At least five times before over the last 100,000 years, human consciousness has gone through major upward Epochal shifts, or Life Altitudes, in how we see, understand, and behave in the world.

The most recent 5th Life Altitude of consciousness has been called ‘postmodern pluralism’ or ‘the green meme’ and contains the group of people that sociologists refer to as ‘cultural creatives.’

This 5th Life Altitude is at the leading edge today. However, it is no longer adequate to our current life conditions and to our rapidly changing complex world.

The first sign of light from the new dawn is now appearing on the horizon, as the early waves of cultural creativeness move into Epoch 6 Emergence. A variety of developmental researchers are starting to note a small percentage of people experiencing the world in a new way.

The genius philosopher Ken Wilber calls this next emerging Life Altitude  ‘Integral’ and ‘Super Integral’ consciousness. The Harvard graduated developmental psychologist Dr. Suzanne Cook-Grueter has found through her research that becoming aware of how reality is constructed is a hallmark of this emerging new Life Altitude. This new Life Altitude leads to the awareness that we are part of the creative process of reality, and that reality is moldable. A certain merging of mind-stuff and matter co-creates reality. The world is interconnected and interdependent, not a collection of isolated parts bumping into each other.

Spiral Dynamics (and Dr. Clare Graves who provided the base research that Spiral Dynamics was built upon) considers this next Life Altitude to be ‘second tier’ and states that it is a greater leap forward than the combination of all of the previous Life Altitudes combined. The magnitude of the seismic shift into the Epoch 6 Life Altitude is in part due to the fact that, for the first time in history, a consciousness has emerged that can see, understand and honor the 13.8 billion years of universal evolution and the entire hundred thousand year history of human cultural and consciousness evolution.

This newly emergent stage – the 6th Epochal Life Altitude – will radically transform the landscape of what it means to be fully human and will not only lead to a new consciousness but also lead to new educational systems, political systems, modes of business, and a complete reorienting of our place in the cosmos. Beyond this I believe the 6th Epoch is just the beginning, and in many ways, is the transitional structure that allows for rapid vertical evolution beyond Epoch 6.

Since consciousness and the brain arise as one irreducible yet connected dynamic, there would be a unique signature of brain physiology and function that was correlated with the advanced consciousness and culture of Epoch 6.  As we pursue higher states and Life Altitudes of consciousness, we must enact higher layers of brain evolution. They arise as irreducibly related aspects of each other, an unfolding brain/consciousness dynamic.  At The NHU, we will measure the correlation between higher consciousness and higher brain function … in you.

As the higher brain awakens and establishes the full shift out of survival mode and into a new way to thrive, another ‘brain center’ opens – the heart.  The heart has been confirmed by neuroscience to be neurologically rich.  The higher brain and higher heart can then align with each other creating a powerful new physiological response. The resonant pull of these two powerful and integrated biological structures begins to integrate the left and right brain and reconfigure all of the evolutionary brain layers into an emergent whole.

In Epoch 4 and 5, rational thought became our primary mental modality. Extremely useful for our survival, rational thought got us to this point in history but it doesn’t appear that, alone, it will take us much farther. It’s time to transcend and include rational thinking and enter deeper and higher modes of knowing that are slumbering in the Higher Brain. The level of complexity in our modern world has exceeded the ability to create meaning and find solutions through rational thought alone. Science is making it clear that to thrive in the face of complexity, we need energy in the pre-frontal cortex (PFC), and we need to go higher and forward in the brain not lower and backward. Higher Brain insight and intuition jump ahead to reveal the simplicity on the other side of complexity. They make visible elegant solutions by revealing a proactive, potential future.

In Epoch 4 and 5, rational thought became our primary mental modality. Extremely useful for our survival, rational thought got us to this point in history but it doesn’t appear that, alone, it will take us much farther. It’s time to transcend and include rational thinking and enter deeper and higher modes of knowing that are slumbering in the Higher Brain. The level of complexity in our modern world has exceeded the ability to create meaning and find solutions through rational thought alone. Science is making it clear that to thrive in the face of complexity, we need energy in the pre-frontal cortex (PFC), and we need to go higher and forward in the brain not lower and backward. Higher Brain insight and intuition jump ahead to reveal the simplicity on the other side of complexity. They make visible elegant solutions by revealing a proactive, potential future.

