It is hard to believe two years ago this month, I was waking up from a coma. Now, I am still working through the trauma from the experience. However, I look at every day as a blessing. I am finally in a no-stress zone. Surviving a Near Death Experience and my new beginning story starts with being grateful for life. My therapist calls me a 🦋 butterfly, and I am ready to sore, unlike before. Getting over childhood trauma always held me back, but not anymore.
Surviving a Near Death Experience
During my sleep, I felt like I was spinning in Saturn, surrounded by neon lights. I talked with Allah just before I was going to transition. When I asked, ” Is this it? This can’t be it? I kept hearing people compliment my nails that I had just gotten done before I checked myself into the hospital. Then I woke up 3 weeks later because that was not it for me. Allahemduallh
My experience was like some void or abyss scenario. I felt surrounded; I felt extreme aloneness amidst the vast emptiness. I tried screaming but was unable to make any sound. I felt time immensely, making me think I was floating in nothingness for eternity.
The Near Death Experience: What To Know
- Near-death experiences are triggered during singular life-threatening episodes when the body is injured by a heart attack, shock, or blunt trauma such as an explosion or a fall.
- These events share broad commonalities: becoming pain-free, seeing a bright light at the end of a tunnel, detaching from one’s body, floating above it, and even flying off into space.
- Why the mind should experience the struggle to sustain its operations in the face of a loss of blood flow and oxygen as joyous and blissful rather than panic-inducing remains a mystery.
PEACE BEYOND UNDERSTANDING
Near-death experiences, or NDEs, are triggered during singular life-threatening episodes when the body is injured by blunt trauma, a heart attack, asphyxia, shock, etc. About one in 10 patients with cardiac arrest in a hospital setting undergo such an episode. Thousands of survivors of these harrowing touch-and-go situations tell of leaving their damaged bodies behind and encountering a realm beyond everyday existence, unconstrained by the usual boundaries of space and time. These powerful, mystical experiences can lead to permanent transformations in our lives.
NDEs are not fancy flights of the imagination. They share broad commonalities—becoming pain-free, seeing a bright light at the end of a tunnel and other visual phenomena, detaching from one’s body and floating above it, or even flying off into space (out-of-body experiences). They might include meeting loved ones, living or dead, or spiritual beings such as angels; a Proustian recollection or even review of good and evil lifetime memories (“my life flashed in front of my eyes”); or a distorted sense of time and space. Some underlying physiological explanations exist for these perceptions, such as progressively narrowing tunnel vision.
My New Beginning Story
There are often lasting effects that can result from having a near-death experience. After all, we who experienced it experienced a temporary, albeit brief, death. My experience during their NDE my memories also impacted my state of mind.
This is especially true because I can remember certain parts clearly. Keep reading to find out how people like myself are affected by their NDE in the long run, listed below.
NDE: My New Beginning Story
Many people with a near-death experience notice a change in their personality following the occurrence. This change ranges from positive changes to negative ones, too. Often, experiences will become more open, loving, and caring to those around them.
However, they may have also had an epiphany about what relationships they should be keeping in their life. They may better understand who deserves their time and who doesn’t. An NDE could accomplish this because of how profound and tangible the experience has felt.
I totally went through this. I dropped an entire clique of friends.
They might get a shift in their perspective. The experience often brings a new outlook and a different mindset going forward. This may send them on a more dedicated path to helping others, allow them to live much less fearfully than before, and so on. With negative experiences, they may also become religious or simply more dedicated to living a life full of good deeds. We no longer have the will to be stressed, angry or depressed. We are survivors.
They could have a change in their core values or beliefs. Again, the person who had the NDE might become more religious or spiritual or more determined to live a purposeful life than they ever were before. In this case, their values and/or beliefs would be emphasized.
Alternatively, they might care less about the things they valued and believed in so much before the experience happened. Their values could completely shift. For example, they could have been very materialistic before the NDE, after which they might choose to live a minimalistic life.
They might also gain a greater appreciation for life. This is a widespread feeling to have following an NDE because regardless of whether it was a good or bad experience, the person still essentially got another chance at life. They will likely put more effort into living purposefully than they might have before.
