For over 30 years, Howard Martin has been passionate about advancing human potential and performance. In the first half, he discussed scientific research and studies linking heart function with health, emotional well-being, and intelligence-- functions previously thought exclusive to the brain. Rather than just a pump, the heart, he said, could be considered "an information processing center" that is sending signals to the brain and the entire system. The heart also has an important energetic aspect, producing "an electromagnetic field that extends around our body at 360 degrees," he added, "and the information in that field changes depending upon what emotions...we're feeling."
The heart, he continued, has a complex nervous system, and researchers have shown that information from the heart affects how we think and feel, and brain function improves as we become coherently aligned with it. Emotions, Martin noted, are not just experienced in the brain/mind but in the heart as well, as part of an integrated system and information exchange. The HeartMath group is doing studies on "social coherence" – what happens when groups of people operate more from core heart values such as intuition and compassion. Planet Earth also produces fluctuating geomagnetic fields that can affect human health and behavior, and conversely, human fields can affect the planetary ones, he postulated.
---------------------
In the latter half, author and paranormal expert, Richard Estep, was joined by producer Bil Bungay to discuss the Black Monk of Pontefract, known as one of the most violent and relentless poltergeist cases. The case first received notoriety in the 1960s when strange incidents occurred to the Pritchard family at their home on 30 East Drive, in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. There were episodes of flying objects, loud thuds, strange visitations, and even physical attacks by unseen entities. A monk-like apparition was seen on occasion (view related photos), and subsequently, legends were built up around the case, Estep recounted. One such lore was that the poltergeist/apparition was the spirit of a 16th-century monk who was either hung, or drowned in a well after being caught murdering a young girl.
Yet, Estep noted that the home on East Drive was also the site of an ancient battlefield where monks were nearby. Bungay eventually purchased the home from the Pritchards, and their haunting experiences were adapted for his film When the Lights Went Out. Subsequently, Bungay made the house available to a series of paranormal investigators who have witnessed a plethora of unexplained activities, including Estep, who stayed there for five consecutive nights. One colleague, Charlie, complained that his back was burning, and something was holding onto his ankles. Estep recorded thermal images of Charlie's back, which showed a fresh set of deep and long scratches. Rather than just the monk, Estep has suggested the home may be haunted by up to four entities, including a child and something purely animalistic in nature.
News segment guests: Jerome Corsi, Peter Davenport