🔬From Empirically Scientific to believe in Woo-Woo Stuff

Years ago, I didn’t believe in past lives, karma, or anything that seemed “woo-woo.” My worldview was rooted in visible science, and I took pride in that. Yet as I began engaging in various conversations, practices, and workshops, my perspective shifted.

My worldview now is grounded in the belief that past lives and karma exist, that divinity resides in all of us, and that other realms are real.

Here’s how I would explain it to my past selves at different stages of life:

• Seek Out Personal Experiences
• To the Scientifically Minded: As Long As It Empowers
• Discernment

Seek Out Personal Experiences

I spent a lot of time reading books and contemplating ideas. Yet a few meaningful experiences in life shifted how I see the world far more than logic ever could.

I attended a systemic constellation session, where I felt sensations moving through my body and emotions I couldn’t explain. As we worked through those processes—acknowledging unseen events from the past or even past lives—I noticed emotions flowing through me, leaving me in a much better state afterward.

My teacher, Rain, has a shamanic lineage. In some workshops, she would take the drum and work with a participant. Later, a few of us would learn that these were cases where the person was believed to be “possessed” by a ghost or entity. While this didn’t make sense to me at first, I found that participants who went through these healing processes often ended up in a far better state afterward.

Various modalities that shift our state of consciousness—like holotropic breathwork and psychedelics—can be deeply supportive as well. Many people who experience such modalities report feeling love or divinity for the first time, and as a result, their worldview changes.

So, explore healing modalities. Sit with different religions. Observe and find what resonates. Do all this with both an open mind and a discerning heart.

To the Scientifically Minded: As Long As It Empowers

At some point in my life, I still found all of the above hard to believe. After all, the mind could have made up everything.

But then I thought—if the mind did make it all up, that’s still great. Because these processes still created lasting positive changes in people’s lives.

Over time, as we experience more modalities and our state of being softens, certain concepts and experiences become easier to understand.

Discernment

Lastly, I still believe discernment and validation are essential:

• Does this support me?
• Is it consistently replicable? If not, what needs to be adjusted?

This is where experimenting with different modalities and worldviews becomes valuable. If a worldview or modality support us well, we can keep practicing it.

It’s also true that some teachers’ interpretations may not be supportive—or may lack solutions.

“You’re in this state because X, Y, Z is happening to you. You’ll have a bad year ahead.”

Words hold power. Great teachers understand that when they teach, they are also shaping the reality of their students. Therefore, wise teachers choose their words carefully, offer practical solutions, and check in with us about what we think—so that we remain independent.

An example of how a teacher can create dependence:

“You just need to come back and work with me every week so that nothing bad happens to you.”

A great teacher, on the other hand, helps us stand on our own two feet, even in their absence. They see us as equals who can one day embody everything they’ve taught—rather than as followers meant to stay below a pedestal.