The Bay Area Is Where It's At
The Joy of Sox Movie
All in all, the first week in May gave us a great West Coast swing to the Bay Area. I had long planned to go to San Francisco to attend an energy medicine conference, but late in the game the light bulb went on, and I realized that some excellent documentary interview prospects lived just down the road. And I was right – the Bay area is where it’s at.
We’ve just spent a couple of days at the Institute for Noetic Sciences (IONS), founded by astronaut Edgar Mitchell in 1974 after he had a spiritual experience looking at the Earth – “the blue marble” - from outer space. He established IONS to study the nature of global consciousness, and that is what they are doing. In the beautiful foothills of Sonoma County, it’s hard not to have a spiritual experience just looking out over the spring-green hills and pastures on the edge of wine country.
We spoke with scientist Dean Radin, who took us inside his magnetically insulated bank vault of a lab to demonstrate how he has measured the way meditators can mentally affect the behavior of beams of laser light. It’s the most stunning example of mind-over-matter that I know of. We also spoke with Marilyn Schlitz, their VP of Research and Education, about the study of distant mental intention on living systems; a recent IONS study on wound healing was featured on ABC News Tonight. And we came to appreciate the value of places like IONS that are devoted to bringing about a world-wide shift in consciousness.
In Sausalito, we spoke with Michael Murphy, the founder of Esalen Institute at Big Sur, the birthplace of the Human Potential Movement. “Esalen” synonymous with Mecca if you’re of a certain age, but if you’re like some of my younger colleagues, the name only merits a “Huh?”. Michael literally invented the study of consciousness and sports, and his book “In the Zone: Transcendent Experiences in Sports” is still the Bible. He’s a raconteur extraordinaire, and once Joel gave us the “You’re on!” signal, I just sat back and listened and laughed and enjoyed.
He told of how he and some colleagues once emitted an energy yell/hex from the upper deck of Candlestick Park that literally knocked Bob Gibson, the great Cardinals pitcher, off the mound; he described yogic powers called “siddhis” that modern athletes occasionally seem to tap into, and he even managed to praise current baseball bete noir Barry Bonds for being able to maintain his concentration despite the constant barrage of boos that he encounters wherever he plays (because of his past steroid use). He talked about stadiums as “sanctuaries of the soul”, and left hanging the key question: “Who knows what invested eneryg resides in Fenway Park?”.
The energy medicine conference was great, and I synchronistically managed to schmooze with an executive producer from TV Land (aka LA). He loved the project, and had one word for me: “ESPN”. If only (but then again, why not?). The high point of the trip was dinner with my probably soon-to-be-permanently Californian daughter Shari, who’s still trying to entice me to move out West. And she’s got a point – there’s a lot out there for anyone interested in the study of consciousness, the impact of mind on matter, and the role of spirituality in sports. Maybe after this one’s in the can…..
All in all, the first week in May gave us a great West Coast swing to the Bay Area. I had long planned to go to San Francisco to attend an energy medicine conference, but late in the game the light bulb went on, and I realized that some excellent documentary interview prospects lived just down the road. And I was right – the Bay area is where it’s at.
We’ve just spent a couple of days at the Institute for Noetic Sciences (IONS), founded by astronaut Edgar Mitchell in 1974 after he had a spiritual experience looking at the Earth – “the blue marble” - from outer space. He established IONS to study the nature of global consciousness, and that is what they are doing. In the beautiful foothills of Sonoma County, it’s hard not to have a spiritual experience just looking out over the spring-green hills and pastures on the edge of wine country.
We spoke with scientist Dean Radin, who took us inside his magnetically insulated bank vault of a lab to demonstrate how he has measured the way meditators can mentally affect the behavior of beams of laser light. It’s the most stunning example of mind-over-matter that I know of. We also spoke with Marilyn Schlitz, their VP of Research and Education, about the study of distant mental intention on living systems; a recent IONS study on wound healing was featured on ABC News Tonight. And we came to appreciate the value of places like IONS that are devoted to bringing about a world-wide shift in consciousness.
In Sausalito, we spoke with Michael Murphy, the founder of Esalen Institute at Big Sur, the birthplace of the Human Potential Movement. “Esalen” synonymous with Mecca if you’re of a certain age, but if you’re like some of my younger colleagues, the name only merits a “Huh?”. Michael literally invented the study of consciousness and sports, and his book “In the Zone: Transcendent Experiences in Sports” is still the Bible. He’s a raconteur extraordinaire, and once Joel gave us the “You’re on!” signal, I just sat back and listened and laughed and enjoyed.
He told of how he and some colleagues once emitted an energy yell/hex from the upper deck of Candlestick Park that literally knocked Bob Gibson, the great Cardinals pitcher, off the mound; he described yogic powers called “siddhis” that modern athletes occasionally seem to tap into, and he even managed to praise current baseball bete noir Barry Bonds for being able to maintain his concentration despite the constant barrage of boos that he encounters wherever he plays (because of his past steroid use). He talked about stadiums as “sanctuaries of the soul”, and left hanging the key question: “Who knows what invested eneryg resides in Fenway Park?”.
The energy medicine conference was great, and I synchronistically managed to schmooze with an executive producer from TV Land (aka LA). He loved the project, and had one word for me: “ESPN”. If only (but then again, why not?). The high point of the trip was dinner with my probably soon-to-be-permanently Californian daughter Shari, who’s still trying to entice me to move out West. And she’s got a point – there’s a lot out there for anyone interested in the study of consciousness, the impact of mind on matter, and the role of spirituality in sports. Maybe after this one’s in the can…..
posted by Rick Leskowitz,MD at 9:33 AM
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