People who have near-death experiences or who survive medically-induced comas report back disturbing and beautiful experiences. Some encounter ultra-vivid nightmares, while others undergo a deep, spiritual oneness with the universe or say they have glimpsed the afterlife.

Journalist and author Alan Pearce and his wife, Beverly Pearce, are the authors of Coma and Near-Death Experience: The Beautiful, Disturbing, and Dangerous World of the Unconscious.

In this episode Andrew and Alan discuss some of the extraordinary states of expanded consciousness that arise during comas, both positive and negative. They explore some of the alternatives to medically-induced coma that are safer for treating critically ill patients and kinder for the patients and their families.

Alan Pearce is a journalist, broadcaster, former BBC correspondent, and author of several books. He has contributed to numerous publications, from Time Magazine to The Sunday Times of London. He lives in Nouvelle Aquitaine, France.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

• Taking a forty-day dark retreat.
• Three things Alan Pearce knows to be true.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

Buy Alan Pearce’s book Coma and Near-Death Experience: The Beautiful, Disturbing, and Dangerous World of the Unconscious

Visit Alan Pearce’s website

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Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

The Meaningful Life Classic Episode: Richard Paterson on “No More Overthinking”.

Do you struggle to sleep, your mind buzzing with worries about the future? Do you compare yourself to others and find yourself always coming up short? This week’s episode is all about ditching overthinking and seeking happiness that ISN’T determined by external circumstances.

Richard Paterson, my guest this week, has trained throughout his life to quiet the thinking mind and unearth “ a treasure trove of uncaused peace, joy, love and perfect contentment waiting to be discovered—your true Self”.

Richard spent much of his twenties and thirties training in Indian ashrams, learning from spiritual masters about meditation and the causes of human suffering. He is trained in techniques of mindfulness and has taken vows as a monk. Richard has travelled the world teaching meditation and mindfulness and is the author of several books.

Follow Up

Join our Supporters Club to access exclusive behind-the-scenes content, fan requests and the chance to ask Andrew your own questions. Membership starts at just £4.50.

Take a look at Richard Paterson’s website

Read Richard’s books Kick the Thinking Habit and Awaken the Happy You

Read Andrew’s advice on keeping a journal of your life and emotions.

Get Andrew’s advice on creating real change in your life and relationships in his book Wake Up and Change Your Life: How to Survive a Crisis and Be Stronger, Wiser and Happier:

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall

If you’re feeling “stuck” in your relationships, asking new kinds of questions can be a powerful way forward. This week Andrew talks with filmmaker and author Topaz Adizes about starting conversations that lead to a deeper, more authentic connection.

Andrew and Topaz discuss Topaz’s new book, 12 Questions for Love, and highlight the importance of:

• Cultivating genuine curiosity.
• Asking open-ended questions.
• The “connective question”, which draws both the asker and the responder into a shared experience.
• Creating the right space to ask deeper questions.
• The difference between a question with an agenda, and a question with an intention.

Topaz Adizes is an Emmy Award-winning writer, director, and experience design architect. He is an Edmund Hillary fellow and Sundance/Skoll stories of change fellow. His works have been selected to Cannes, Sundance, IDFA, and SXSW; featured in New Yorker magazine, Vanity Fair, and the New York Times; and have garnered an Emmy for new approaches to documentary and Two World Press photo awards for immersive storytelling and interactive documentary. He is currently the founder and executive director of the experience design studio The Skin Deep. Topaz studied philosophy at UC Berkeley and Oxford University. He speaks four languages, and currently lives in Mexico with his wife and two children.

Subscriber Content This Week

If you’re a subscriber to The Meaningful Life (via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Patreon), this week you’ll be hearing:

• Three things Topaz Adizes knows to be true.
• How To Be More Vulnerable.
• AND subscribers also access all of our previous bonus content - a rich trove of insight on love, life and meaning created by Andrew and his interviewees.

Follow Up

Get Andrew’s free guide to difficult conversations with your partner: How to Tell Your Partner Difficult Things

Take a look at Andrew’s new online relationship course: My Best Relationship Tools

For more about The Skin Deep, visit TheSkinDeep.com.

To learn more about Topaz Adizes and his work, visit TopazAdizes.com.

Follow Topaz Adizes and The Skin Deep on Instagram, Twitter/X, YouTube and Facebook.

Andrew offers regular advice on love, marriage and finding meaning in your life via his social channels. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube @andrewgmarshall and on Substack at The Meaningful Life.