Featured Sense: Sixth Sense

From the beginning, Six Senses set out to elevate all the senses so that our guests could experience the elusive sixth sense, or the unperceived world. This extends to our physical being and our energy field that is not part of our subtle anatomy but cannot be viewed under the microscope.

In advance of our upcoming Grow a New Body retreats led by Dr. Alberto Villoldo, a shaman and leader within energy medicine, we ask him about our sixth sense and how we can use it to lay the foundation for a healthy body that ages gracefully and joyfully. 

What do we know about the unperceived world?

“It is the ability to see what others do not perceive, both in the visible and the invisible world, and get to the practical information available in it. The information is biological, and evolutionary. Entrepreneurs have a hunch, healers have intuition, and people who are attentive to their body also understand that health is more than treating diseases, it is a lifestyle. Just because you can’t always ‘see’ something it doesn’t mean it isn’t there. Many years ago, I cut my leg in the Amazon. I said to the shaman who I was working with that I was worried it was getting infected due to micro-organisms. He said, ‘Oh you mean like spirits?’ and I said ‘No, these are bacteria.’ Next time I went back, I took a microscope with me and put a drop of water under it so he could see the bacteria. Perhaps, we as scientists have the same difficulty to see the spirits. But there is an invisible world, and when your sixth sense or intuition is refined, it is reflected in your lifestyle choices, your diet and your healthy friendships and relationships. We know how we can upgrade the information to upgrade the quality of our lives.”

How do you connect with the energy field?

“You’re always connected with it. It’s like being connected to the air. The minute you begin to perceive it, you can have conscious encounters with others, and with nature. By this, I mean outer nature around us and your inner nature, such as your feelings and your gut ecosystem.

How does this hidden energy field reflect our state of health?

“Your mind and your mood are the interfaces with the invisible world. And the state of your gut defines the state of your mind. That’s why on our Grow a New Body program, we begin with repairing the decades of damage we have done to the gut with bad food and antibiotics. We can begin the repair process in just one week. Your gut health determines your physical energy and produces the brain chemicals that allow you to interact with the invisible world.”

What was the inspiration behind Grow a New Body?

“Early on in my career, I was sponsored by a big pharma company to go to the Amazon and find the next cancer cure. I came back emptyhanded because they did not have Alzheimer’s, cancer, dementia or heart disease even though they lived long lives. This is because of their communion with the quantum energy field of the cosmos, what we call nature. When you break the dialog with nature, the energy field becomes toxic. When you upgrade the gut, you can then begin to clear the toxins from the energy field through practices like meditation or fire ceremonies. You can clear toxic emotions and old trauma from the field. When you create the conditions for a healthy lifestyle – nutritionally, energetically and emotionally – then you can shift from the lower brain to the higher brain and can switch on your longevity genes. But the most primitive part of our brain only changes through ceremony, and this is why we have sacred ceremonies to change our behaviors. Sacred ceremonies create awareness and permission to heal at a neurological level.”

Are there any types of people who you feel would particularly benefit from the Grow a New Body retreat?

“People who are into optimal health, who want to prevent disease as they get older, and take their brain with them for the rest of their life.”

“Alberto Villoldo’s Grow a New Body program has been proven to do just what it says. Never before, in my experience, has anyone created such a complete manual for exactly how to transform your body and your life. As a scholar and a shaman, Alberto combines the two worlds of conventional Western thought and indigenous cultures - bringing together the best of scientific and intellectual knowledge with the ancient wisdom traditions of those closest to the Earth herself. No aspect of our bodies, minds, and spirits is left to chance.” Christiane Northrup, M.D.