by Mark Pitstick MA, DC

My e-books, ​audio books, audio programs, documentary film, radio shows, articles, and ‘Greater Reality Healing, Living & Helping Program’ are ​all FREE at SoulProof.com.  In lieu of payment, I ask that you fully use the products, share them, and help others as you feel called.

This evidence-based information and holistic resources will help you . . .

  1. Adopt a more accurate worldview based on contemporary understandings about ‘the big picture of life’ and live accordingly – whatever that means for you. (see article #19 ‘The Great News’ about the Nature of Reality at SoulProof.com)
  2. Experience shorter and lightened grieving after loved ones change worlds and other big changes that seem like losses. 
  3. Fine-tune yourself physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually so you have the vitality to handle life’s demands AND share your greatest gifts / soul’s missions. 
  4. Become more aware of, benefit from, and share life’s silver linings that always accompany opportunities masquerading as adversity.  
  5. Create the greatest life YOU have envisioned. (The term ‘YOU’ refers to your higher self / eternal consciousness / soul)
  6. Fulfill your highest purposes for being on earth and help make our world a better place. This is now practically possible as discussed in article #125 Eight Developments for Widespread Conscious Living Now. As enough people do this, widespread personal and planetary change will naturally unfold. 

To learn more about how you achieve these lofty goals, read the following articles at SoulProof.com/ArticlesAND watch videos at SoulProof.com/Greater Reality Program.  


Can the Soul Exit the Body Before Severe Suffering and Death?

(Note: This article is for all those with loved ones – people and pets – who passed on while seemingly suffering.  Many worry that their dear ones were in much pain before their earthly bodies died.  I’ll focus more on parents with children in this situation since that appears to be the most unfair and tragic.  These parents are understandably tortured by the possibility that their beloved children were in severe and prolonged pain.)

In a recent ‘Ask the Soul Doctor’ class for Helping Parents Heal, a mom I’ll call ‘Mary’ told me about her son whose body was dying from cancer.  For several days, his body shook and moaned with what’s called terminal agitation.  She had been tormented for four years about this but hadn’t talked about it.  I replied ‘Mary, I have some great news for you!’  As I shared the evidence that his awareness could leave the body before such apparent suffering, her relief was visible.  Mary was very comforted to learn the evidence that I’ll share in this article. 

At the end of the class, ‘Barb’ asked if she could say something.  I had noticed her sad and anxious appearance throughout the class and was glad to listen.  Barb’s daughter was in hospice after battling cancer and also shook in a way that seemed very traumatic.  Barb felt deep guilt that she couldn’t do more to help her daughter.  After hearing my interaction with Mary, Barb immediately felt a great weight lifted off her shoulders.  

The next day, I began to write this article. 

Before I share the evidence, it’s important to remember the following:

  • The human brain and five senses detect MUCH less than 1% of reality. (Thus the truth of the old saying ‘There is more to life than meets the eye.’)  This is why I used words above such as seem and appear.  A dying body may SEEM to be in pain while the real self / consciousness is watching it impassively and painlessly from above.    
  • Your loved ones don’t really die, just their earthly forms do. That’s why I use language that may sound cumbersome but is much more accurate.  For example, ‘Mary told me about her son whose body was dying from cancer’.  Notice that I DIDN’T say her son was dying.  His essence / energy / soul didn’t die; only his earth-shell did and that’s much less than 1% of who and what he really is. 
  • Although they appear to be ‘just little helpless children’, they actually are powerful eternal soulswho may be more highly evolved than you and I. Their seemingly tragic passing at a young age likely touched many people in powerful ways.  My lifework over the last 50+ years was primarily motivated after working in hospitals with two children who changed worlds.  That’s the kind of ultra-impact that advanced souls seek to attain. 
  • People usually (always?) pass on when their soul contracts have been fulfilled. Not everyone chooses to live until 100 and pass on while sleeping.  That may be how you think it should be, but life is much more vast, complex, and magnificent than that. 
  • Please review ‘The Great News’ before reading further. These ten indications about the nature of reality are discussed in article #19 at SoulProof.com/Articles.  Gary E. Schwartz PhD and I compiled this list that is based on scientific, clinical, and experiential evidence about the big picture of life.  (Dr. Schwartz is a former Harvard and Yale professor, now professor emeritus at the University of Arizona, and directs the SoulPhone Project.)
  • It’s wise to leave room for ‘The Great Mystery’ and the many cosmic possibilities that humans can’t possibly fathom.
     

