Physicist, consciousness researcher, author of the "My Big TOE" trilogy and international lecturer Tom Campbell talks about his early out-of-body experience as a child and the role it has played in his life's purpose. He explains what led him to meet and eventually work with Bob Monroe to research and explore expanded states of consciousness. A pioneer in audio-induced expanded states, he, Dennis Mennerich (an electrical engineer at UVA) and Bob patched together a lab at Bob's residence, Whistlefield (1972), and began experimenting with sound signals. "I was spending hours every day in [the] nonphysical space. ... We tried everything, … to see if we could interact with this process, to see if we could teach other people how to do it." They eventually engineered the first binaural beat tape (3.78 Hz), mixing different frequencies and amplitudes to facilitate an out-of-body experience and the sustained exploration of expanded states of consciousness. "We were the guinea pigs."

This week's guest Eileen Hall is an Ecuadorean/Scottish artist, explorer and the founder of Tayos, an organization supporting the protection of endangered habitats in Ecuador. Inspired and ignited by the work of her late father Stan Hall, Eileen's research into psychology, consciousness and wellbeing is embedded into all her work, particularly in her work as co-director of the Tayos art project which explores the role that our environments play in healing our psyches. "My art is here to give a voice to the elemental intelligences that exist in nature." Exploring the depths of her own psyche and collective consciousness, Eileen seeks to understand and embrace the primal intelligence that directs human evolution.

"Consciousness is the origin of everything... I believe every element has some sort of sentience, some sort of consciousness you can speak to, and you can form a relationship with it." Her collaboration with musician Jon Hopkins on his latest release, Music for Psychedelic Therapy incorporates healing sounds from the Tayos caves.

It began with an early interest in not just the science of the mind but, the science of the extent of the mind. "My students were interested in doing experiments in telepathy, psychokinesis and esp ... so I monitored them but of course I was in the process of learning what they were learning. Roger Nelson Director of The Global Consciousness Project discusses is there such a thing as group consciousness and how random number generation is used to research and test field consciousness. Information and structure ... the mind ... has a role and functions in the real world. We are sources of active information. "There is an effect of my [our] intentions in the world." For more information about the Monroe Institute and our programs, visit https://www.monroeinstitute.org

Helané Wahbeh's personal interest in the rare form of trance channeling, "the process of expressing or receiving information and energy from beyond our conventional notion of time and space," began at a very early age. "My mother did it, my grandmother, [I have] multiple people in my family who've experienced trance channeling." Now, as the Director of Research at IONS she's developed the IONS Channeling Research Program which studies whether psychic [channeling] abilities are genetic. "All humans have the capacity for this intuitive noetic wisdom."

Mark Certo originally recorded this casual conversation with Bob Monroe in 1994. Bob talks about his early spontaneous out-of-body experiences and how they spawned a curiosity for the non-physical realm and the study of expanded states of consciousness and ultimately the Monroe Institute. Bob shares his thoughts on why we are here [in this life] and unconditional love "where no reward what so ever is expected from it. Love is a band of energy...the creator line." For more information about the Monroe Institute and our programs, visit www.monroeinstitute.org

Always inclined towards science and technology, Dr. Dean Radin was drawn in particular to Psi research. In this episode of Expanding on Consciousness, Dean discusses parapsycology and the scientific rigors of research on the edge of the unknown. "A friend joked that I must have been born with an extra set of Y (why) chromozones. ...I was always asking why." The study of Psi looks at experiences that are not explained by known physical or biological mechanisms. It is the study of consciousness. The role of consciousness in the physical world and what it can do. For more information about the Monroe Institute and our programs, visit www.monroeinstitute.org

In this opening episode of Expanding on Consciousness, host, Mark Certo invites you to join him and his guests to explore views, understandings and explorations of consciousness. "We're going dive into to some very deep mysteries of consciousness on this podcast, all of this we do to to encourage you, to explore your own sense of consciousness more deeply. Through these conversations, you might begin to ask some very deep questions about yourself". Mark reflects on his passion for the subject, his decades of experience interviewing "giants in the field" including Edgar Mitchell, Dr. Charles Tart and Joe McMoneagle. Mark shares a heartfelt appreciation for his work with Bob Monroe and the Monroe Institute as a sound engineer and host of The Gateway Radio Program. Enjoy this first episode of Expanding on Consciousness, and stay tuned for upcoming, weekly conversations with Dr. Dean Radin, Dr. Helané Wahbeh, Dr. Roger Nelson, Dr. Charles Tart and other leading researchers, scientists, artists and dreamers! For more information about the Monroe Institute and our programs, visit www.monroeinstitute.org