I was observing my life from outside it.

What emotions did you feel during the experience? I was a curious observer. I think I was surprised.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? No

Did you have a feeling of joy? No

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

Did you suddenly understand everything? No

Did scenes from your past come back? My past flashed before me, out of my control
My life passed before my eyes.

Did you reach a boundary or limiting physical structure? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What was your religion prior to your experience? Other faiths - New age
I was raised Presbyterian, but was interested in Eastern religions

Have your religious practices changed? Yes
I have continued to seek "growth" experiences and have sought spiritual teachers.

What is your religion now? Other faiths - Unitarian and other liberal faiths
That experience of non-ordinary reality, a place where time did not move in the ordinary way, led me to explore non-Christian religions and ideas. I read Aldous Huxley and Alan Watts and began to meditate. Since then, I have had spiritual teachers, studied Alchemical Hypnotherapy, and engaged in shamanistic journeys. I have a master's in psychotherapy. I came to believe that there is a timeless place that can be accessed for healing and learning.

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
As a teenager, I was interested in philosophy and in ideas and experiences outside the mainstream. It was the late '60s, and there were many opportunities to see the world in new ways. Before this, I hadn't experienced life beyond life, but I believed there were mysteries I wanted to explore.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes
I never had an easy or straight path in my life, and I can't say that I suddenly made obviously better choices or was less clueless. But I was more motivated to continually learn and grow in traditional and non-traditional ways.

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? 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? Yes
Yes, my main takeaway was a profound belief that life held more that I wanted to explore beyond my ordinary day-to-day experience.

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? Yes
Yes, viewing my life from a place outside of time made me believe in an aware universe of which I am a part.

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Uncertain
I already believed in a higher power, but after the experience I also believed in non-ordinary reality.

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? Yes
This out-of-time experience seemed like a gift, a glimpse of a larger reality.

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? Yes
Yes, this seemed like an important glimpse of a timeless place where lifetimes are like a snap of the fingers.

During your experience, did you gain information about an afterlife? Yes
Experiencing life from outside time made me realize I was observing from a timeless place. Since then, I've traveled to past lives and to my personal future within the context of hypnotherapy sessions and shamanic journeys.

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? Yes
Yes, that life is briefer than we know, and that we are truly spirits having a human experience.

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? Yes
I began to believe that life was an opportunity to grow spiritually.

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

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Slight changes in my life
I believe that I became more interested in the mysteries of life and death.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? Uncertain
My relationships have changed greatly over the years, but I've always had friends interested in spirituality, creativity, and learning more about human existence.

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? No

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 as accurately as other life events that occurred around the time of the experience
I could not describe the myriad images I saw of my life then, just that I recognized my life. I was amazed that my whole life passed in a few seconds (I became aware that only seconds had passed, not years) when I opened my eyes, with my body on the floor and my friends around me, asking if I was alright.

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? Directly observing my life from a place outside time made me believe in a larger reality.

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes
I told my friends right away that I had seen my whole life pass before my eyes. I had heard that phrase before, but then I experienced it. My friends were frightened when I fainted. They were just relieved that I was OK. We did not discuss my experience at the time.

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 definitely real
The experience was very real. Now, 57 years later, I still believe that this was a "real" experience.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real
The experience was as real as anything else in my life. It was something that happened to me that feels like it opened an awareness of a larger reality.

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes
Experiences with hypnotherapy and shamanic work have given me the opportunity to move through time in a non-ordinary way. Meditation and spiritual work have also allowed me to expand and gain a greater understanding of myself and life.

Did the questions asked and information that you provided accurately and comprehensively describe your experience? Yes
And, as I said above, I did not have a traditional NDE, although it was a related experience that changed my view of life and death.

Anything else to add? I think that the experience I described might not specifically fit into your criteria for NDE. However, I think my experience was very similar in terms of getting a view outside of ordinary consciousness.