Evidence the Soul Can Exit the Body Before Severe Suffering and Death

1. Shock-Induced Decreased Awareness
Consciousness can diminish or cease due to lack of blood supply, nervous system injury, and other physiological factors.  As such, the person may not be aware of suffering or remember anything afterwards. Over the last 50+ years, I’ve interviewed numerous people who were shot, stabbed, fell from great heights, and had severe accidents.  All of them described an initial ‘punch’ then nothing after that.  Days, weeks, and months later, they say the time period after the severe injury is still a complete blank. 

 2. Input from Life Between Lives Sessions
As described in his book Journey of Souls, this clinical data was collected by Michael Newton PhD and his team of researchers. Over 60,000 cases from people around the world reveal much about the time periods before and after earthly experiences. Their collective reports indicate that souls can leave the body before death due to injury or illness.  To learn more, see article #98 Life Between Lives and visit NewtonInstitute.org. 

 3. Near Death Experience Findings
My uncle Cliff was in a long coma after nearly dying after a semi hit his car. As a nine-year-old boy, I was fascinated to hear what he experienced: celestial music, beautiful green grass, and meeting Jesus. His near-death time was so wonderful that, if not for his beloved family, he would have gladly stayed in The Light.  That was my first exposure to the concept that severe trauma may not be felt as a person’s body suffers. 

Jan Holden EdD, president of the International Association of Near-Death Studies, shared the experience of Yvonne Kason MD.  After her medivac plane crashed, Dr. Kason described experiencing a dual consciousness: an embodied part that experienced freezing waters, and – at the same time – a disembodied part that didn’t experiencing the pain.

Many near-death experiencers report not feeling pain despite horrible injuries leading to clinical death.  Often, they watch the resuscitation process on the dying person (their body) impassively from above.  They know it’s their earthly body but also that a greater part of themselves is very much alive, well, and free of pain.  Others report an initial burst of pain before experiencing immense beauty and peace.  To learn more, see article #94 Near Death Experiences and visit the IANDS.org website. 

4. Reports of Angelic Assistance
Many books and documentaries report angelic / higher energy assistance leading to reduced pain after severe injuries and illness.  These common experiences suggest that relief may well occur for those whose bodies perish.  Some dying children have seen angels; as described in A Book of Angels, Sophy Burnham reports a little boy who was near death but comforted his mother by saying, “Don’t cry.  Do you see my angel out the window?  She’s telling me I am going fishing.”  

To learn more, see article #73 Angelic and Higher Energy Assistance.  Also see the Afterword at the end of this article. 

5. Input from Evidential Mediums
Evidential mediums are defined as sensitive persons whose abilities to perceive postmaterial (‘departed’) persons has been evaluated under double-blinded evaluation conditions.  They may see, hear, feel, and/or know the presence of loved ones who have changed worlds.  Their  detailed and specific information to loved ones on earth provides much hope and evidence that life continues beyond bodily death.  As described in The Afterlife Experiments by Dr. Gary Schwartz, the authenticity of some mediums has been demonstrated in laboratory experiments at the University of Arizona and other universities and institutes. 

Suzanne Giesemann MS, a former Naval Commander, is a research medium for the SoulPhone Project, author of Messages of Hope and other amazing books, and much more.  (Her website is SuzanneGiesemann.com)  I asked her about this topic and she replied: ‘Yes, in virtually every session I’ve done where the person passed traumatically at the scene, they showed me a symbol that indicates their soul was out of the body before they suffered.  This occurred even if their body reacted automatically with signs of pain.  This symbol was given to me BEFORE I knew how the person passed.  It’s always accurate so I know to trust this. There is a separation of awareness.’ 

Andy Lee DAc, RN says that Mavis Pittilla, a famous mediumship teacher of both Suzanne and Andy, reported the soul can leave the body before severe pain of any kind is encountered.  Dr. Lee has been able to sense postmaterial persons and see auras since she was a child.  She worked in an ICU unit for ten years and a pediatric hospital for over 30 years.  During this time, she had many experiences that indicate souls can disengage from the dying body.  Dr. Lee perceived numerous patients speaking to her while their bodies were in stages of dying – even while resuscitation efforts were occurring.  For example, souls of children asked her if they could ride their bike again and why no one else could see or hear them.  Souls of adults asked her, for example, if they would still be able to play their guitar after their body died. 

During mediumship readings, Andy observed that people in comas, cognitive decline, and/or illness present themselves with their body horizontally inclined instead of standing vertically.  After witnessing this multiple times, she considers this as a sign that the person has one foot in this world and another in the next plane of existence.  Her teacher Mavis confirmed this as well.  To learn more, see article #6 Evidential Mediums. 