Problems become the catalyst for transformation, rendering the concept of a problem obsolete. Transformation occurs through what would previously, at a lower Life Altitude, have been defined as a ‘problem.’ In effect, the solutions to problems on one level of existence define the new higher level of existence. Therefore the ‘problem’ arrives with its solution. If no ‘problem’ existed, then no solutions exist and no growth could occur. Epoch 6 turns all challenges into opportunities. As you mature in Epoch 6 the very idea of a ‘problem’ is meaningless.

Problems become the catalyst for transformation, rendering the concept of a problem obsolete. Transformation occurs through what would previously, at a lower Life Altitude, have been defined as a ‘problem.’ In effect, the solutions to problems on one level of existence define the new higher level of existence. Therefore the ‘problem’ arrives with its solution. If no ‘problem’ existed, then no solutions exist and no growth could occur. Epoch 6 turns all challenges into opportunities. As you mature in Epoch 6 the very idea of a ‘problem’ is meaningless.

The shift into higher brain functioning helps engage the motoric aspects of motivational drive. Motivation now becomes action and is unconsciously and automatically integrated into life. This phenomenon requires less energy and frees the Higher Brain to grow beyond its current state…forever.

When the lower brain is dominant, its safety mechanism filters and dulls our experience. Beauty, vividness and intensity (of nonthreatening stimuli) is not prioritized, so that threats seem to stand out. When the Higher Brain is dominant the world takes on a luster, a glow, a beauty; that has been there all along, but is now obvious.

Confidence emerges as a fearlessness that isn’t dependent on anyone or anything. You stop personalizing events and see them as patterns playing out in a larger context. You realize that people do not do things ‘to you’ because of who you are, but instead act according to who they are. The petty personal drama drops away and you feel invincible. Driven by a deeper meaning and not ruled by the lower brain, you engage in life fully. You realize that there really isn’t anything to fear and you can go boldly into the world.

Feeling limitless power, all claims to victimhood vanish. The ‘blame’ inherent in Epoch 5 is gone in Epoch 6. When we see the world from this larger perspective we don’t see other people doing things to us, and we don’t see our life conditions repressing us. We know we have the unlimited power for conscious choice and conscious change.

We don’t deny the repressed pathologies that lower altitudes have created, nor do we deny that there are victims of those creations. We simply do not see ourselves as part of the oppressed or victims of anything. Therefore, we assume full responsibility for our life.

Joy and well-being are catalyzed by Higher Brain energy. Research conducted on HBL has shown profound shifts to alpha waves in the pre-frontal cortex. Higher production of alpha waves is associated with increased dopamine levels in the brain, which heightens our sense of joy.

The shift from lower brain dominance to the Higher Brain, AND the Awakening of your Authentic Self into Epoch 6 leads to a path of purpose. We move towards experiences that make us feel whole, creative and in service instead of moving away from things that scare us.

Sadly, for those who do not make the momentous leap to Epoch 6, the number one regret at the end of life, according to research performed by palliative nurse Bronnie Ware, was the wish to have had the courage to live a life true to oneself, not the life others expected.

The unlocking of creativity is a product of the Authentic Self being in alignment with the evolutionary impulse. The production of novelty through creative advance is a defining feature of evolution. As the Authentic Self emerges into Epoch 6 the ecstatic urge to ‘create’ becomes a driving life force.

You step into deeper, more transparent ways to engage in relationships. Relationships promote evolution. And you’ll seek out only those that create win-win dynamics. At this level of development, it becomes impossible to remain in a relationship that stifles your own becoming.

The emergence of psychic abilities, synchronicity, lucid dreaming, telepathic powers, premonitions and trans-rational modes of knowing are frequently reported.