Dreamlike Reality, Consciousness & The Power of Imagination | ANEW Ep 108

What if the world you see is more like a dream than solid reality? In Part 2 of this fascinating conversation on the ANEW Insight Podcast, Dr. Supatra Tovar welcomes back Dr. Howard Eisenberg—a physician, psychologist, and consciousness researcher—to explore how imagination, dreams, and perception shape the way we experience existence.

Dr. Eisenberg challenges the Western scientific paradigm of materialism, which assumes reality is external, measurable, and objective. Instead, he draws from indigenous wisdom traditions, lucid dreaming practices, and decades of parapsychology research to propose that what we perceive as reality may be closer to a virtual, dreamlike construct—one projected by consciousness itself.

In this deep-dive episode, Dr. Eisenberg shares:

• Why Western science dismisses subjective experiences as “random brain activity”
• How indigenous traditions view dream states as more real than waking life
• The connection between imagination and the creation of everything we build and invent
• The inspiration behind his book Dream It to Do It and why he self-funded it for urgent release
• How precognition and visions shaped his sense of mission to awaken people to a deeper truth
• Why fear, divisiveness, and distraction are keeping humanity from higher awareness
• Practical tools like soft eye contact, heart wisdom, non-attachment, and simply learning to “be” rather than “do”
• Why focusing on love over fear can transform not only our individual lives but the collective future

Dr. Eisenberg also reflects on the dangers of over-reliance on technology, the growing epidemic of loneliness, and the risks of allowing fear to dominate our focus. He emphasizes the importance of reconnecting with ourselves, each other, and the natural world—while cultivating imagination and intention to manifest healthier, more compassionate realities.

This conversation is not just theoretical. Dr. Eisenberg offers practical ways to shift attention away from fear and ego toward presence, empathy, and love. His mission is to remind us that we are more powerful than we realize—not because of control, but because of connection.

If you’ve ever wondered about the deeper nature of reality, the role of consciousness in shaping our world, or how to live with more clarity in uncertain times, this episode will expand your perspective and leave you inspired to look inward.

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 👉 Explore Dr. Eisenberg’s work at drhowardeisenberg.com.
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Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Transcript

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:00

Welcome back to the ANEW Insight podcast. We're back for the second half of our interview with physician, psychologist, and consciousness researcher Dr. Howard Eisenberg. Howard gave us some really invaluable insight into his inspiration to study consciousness based practices. We are going to deep dive some more you guys.

Dr. Howard Eisenberg: 0:01

Well, our current scientific paradigm, primarily Western, is a materialistic one. Thinking again, that what is, that whatever is real is out there. Quantifiable, measurable. And they dismiss the subjective experiences we have as being almost random activity of our neurons, our brain cells. So it's really very dismissed at conventional psychology and more broadly even in science and the indigenous cultures by contrast. And some of which are continuing, like the aboriginal culture right now in Australia, they speak of the dream time as being more real than this waking reality that we think, the opposite of here in the West, the experience of being in a dream, I think is very analogous to the reality of our existence. So in a dream, you, for most of us, when we have them, we dream not just of ourself of other people or maybe creatures, animals, maybe even aliens, and also, different physical terrain environments that we're in. And yet when we wake up we realize, oh, it's just a dream. But for some of us and not all dreams are as vivid, but for some of us at times, dreams seem totally real until we wake up. So that is a form of subjective proof for most of us, first of all, that our mind has that capability to, give us detailed impressions, which is just a dream. And we don't time. Now, there are ways you can do that too, like with hypnosis, where you take a normal person and you just change how they perceptually see things. So even though again there's this initial skepticism 'cause of the western materialism that there, it can't be real or anything of value, it's the exact opposite. When I had that realization preparing for that keynote presentation, I'd mentioned previous episode, I felt once I finally understood the deeper experience, of reality, what it was all about, that because of my understanding. But being amphibious, also being on this level of individual people and things and events and because of my awareness that things on this level were really bad right now. Really sour. I also, you asked about my experiences, another one was precognition telling the future experience future. So I started also having shortly after this, some dark visions of what was coming and I felt with what I now know about a deep understanding of reality, what I see in people so distracted and blinded and so going in the wrong direction and in so many ways, and I don't wanna catalog it 'cause it's depressing. I felt I have no choice. I have to do this. And I had published my first book almost a half century ago, Inner Spaces. I were through a traditional publisher. In fact, at the time it was one of the largest publishers in Canada where I'm based. And so I first thought, okay, I'll just contact traditional publishers and say 50 years later, I have update. and I asked them, how quickly can you get it, into the stores and in, in print. And they said, best case after you submit a manuscript two to three years, and when you submit a manuscript, you've been through this in your book. Perhaps they sometimes, send the master back to you with some question like rewrite your introduction, give us an extra chapter, whatever it might be. It can take a long time until they make a final decision. And even then they have a already pre-publication schedule for other things. And I thought the world's falling apart. I can't wait. I wrote it all, but I mean, someone has to physically put it together, so to speak.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:07

Not to go dark. We don't have to go dark, but what are some of your precognitions? What's already come to fruition and what do you fear will continue to come to fruition if people aren't waking up.