One long-lasting effect people may notice after a near-death experience is losing a fear of death. According to Very Well Mind, “the 2017 ‘Survey of American Fears’ by Chapman University,1 20.3% of Americans are ‘afraid’ or ‘very afraid’ of dying.” That percentage size suggests that it’s a pretty common fear to have.
It’s understandable, though, that someone who has had an NDE would gain a sense of peace about what dying must be like and lose the fear instead of suffering the anxiety many people feel about it. In a Psychology Today article, Marilyn A. Mendoza, PhD, states, “Perhaps the most common after-effect of an NDE is the loss of the fear of death and a strengthened belief in the afterlife.”
Flashbacks are definitely a common long-term effect of NDE’s. This can be especially troubling for those with a scary and traumatic near-death experience. Flashbacks can make moving forward with one’s life and reality more challenging. The backgrounds are so vivid and intense that having flashbacks can feel like completely re-living them.
Since the after-effects of near-death experiences are so complex and vary among those who have had them—they are as unique as the individual experiencers—having mood swings would be totally possible. It’s hard to know what to expect from someone who has gone through this, and they may switch from one mood to another more quickly than before. I found many times than not, my peers don’t understand this.
Near Death Experience New Beginning Story
This is my new outlook on life, and it drove me to want to change my relationships with people around me. However, it took time for me to settle into these unique behaviours and beliefs, meaning that there could be lots of going back and forth initially. Somedays, I am a believer; sometimes, I am not. Yet, I believe in miracles. I am one of those little miracles.
My heightened intuition gives them a better idea of what—or who—to keep in their life. This may influence me to cut certain relationships out and focus more on the ones they deem most valuable and positive. Good times and vibes. An NDE can clarify what and who deserves their attention in life and which things and people positively influence me. I have realized I need to take more control over the items and human beings that I surround myself with.
What Can You Do To Move Forward After A Near Death Experience?
If you wonder whether you can move forward after a near-death experience, you can. There are many positive ways to begin to process what you have gone through and move forward with your life. See some of the best-known ways to do so listed below.
FIND A THERAPIST OR SUPPORT GROUP
Online support groups are beneficial when you can’t attend in-person group events. These groups do well to help those who have experienced the same thing not feel so alone.
- The Meetups app has such group meetings. See if you can find one near you.
- Facebook also has a support network for NDE experiencers.
- IANDS, or International Association for Near-Death Studies, is a non-profit with support group resources you can search through.
TIME TO HEAL & RECOVER
No matter what ways you choose to try and move forward with your life, you should make sure that you’re also giving yourself time to heal and recover after the incident. Only my therapist and Dr. only understand this. After surviving a coma, having 3 gastrointestinal surgeries and looking like I am pregnant, no one but me can understand my journey. We need time to get over the entire experience; the long road to recovery seems never-ending. Sometimes, I look at the sky and am pleased to be alive.
Meditation and journaling have been instrumental in helping you to release pent-up emotions and fears or simply let go of anything negative. Sometimes, putting things in writing also helps to put things in perspective. Going on walks and yoga or any type of exercise can be crucial in helping you to recover. Releasing that energy and finding a healthy outlet is good for the mind, the body and the soul.
Any close brush with death reminds us of the precariousness and fragility of life and can strip away the layers of psychological suppression that shield us from uncomfortable thoughts of existential oblivion. For most, these events fade in intensity with time, and normality eventually reasserts itself (although we may have post-traumatic stress disorder ). We NDEs are recalled with unusual power and lucidity over decades.
It must be remembered that NDEs have always been with us in all cultures and in all people, young and old, devout and sceptical (think, for instance, of the so-called Tibetan Book of the Dead, which describes the mind before and after death). The most obvious explanation to those raised in religious traditions, Muslim or otherwise, is that they were granted a vision of heaven or hell and what awaits them hereafter. Interestingly, NDEs are no longer likely to occur in devout believers than in secular or nonpracticing subjects.
My experience has taught me life is beautiful and that no matter what you’re going through, keep going. Our lives are a blessing; we live each day like it’s our last. We are here to do great things and not take things too seriously. Life is too short for stress and anger. Lead with love, and you will receive it.
