Spontaneous spiritual awakening experiences (I would call them cosmic consciousness experiences), are subjective experiences characterised by a sudden sense of direct contact, union, or complete nondual merging or experience of oneness with a perceived ultimate reality, the universe, “God,” or the divine. They can arise in response to some kind of practice such as meditation, or as in the case of my guest today completely of their own accord.
Jessica is a Research Psychologist specialising in spontaneous spiritual awakening experiences. She graduated with a Masters Degree in Psychology (Distinction) from the University of Greenwich, where she focused her studies on induced and endogenous exceptional human experiences. With a passion to bridge the worlds of science and spirituality, her mission is to challenge the default pathologisation of awakening experiences by helping to inform and encourage mainstream psychology to look beyond the current designated spectrum of ‘normality’, to encompass the transpersonal as something that is intrinsic to the human experience. She is also dedicated to helping individuals come to the realisation of their highest human potential, and fulfils part of this mission both as a Kundalini Yoga teacher and contracted leadership and empowerment coach. Jessica has presented her work at a number of academic conferences, including with the British Psychological Society. She also works for the Scientific and Medical Network, is a member of the Galileo Commission steering committee, and a collaborator of the Emergent Phenomenology Research Consortium and Spiritual Crisis Network. She runs regular peer-support groups for individuals undergoing spiritually transformative experiences, in central London.
-International Spiritual Emergence Network (ISEN): https://www.spiritualemergencenetwork.org
-The Spiritual Emergence Network (SEN, USA): http://www.spiritualemergence.org
-The American Centre for the Integration of Spiritually Transformative Experiences (ACISTE, USA): https://aciste.org
-Spiritual Crisis Network (SCN, UK): https://spiritualcrisisnetwork.uk
The Galileo Commission: https://galileocommission.org
If people would like to find an online community to discuss their spiritual experiences more openly, they can join the Blue Lotus sharing circles: https://bluelotusnetwork.com/
Or Spiritual Awakenings International sharing circles: https://spiritualawakeningsinternational.org
Please note: these sharing circles are not specifically designed around the themes of spiritual emergence / emergency, but rather welcome conversations around varying forms and degrees of spiritually transformative experiences.
Jessica's in-person sharing circles in London, which she hosts with the Psychedelic Society: https://dandelion.earth/events/628f4e75aa27e9000c0f2f2f
The article we discuss is here: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.720579.
Jessica is currently recruiting people for a study observing the effects of awakening on addiction. If you would like to participate in that or her other studies, or simply get in touch, you can do so via her email jessicacorneille@gmail.com.