Welcome to The Enlightenment Effect!
It all begins within.
“Just a few years before writing this, my world was defined by science, logic, and cold, hard facts. As a government scientist in climate research, I believed I was fighting humanity’s ultimate battle: saving the planet from destruction. I thought, “How could humans, or any species, possibly thrive in the face of this unfolding catastrophe?”
I prided myself on my atheistic identity, rooted in intellect and reason, and believed tackling the planet’s destruction was my destiny. To me, working towards enlightenment was about knowledge—a purely intellectual pursuit of mastering data, solving problems, and applying logic to improve the world.
But behind the polished veneer of achievement, my life was crumbling. Depression, bulimia, insomnia, identity shame, and drug addictions haunted me. Therapy provided glimpses of relief by breaking my silence, but the deeper patterns remained and felt unshakable.
As my world unraveled, the universe began revealing a startling truth: the greatest problem wasn’t the destruction outside of me—it was the devastation within me.”
— Lance Rayborn. Synchronicity: Exploring the Path of Meaningful Connection. Compiled by Kyra Schaefer. Chapter 20: The Enlightenment Effect. January 2025.
Yes — I unapologetically chose to begin this Substack journey with the first thing I’ve officially published since leaving the sciences.
In this book, I shared a glimpse of what happened when I walked away from Earth sciences, joined a regenerative farming community, stepped into a shamanic ceremony I never imagined I'd be part of, and underwent a series of profound healings and awakenings that unraveled everything.
Everything I thought I knew about healing. About the world. And about myself.
But don’t worry… you haven’t missed much. This space is where the real story unfolds.
Welcome to this EN–LIGHTEN-ing journey!
Here, I’ll take you along my unconventional path from atheist scientist to holistic healer.
Through dissolving dense, emotional baggage, confronting buried truths, overcoming cultural illusions, becoming LIGHTer, and unlocking incredible synchronicities and soul awakenings, I re-membered and found my way back to my body, to myself, and to spirit.
One thing became crystal clear in my journey: self-healing isn’t pseudo-science or a mystical fantasy.
Self-healing is real. It’s powerful. And it starts the moment you begin to UN-learn the conditioning that kept you sick, fearful, tired or stuck.
Self healing begins when you UN-burden trauma densities in your body, EN-LIGHTEN-ing yourself.
Sometimes, healing doesn’t come through conventional medicine (It didn’t for me — I’ll have much more to say about that).
Oftentimes, healing necessitates connection, community and the courage to go within.
In this space, I’ll offer what I’ve researched, practiced and certified in: the tools, teachings and truths that helped me and many others find real, lasting LIGHTness and freedom in body, mind, and spirit.
This is an open space to explore the intersection of science and spirit, trauma and transformation, biology and belief. This is also a space to gather in community for connecting and healing (much more on that later).
This journey isn’t just about healing the body — it is about reconnecting authentically to the divine reality you’ve always been a part of.
With humility and firsthand experience, I aim to question concepts and myths about authentic divine connection. Overcoming dogma with newfound understanding combined with a genuine felt connection helped unravel my atheism and led me so far as to becoming a teacher and daily practicer of “Empowered Prayer.”
(Fair warning, at times I’ll venture into the esoteric and the taboo—honoring my Scorpio nature—to shine light on the darker, often overlooked aspects of our existence I wish I had known. We cannot truly heal what we do not know or will not face. Shining light on our personal and collective shadows brings much needed understanding and healing.)
Maybe you’re where I once was—stuck, overwhelmed, depressed, suicidal, doubting yourself or the path forward.
Or maybe your simply wondering if there’s more to life. Or maybe you’ve tried everything and nothing worked.
I’m here to remind you:
Healing is real.
Healing is possible.
There’s always another way.
A way back to your essence. A way through and beyond the pain.
You wouldn’t be here if you couldn’t overcome.
You’re not too late. You’re right on time.
This is exactly why you are here.
To re-claim yourself.
To discover your healer within.
To LIGHTen your burdens.
To re-member your soul.
To walk your unique path of transformation — your journey of EN-LIGHTEN-ing yourself — and even all you’re connected to.
Welcome to The Enlightenment Effect!