6. Aura Appearance When a Person’s Body is Dying
Auras are defined as emanations or fields of energy radiating from a person that may be seen as having different colors. On many occasions, Dr. Lee witnessed auras of people and animals change as the physical body was dying. She describes this as the auras diminishing and/or turning white; this suggests that their energy / soul is moving away from the body.  Of this, Andy states “Having seen auras most of my life, I know that dying persons show similar patterns as the aura lifts away from the body.  The size of the aura isn’t dependent on the age or size of the person.  Even the tiniest baby can fill a room and beyond with their prominent auric presence.” 

(Reading her description made me think of shared crossing / death experiences reported by many people as a loved one’s body dies.  They describe the room filling with light that perhaps, in part, is due to the expansion of their aura / energy / light.  To learn more, see article #96 Shared Crossing Experiences)  Dr. Lee concludes: “After 40 years working in adult and pediatric critical care units in hospitals, I believe the soul can leave prior to severe suffering and bodily death.”

After 53 years of helping many people in hospitals, pastoral counseling settings, mental health centers, holistic wellness clinics, and other ways, I agree.

7. Religious / Philosophical Views
Much clinical and experiential evidence – after near death and revelatory experiences, for example – indicates that the Creator and Sustainer of All Life is unfathomably loving, caring, intelligent, and creative.  As such, an advanced system certainly could be in place for the souls to move on before suffering and death of the earthly form.  A highly evolved and efficient Cosmic Organizer might design this so energy / life-force are not wasted as soul depart the no-longer-needed body. 

A celestial ‘escape route’ permits their essence to move into the next phase of forever as the body completes its job as the soul’s vehicle while on earth.  I can envision to elegance, love, and caring in such a design; surely Creative Intelligence can as well. 

8. Perceptions of Loved Ones on Earth
Those ‘left behind’ sometimes receive messages that further indicate the soul can exit the body before severe suffering and death.  In my Shining Light Parents Speak book, Lillian told about her daughter Jilly passing on at age 19 after an auto accident.  Lillian stated: “On our way to the accident scene, the police called me and told me she was gone.  I immediately heard her say in my mind, ‘It’s OK, Mom.  I jumped and didn’t feel a thing.’  This same description has been repeated by other parents who received messages from their children who changed worlds.  Parents have sensed in various ways that their child just ‘flew away’ and didn’t suffer as we might think.

Sometimes this knowing is repeated by evidential mediums who didn’t know anything about who died and how.  Allyson Edwards emailed me with this message: ‘My husband Mike transitioned last October.  I had a phone session with the medium Kat Baillie shortly afterwards.  She did not know how Mike passed on so she was telling me what Mike was showing her.  Kat said he saw himself falling to the ground and found it strange to be looking at himself lying on the ground.  She also said Mike was showing her a truck – not a semi, a pick-up truck – but she didn’t get the feeling he was hit by a truck.’

‘Indeed’ Allyson continued, ‘Mike had a pulmonary embolism in the driveway while walking to his truck.  I wanted to share this story as an example of souls not suffering while dying.  Mike didn’t show Kat that he was in pain . . . just that he saw himself falling and it was strange to see himself lying on the ground.  His soul was watching his body from above with curiosity but was not suffering.’

A Mini-Miracle?
Two very interesting events occurred while writing this article.  On 4/2/25, I sent an email to Eben Alexander MD requesting his input about this topic.  I also emailed his administrative assistant Elizabeth Hare whom I’ve known for many years.  Fourteen minutes later, I received a reply to my email from Elizabeth Boisson, president of Helping Parents Heal.  She said that a dear friend found ‘going to her angel’ helped immensely during times of pain and abuse. 

That was a beautiful reminder to about angelic assistance BUT I hadn’t sent an email to Elizabeth Boisson about this topic.  Here’s my emailed message to her: ‘A mini-miracle occurred with you receiving my email to Eben Alexander and Elizabeth Hare.  As you can see from the bolded ‘Forwarded Message’ info below, it was sent to them but not you.’  

———- Forwarded message ———
From: Mark Pitstick <mark@soulproof.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 2, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Subject: your thoughts / knowledge about this question?
To: Eben Alexander (personal email not shown), Elizabeth <admin@ebenalexander.com

I continued ‘And yet, you somehow received it and brought up the topic of angelic assistance minimizing pain and suffering.’  I closed my email to her with ‘I love it when higher energies get involved in a project I’m doing!’  I included 3 different emojis as shown below:

I love it when higher energies get involved in a project I’m doing! 🙏  ♥️  👼 

Later, I decided to share this story in this article.  I copied the sentence and three different emojis above into the Word document.  When pasted, however, it appeared like this . . .

