- The fear of death is
an existential phenomenon
that we all go through, it's an equalizer.
- [Chase] Death exists in a weird space.
It's a universal experience,
yet no one really wants to talk about it.
- We don't like talking about
things that are uncomfortable
so we gloss over them.
But more and more now,
there is a need to talk about
things that are uncomfortable.
- We went to London to
experience the Death Incubator,
a workshop that mixes community therapy
and a VR experience
that simulates what death
may actually be like,
and ultimately, overcome
our fear of death.
- We don't really choose
when we die, it comes.
(ominous music)
- Are you ready?
(ominous music)
- We all handle the idea of
our mortality differently.
Some people are motivated
by it, some people avoid it,
and some people have an acute fear of it.
And increasing secularization
makes it even more confounding.
Throughout history,
religion has offered a clear
and mostly comforting
way to process death.
It's the next step in a journey.
You're moving on to a better place.
But as fewer and fewer people
identify with an organized religion,
we have fewer and fewer
traditions to process death.
It's Tamara's and Jose's
mission to address that.
They can't tell you what comes next,
but they've created a space
where people can come
and think about death
and process it in a productive way.
- Death is a topic which
is not dealt with very well
in our modern society.
And yet, there's multiple benefits,
psychological and societal,
if we can change our
relationship to death.
- The two leading ways
to quell the anxiety
around really anything,
are psychotherapy and exposure therapy.
The Death Incubator combines
these two treatments
into one workshop.
(soft music)
To be honest, I don't think
about my death too much.
But I am like most people,
I'm definitely uncomfortable
talking about it.
So, I decided to give the
Death Incubator a try.
While it's generally
done in a larger group,
I was joined by one other
participant, named Rosanna.
Tamara, a clinical psychologist,
handles the first part of the workshop
with mindfulness training
and creative exercises.
- We use a variety of
means including analog,
paper, pencils, Play-Doh (laughs)
to allow people to dive into this topic.
- Next is the exposure therapy part,
and this is a little less straightforward.
Exposure therapy is a proven
anxiety-reducing technique
where someone is exposed
to the thing they fear
in a safe environment,
then given practical techniques
to manage that anxiety.
The problem is exposing people
to the experience of death
is difficult to say the least.
In this case Jose, the VR artist,
has created an experience
that is his interpretation
of what death may be like.
Art always conveys a deeper meaning
than what words could do.
And by conceptualizing this journey,
researching people's
experience of death and dying,
allowed me to kind of
gather information and data
that could kind of conceptualize
kind of like a one fit
for all VR experience.
How you navigate through this experience
is by using your gaze.
You can just move around
as free as you can.
- [Chase] In Jose's interpretation,
the experience tracks with
most conventional religious
and spiritual conceptualizations of death.
First, the grave.
- [Tamara] Time to release from the body.
- So by dropping you down into the earth,
and dissolving you down and deeper down,
visualizing your death
bed and who's there.
- [Chase] Then, into the sky.
- Taking you then out of the body.
This change of perspective allows them
to see the oneness of the planet.
- [Chase] Then, higher and
higher into another realm
with other worldly beings,
- Then, follow through a
transition of being pulled
into the speed of light
into a black hole (laughs).
And all of a sudden, opening a portal
into a kind of transpersonal
layer of the experience,
something that is a bit more psychedelic.
- [Chase] Of course,
everyone has their own idea
of what death is like.
This one is colorful and immersive.
Other people envision the
opposite: complete nothingness.
But having the most correct
visualization of death
is not only impossible, it's
also kind of beside the point.
It's more about getting people
to buy into the experience,
and think about what death could be like
as a way to create space
for people to talk about it.
- Welcome back.
Initial impressions?
- Yeah.
- [Tamara] Speak from the soul.
- It was maybe uncomfortable,
but just overall just beautiful, I think.
Experiencing and understanding
life through death,
it feel transforming for me.
I feel like there a lot I need to process.
The Death Incubator is designed
to be done with a community of people.
It's about being comfortable
and opening up about your
experiences with death,
and how you view it,
despite your religion,
worldview, upbringing or culture.
- Being born and raised in Mexico,
the folklore of the
celebration of death and dying,
but also the cruelty around
death and dying as well.
So there was a lot of
that kind of confrontation
in my upbringing which
made me realize that the,
the way that I change
and modify my perception
and my relationship with
death from that young age
helped me, actually, to
appreciate life on a deeper level,
and I wanted to share that.
- [Chase] The application
of the Death Incubator
goes beyond the workshop setting.
Tamara and Jose have set their
sights on palliative care
or appending the hospice industry,
people who are close to death
or medical students who
are preparing to see death
on a regular basis,
even taking this to some of the world's
most powerful decision-makers.
- I'm also interested in
using the Death Incubator
to help people explore
the concept of legacy.
So this is work with senior leadership,
people making the decisions
that affect worldwide populations.
If we can really help them
to understand the footprint
that they're leaving on this planet
by inviting them to
think about their death
and what stays after they've gone,
I believe this could be very helpful
to accelerate paradigm
shift in our society.
- [Chase] Going through
the Death Incubator,
and reflecting on the experience
as we've been putting this piece together,
did make me think about
things in a different way
than I normally do.
- A big part of our intention
is about helping people
to live more fully after the experience,
but it doesn't need to
be something drastic.
Even small changes may have a
big impact in somebody's life
and this really is important to us
because we need to make
changes in how we're living
and how we relate to each other.
Death comes to us all,
so it really is something that unites us
in our common humanity.
- Those are my (laughs) initial thoughts.
- Just initial, small insights (laughs).
Fantastic, beautiful.
- Thanks for watching our
series about the Culture of Change.
For more great stories
about people that are
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