Dr. Natalie Dyer PhD., shamanic Reiki master. Integrating the Scientific and the Mystical

My guest today is Dr. Natalie Dyer, PhD, Research Scientist with Connor Whole Health at University Hospitals, Warrensville Heights, OH and President of the Center for Reiki Research. She has published many scientific papers and book chapters on postmaterialist science, psychedelics, and the therapeutic effects of integrative medicine practices, including Reiki, yoga, acupuncture, and mindfulness, and is co-editor of the book Expanding Science: Visions of a Postmaterialist Paradigm and the forthcoming book Infinite Percepton: The Power of Psychedelics for Global Transformation. Natalie is also an energy medicine practitioner and teacher. Her passion is in understanding and addressing mental and physical health from a psychospiritual perspective. She lives in the woods on the east coast of Canada with her husband, artist Louis Dyer and their freshly minted three-months-old daughter.
I asked Natalie to explain the term post-materialism science? Natalie  said that it signifies a new age in science, where we move beyond the limitations of the materialist paradigm, which states that everything can be reduced to matter, including consciousness.  Many scientists and theologians believe that matter emerges from consciousness instead of  the other way around. Post-materialism scientists adopt the findings of quantum mechanics, and acknowledge that that the mind affects measurements of various experiments in physics. It doesn't exclude materialism. 
Since Natalie’s next book is about psychedelics, I wondered what role do psychedelics play in treating people with mental distress. The usual approach taken is by way of psychedelic assisted psychotherapy in a setting where there's a therapist who has been trained in administering psychedelics who guides the individual to step outside of their normal operating ego self, and to view their whole life, including what led to, and what keeps the depression going through this shift outside of the normal, mundane day to day thinking process. The psychedelics can show them, how their depression developed, and how they're keeping it going with their thoughts and their beliefs. So that they get is this chance to step outside of the normal narrative of their life. And that can cause a profound shift. There can be a scary kind of loss of control, when there's that ego death, where you're kind of stepping outside of your normal function of your mental awareness. That’s where the therapist comes, reassuring the person that it’s ok, that they are safe to continue. Then hopefully, the therapist can facilitate  integration  to take place and make changes based on what was discovered.
What does a shamanic Reiki master, like her, do? “Reiki is a biofeedback therapy. It's 100 years old at this point, but it's based on practices that go back 1000s of years, like Chi Gong, for example. And the idea is that anytime we have disease in the body, or we're unwell, there's an imbalance in our lifeforce energy. So that's called many different things, chi, prana. Spirit. So that's the basis for these practices.”
“Reiki works to bring balance back to that energy system and hoping that the physical system corresponds with that shift. So you learn to tap into the intention of channeling this energy, which is infinite and everywhere. That's the idea. And you either give this energy to yourself, so you're just kind of bringing this energy through into your body, or you give it to another person. “
“What I found when I started doing Reiki was really experiencing the

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