Dr. Howard Eisenberg: 0:08

and dreams, as an example, can turn into what seems like reality and even like in medicine, you know the placebo effect, if you believe something will help you, sometimes it really does. But if you're also suspicious about side effects and allergies and so on, you may actually have even as a placebo, a negative reaction to it. My point is if I describe some of the things I foresee happening, it will be someone vivid in people's minds and they're feeding it. Then we wanna do the opposite. We don't wanna feed the fear. We don't want to feed more divisiveness, more stress. It's the opposite. We have to come back to center. And on this level, in just basic terms, back to what I partly started to talk about, heart wisdom, path of the heart. We need to be much more respectful, considerate of each other and our entire environment. Both animate environment, the plants and animals, and the inanimate environment. We need to learn in a weird way, to go back to the indigenous relationship with each other and the land, So we've been on a more, coming back to your question, which is good. On a more basic level, like, okay, in your everyday life, how are some ways to start doing this? It's not necessarily meditating more, but for example, when you encounter people look in their eyes and look in their eyes with what we call soft eyes, like just receptively not hard, judgmentally, or like with power to dominate, keep away from me, I think there's something to it. So that's a very, aside from the sort of moral guidance of treating people as you'd like to be treated yourself, just in a very basic level. Have a soft eye contact with people when you're around them. It's obviously harder when you're doing something through the screen as we are right now because the position of your eyes and the camera, aren't exactly aligned as they would face to face. But you can still try to look into the person's eyes even though it's not exactly mutual, because there's still some level of connection when you do that.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:11

Especially those who grew up more with smartphones and online. And I'll date myself 'cause I did not grow up with any of that stuff. And I think that you had a lot more visceral connection to people and the world if you grew up in that way I remember me. Yeah.

Dr. Howard Eisenberg: 0:13

Want it to be a positive focus as I try to teach my patients. Focus more on your desires than your fears. The wrong type of stimulation that just is gonna get, stimulate that amygdala

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:15

And that's what you are reminding me of. And I think that you are so right. We have been conditioned it's not, I don't think innate within us, but we have been conditioned to look fearfully at everything. You can see that in our media. You can see that in politics. You can see that in advertising. You see it everywhere, so that so many people who experience distress, anxiety, depression, any types of mental illnesses or even physical illnesses, 'cause we know that it's all connected. I believe it comes from an overfocus on fearful thoughts as opposed to loving thoughts, meaning you tend to ruminate more so on what you are afraid will happen than what you actually want to happen. And that's creating this chaos, this disconnection of all of the contentiousness in the world. And if we were to just shift our focus And you are compelled to do this, and so gimme a picture of how. You've written the book, how are you continuing the message, even after the book has been written to try to get people to kind of wake up to their consciousness?

Dr. Howard Eisenberg: 0:18

I try to be open to any worthwhile opportunity, which is like commercial or ideological to share what I've learned just as with yourself and your invitation to join you on your podcast. Thank you again. I also proactively networking all over the world in all types of countries. I'm doing this, I told you I funded of the book myself through my retirement funds. I'm now semi-retired. I still see some patients, but I'm semi-retired and I am or in touch with, again, people and organizations now all over the world. I've had podcasts again all over the world. Did a two and a half hour one in India. So whatever I can do if anyone has an interest, then my way in, I don't try to push my way in. And bible this again, without a vision people perish. So I'm trying to help awaken and remind people that not only is this not very desirable the way life is right now and the way it's going, it doesn't have to be this way. You talk about loneliness too. There's a direct correlation going back to, your youth before all of this. There's a direct correlation.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:21

Howard requested me on LinkedIn and I, I get a lot of requests and some of them are just people who wanna sell me stuff. But I looked at Dr. Howard and I was like, yes. Dr. Howard is on my same vibe and wavelength, and so thank you for, reaching out to me.

Dr. Howard Eisenberg: 0:22

So the book title is, Dream It to Do It. So it's not just talking about how dreams are in some ways a better description of reality and how you can, when you understand how to work with dreams, the do it part's important here. Alright, in terms of manifestation, so there's a lot of woo and distortion, obviously about the whole concept manifestation. However, it is real. I repeat everything first comes from imagination and even in established medicine, the placebo effect is well recognized. It doesn't mean you simply just wish for something and it happens. You have to have a vivid imagination. You have to work with disciplined intention, but it's still a possibility. And so I'm trying to encourage people both to be awake to how reality really works, but also how now to work with it for your wellness and the betterment of others around you. So giving them all those techniques, even the techniques to change their experience of consciousness. It's not just reading intellectual research, but doing exercises that I have in my book, to experience it. It's not stocked in bookstores, but you could go to a bookstore and ask 'em to order it for you, and they can.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:24

so that we can remember that we all are connected and that we are not in competition with each other. There is no competition. You're a completely unique, amazing, powerful being on your own, but together, oof, we are,