I love it when higher energies get involved in a project I’m doing!  👼   👼  👼

My praying hands, heart, and one angel morphed into three angels!  A Word software expert might have a good explanation for this, but I’ll take it as a sign that angelic assistance is always available and can lessen suffering before bodily death.  I hope this article comforts you so you can remember how wonderfully life is set up . . . even when it seems senseless, uncaring, and chaotic. 

Summary
All the above information indicates that souls can leave the body before, during, or just after transitioning from earth.  I’ll close this article with two beautiful stories.  The first was related to me by Frannie Sherwood whose daughter Marijke was brutally murdered in 2007.  In Frannie’s words: “She came to me right after she left her body even though I did not know she had passed on.  I tried to call Marijke on the phone, but she obviously couldn’t answer.  However, she spoke softly to me throughout the evening.  At that time, I did not know what she had gone through.  The next day, as the detective told me what had happened, it was so horrible at           first.  But then Marijke appeared to me; I could see her solid form from the chest up.  She was in the middle of a circle of white light and looked so radiant and healthy!  She told me ‘Mom, it only hurt for a minute.  I am so happy now.'” 

Frannie continued “My beloved daughter has come to me through the years in different ways.  Seeing and hearing that it only hurt her for a minute helped my grieving so much that I can help other parents with children who passed on.” 

The second story contains a series of beautiful experiences reported by Laura Grether whose son Erich passed on by suicide.  She wrote: “Three days after his passing, I kept asking myself ‘Why?  Why Erich?’  Later, as I was driving to the store, I suddenly felt intense emotional pain and knew Erich was coming through again.  It began to thunder, and the rain was pouring down so I pulled into a parking lot and parked.  I sat quiet for a moment and then, in a flash like a movie, I felt Erich.  He showed me that he was driving while so full of anger and rage.  He was crying and screaming; then he parked his car and shot himself.”  

Laura continued: “I sat in the car and couldn’t catch my breath for a moment, but I felt that he had answered my ‘Why’ questions.  He had shared his pain with me.  I sat there for ten minutes to compose myself and then another flash.  I saw Erich sitting in the passenger seat of his car while looking at his dead body in the driver’s seat.  From the coroner’s report I saw later, the position of the body was exactly how I saw it.  Then the most beautiful thing happened  .  . . Erich looked right at me and said, ‘Mom, I left my body first and I didn’t feel a thing.”

Laura’s view of his body as confirmed by the coroner’s report provides some validation that this was more than ‘just an imaginary experience’.  I hope their stories and this article help you release needless fears which, based on the collective evidence about The Great News About The Nature of Reality, turns out to be all of them. 

Thank you for telling others about this article!  Your life, and that of others around you, will be more enriched when you:  

  1. read the article again so you really know it.
     
  2. discuss with close family and friends to more deeply internalize it.
     
  3. take action steps that seem right for you.
     
  4. share it with others via social media, discussion groups, and other ways.

Hugs, love, blessings, and let it shine!
Mark

Mark Pitstick MA, DC

– a​uthor, lecturer, c​ounselor, and holistic chiropractic physician 

– spokesperson, researcher, and strategic planner for SoulPhone Project

– ​founder of ‘Greater Reality Healing, Living & Helping Program’

SoulProof.com     SoulPhone.org     ​​GreaterRealityProgram.com ​

University-based research has now scientifically proven that life continues after bodily death.  The SoulPhone Project will enable communication with postmaterial (so-called “deceased”) loved ones and luminaries who want to help us heal our world. How does this project, The Great News, and The 8 Developments affect the way you live and treat others and our planet?  (To learn more, see articles #35, 19, and 125 at SoulProof.com/Articles)

Dr. Pitstick is a master’s clinical psychologist, holistic chiropractic physician, and clinical nutritionist.  He has also helped others in pastoral counseling and suicide prevention / education settings.  His goal is to help you know and show that this earthly experience is a totally safe, meaningful, and magnificent adventure amidst eternity. 

To learn more about the Greater Reality Healing, Living, and Helping Program, visit the ‘Greater Reality Programs’ top tab at SoulProof.com and SoulPhone.org.  Also see  articles #19, 72, 82, 119, and 125 at SoulProof.com/Articles.

SoulProof.com provides many FREE resources: 

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In lieu of payment, he asks that you: (1) fully use and appreciate the products, (2) share them with others, and (3) help others in ways you feel called.

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Note: This article is intended as a reference source, not to replace professional treatment for physical, emotional, or mental problems.  The author disclaims any liability arising directly or indirectly from the voluntary use of action steps discussed in article. 

Dr. Pitstick created this article while ‘wearing the hat’ of a clinician, counselor, and educator.  His statements are based upon some scientific research; much clinical and experiential evidence; his personal experiences; and best current understandings.  This article does not reflect his role in the SoulPhone Project since that requires scientific data for all statements.